Ray-Ban

Ray-Ban was founded in the United States in 1937, originally developing sunglasses for the US Army Air Corps to address the glare that military aviators encountered at altitude. The Aviator frame, produced in a teardrop silhouette with anti-glare green lenses, was the founding product of what became one of the most recognizable eyewear brands in the world. The Wayfarer followed in 1952, designed by Raymond Stegeman, and the flat-top, angular shape produced a silhouette that was worn by Audrey Hepburn, James Dean, Bob Dylan, and eventually by virtually every cultural figure for whom sunglasses became part of a public image.

The Georgetown store at 3030 M Street NW carries the full Ray-Ban catalog: the Aviator in its multiple lens shapes and sizes, the Wayfarer in the original and the more recent New Wayfarer proportion, the Clubmaster in the half-rim browline construction that references 1950s American eyewear, the Round frames, and the newer Erika and other additions to the catalog that expand the brand beyond its heritage silhouettes. Prescription lens options are available through the store, which allows the customer to get the Ray-Ban frame they want in a prescription format rather than choosing between vision correction and the preferred style.

The brand’s ownership history includes a period as an American company under Bausch and Lomb, during which the Wayfarer was introduced and the Aviator became the US market’s standard sunglasses silhouette, followed by acquisition by the Italian eyewear company Luxottica in 1999. Luxottica, which also owns Oakley and holds the licenses for numerous luxury eyewear brands, has maintained Ray-Ban as a standalone brand identity while integrating its distribution into Luxottica’s global retail and wholesale network. The brand is now part of EssilorLuxottica following the 2018 merger with the French lens company.

The M Street address is on the main Georgetown retail corridor at 3030, accessible from the surrounding foot traffic between the Key Bridge end and the upper M Street boutique cluster. For a Georgetown visitor or resident who wants the canonical American sunglasses brand in the original frames that have been in production for sixty and eighty years, the M Street store is the straightforward starting point.

Hours run from 10am to 8pm Monday through Thursday, 10am to 9pm Friday and Saturday, and 11am to 7pm Sunday. The full catalog, including limited edition and collaboration releases, is available online at ray-ban.com. The collaboration history that Ray-Ban has built with fashion labels and artists, including the Scuderia Ferrari collaboration and the Meta smart glasses developed with Facebook, has expanded the brand beyond its core sunglass catalog while maintaining the heritage frames as the primary product line. For Georgetown customers who want the Aviator or Wayfarer in a limited edition colorway or a collaboration treatment, the website at ray-ban.com carries the full specialized selection that the M Street store may not stock in all variants. The Georgetown store at 3030 M Street is open 10am to 8pm or 9pm daily.