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They're under $200 and perfect for summer.
Tom Cruise arrived at the Top Gun: Maverick world premiere in San Diego this week by helicopter. In lieu of boring red carpets and gaudy California boulevards, Paramount’s chosen venue was instead the retired aircraft carrier USS Midway, on which Cruise could probably land a jet—if he was allowed. (He’s had a pilot’s license since 1994.) Instead, Cruise, 59, road backseat before making his way across the ship’s deck, wearing a suit and tie and a pair of American Optical Original Pilot sunglasses—which complete the entrance.
According to American Optical, the design has been worn by actual U.S. military pilots since 1958. Cruise is seen here wearing the silver-framed version of the glasses.
Cruise’s previous Top Gun, which premiered 36 years ago this month (look at the actor and then let this fact sink in), led not only to a surge in military recruitment—at least according to Navy recruitment officials but also contributed to '80s aviation-style trends, including bomber jackets and, of course, aviator sunglasses. Ray-Ban's sales apparently jumped 40 percent after the film’s release. Bottom line: If you saw Top Gun in 1986, you either wanted to become a pilot or look like one.
Cruise has done both. He’s since retained a pilot’s license. For Top Gun: Maverick, Cruise even did his own flying, taking the camera into the cockpit and then up into the sky with him—no camera crew or stuntman required. (As producer Jerry Bruckheimer told The Hollywood Reporter, “Every time you see [Cruise] flying, that’s [actually] him in that jet.”)
At the premiere, Cruise exchanged Maverick’s Ray-Ban sunglasses for American Optical’s Original Pilot pair, a slightly updated version of the classic look.
Pick up a pair for yourself before summer volleyball season.
Joshua St Clair is an editorial assistant at Men's Health Magazine.
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