Carrera Sunglasses are owned and manufactured by the Italian sunglasses fashion house Safilo who are based in Padua, Italy. Amongst their other brands are Hugo Boss, Gucci, Dior, Armani and Valentino.
Safilo bought Carrera International in 1996 and have overseen the rebirth of the brand and its huge increase in popularity over the past few years. Safilo have split Carrera into two range divisions. The first of these is the Sport division, with the products aimed directly at professional and serious amateur athletes. In particular the products are targeted at skiing and cycling. They manufacture sunglasses, goggles and helmets of the highest quality to ensure athletes can perform safely and to the peak of their abilities.
The second and most recent range is the lifestyle range which is the purely fashion range with many models designed to appeal to all tastes and styles. Despite the fashion aspect of the individual models Carrera sunglasses feature full UV safety protection for the user. All the sunglasses are manufactured using polarised lenses which shield the eye from sunbeams and allow the user to see more light whilst reducing light reflection.
The lifestyle range is also known as the Carrera vintage sunglasses range due to their retro styling which draw heavily on vintage fashion from the 1960’s through to the 1980’s. Carrera Champion Sunglasses feature oversized plastic frames and lenses in an aviator style and they are produced in many different colours making them the most popular model with the Carrera Lifestyle range, and they are a unisex model. The Carrera Ticky model draws heavily on the Ray Ban Wayfarer range for its styling and is aimed very much at the ladies market. Carrera Hippy Sunglasses are again aimed at the ladies market and feature large oversized circular lenses very reminiscent of the Chanel style of the 1960’s.
Celebrities have been queuing up to wear Carrera Sunglasses ever since the brand was relaunched with A list movie stars such as Leonardo Di Caprio, singers like Kylie Minogue and Alicia Keys and footballers David Beckham and Paolo Maldini all being spotted wearing the products.
Carrera was first launched in 1956 by an Austrian sports eye maker, who created the products for winter sports athletes and motor racing drivers. The name Carrera which is also used by Porsche to describe its 911 model series, is Spanish for race, and Carrera was given its name as homage to the Carrera Panamericana road race which ran for 5 years from 1950-1955 through Mexico. In the 1970’s Carrera International teamed up with Porsche to design and create the Carrera Porsche design series of sunglasses which were hugely popular.