Sunglass Companies
The first thing you should know about sunglasses is how the business is dominated by a select few. Two Italian companies, Luxottica and Safilo, own most of the market. Between them, they own brands like Ray-Ban, Revo, Persol, Smith, Carrera, Arnette, and many others. Furthermore, they own most of the retail stores for sunglasses, including Sunglass Hut, Lens Crafters, Solstice, Pearle Vision, and more. Luxottica even owns the second largest eyecare insurance company. Oakley had a pricing dispute with Luxottica at one point, to which Luxottica reacted by pulling all of Oakley's products from their stores. Oakley's stock dropped, and they were bought by Luxottica. Over the years, the two companies have used their power to choke out competition and build a kind of shared monopoly, driving prices up and quality down.
"Fashion" brands are an even worse buy. Brands like Chanel, Gucci, Armani, Prada, Dolce and Gabbana, Brooks Brothers, and Tiffany don't actually have anything to do with the sunglasses sold under their name. They contract out all the design and manufacturing work to one of these two conglomerates, and take a cut for licensing their name. The quality of these sunglasses is no better than that of Luxottica's more mainstream brands, despite the higher price.
All this may be a bit depressing, but there is hope. First of all, many Luxottica and Safilo products are not terrible, although better options for the money exist. Second, there are a good number of companies independent from Luxottica and Safilo that offer a better product for the price, or a better product period. Some good independent companies are:
Regular Sunglasses:
American Optical, Barton Perreira, Chrome Hearts, Costa Del Mar, Cutler and Gross, Dillon Optics, Freudenhaus, Gold and Wood, IC! Berlin, Kaenon, L.G.R., Lindberg, Matsuda, Maui Jim, Mykita, Morgenthal Frederics, Oliver Goldsmith, Randolph Engineering, Salt Optics, Serengeti, Tom Davies, Warby Parker
Eye Protection:
Alpina, ESS, Revision, Rudy Project, Wiley X