"One optician wanted me to test some lenses. I wore them during the downhill of the Olympic Games…They were phenomenal! Then, he proposed me a deal…I could not resist" Jean Vuarnet

 
It was a meeting with a French optician which in 1959 has led to the creation of the legendary brand VUARNET. During this meeting, the optician Roger Pouilloux offered to the French ski champion the 02 sunglass model as a token of his admiration. There sunglasses, equipped with the luminous Skilynx mineral glass lenses, enabled Jean Vuarnet to further improve his performance. They would highlight contrasts and enhance depth perception in the fast downhill skiing along the slopes of Squaw Valley, several months later, during the 1960 Winter Olympics.

Following this victory, the two men, who shared a common passion for performance, forged a friendship and decided to join forces in creating a brand that embedded their vision : innovation, high-performance, and French elegance. The brand VUARNET was born.
 

Jean Vuarnet was born on January 18, 1933. He lived during all his life in Morzine a ski resort located in French Alps. He started to practice alpine ski during his university years in Grenoble, France. He will win his first major success on the Rochebrune downhill in Megève in 1956. By then, he will become an athlete an outstanding athlete.

In 1960 Jean Vuarnet won the downhill gold medal in the Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley, California and was a seven-time French ski champion. He was a pioneer in his sport discipline, always looking for ways to improve his performance: indeed, he was the first to develop the “egg” position that racers have been using ever since and to incorporate metal components in skies, which have now become the norm.

In parallel, he worked for the development of the ski resort of Avoriaz which will dedicate him in homage a place as well as a statue.

During all his life, Jean Vuarnet participated with Roger Pouilloux at the creation of the Vuarnet legend by offering him an international radiance

Jean Vuarnet passed away on January 2, 2017, at the age of 83 years old in Sallanches. He gave his name to the brand 60 years ago and in his honor we wish to review the historic milestones of this visionary champion.