Polaroid’s 80 years in the fast lane

Bill Gates did it in the 1970s, Mark Zuckerberg did it in the 2000s. Dropping out of university to start a business may not be a tale you wish to tell the parents, but it seems to be a common trait shared with many successful entrepreneurs. Doing it ‘before it was cool’ was Edwin Land, a talented academic who left Harvard in the 1920s to pursue his passion of creating a glare-free lens. The result was the creation of Polaroid.

The brand is now celebrating its 80th anniversary, a birthday badge worn by only a select few eyewear manufacturers. So what is the secret to its success? Head of northern region and global key accounts for Safilo, the company that owns the brand, Frederic Laffort says it is all down to the brand’s heritage. ‘The story behind the brand is quite unique. It was not a multi-national company creating Polaroid but just one man who had a vision and decided to find a solution to remove the glare and polarise the lens. Not many brands like this can celebrate an 80th anniversary, it’s been a great 80 years.’