Norman Salik, Who Placed Ray-Bans in ‘Top Gun,’ Dies at 93
Norman Daniel Salik, a driving force in making Ray-Ban sunglasses cool via Hollywood films, died on March 14 at the age of 93.
He died in Peoria, Ariz., according to his former publicist Renee Sall.
More from WWD
Braydon Nelson, Celebrity and Editorial Hairstylist, Dies at 37
Jacques Marie Mage Has Sights on All the Main Fashion Capitals
Born in Brooklyn to parents who were of humble means, his professional success exceeded anything that he ever envisioned for himself. Salik and his brother Howard were known to joke about how they were once so poor that “they used to have to jump up to see the street” from their basement apartment, according to his son Scott. As children they were accustomed to wearing hand-me-downs that carried the name of a previous owner. That stayed with the brothers, who did not take for granted how drastically their lives changed in the years that followed.
Salik studied at Long Island University and served as the manager of LIU’s basketball team. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management and later served in the U.S. Air Force and was stationed in Bermuda. Although he held various jobs, Salik is most known for his longtime role at Bausch & Lomb. He first joined the company in 1976 and spent five years as the marketing research director for Soflens before going on to the company’s eyewear division.
Years before product placement in feature films became routine, Salik had the foresight to align Ray-Ban with major blockbusters. While working at Ray-Ban, he arranged for Tom Cruise to wear the brand’s Wayfarers in the 1983 hit “Risky Business” and then its Aviators three years later in “Top Gun.” Salik also worked behind-the-scenes to secure deals that would feature Ray-Bans in other movies like “The Terminator” and “The Blues Brothers” and on TV shows, too, a strategy that helped to make the brand’s popularity soar. Two years post-“Top Gun,” the sunglass maker was still trying to keep pace with the increased demand. When Ray-Ban was not sure that it could fill all of its orders in 1988, Salik told the Los Angeles Times, “We’re still trying like hell.”
Salik also believed in the power of sports and supported many athletes through endorsement deals including Ivan Lendl, Stewart Payne and Gabriela Sabatini, as well as skiers, golfers, volleyball, tennis and baseball stars. He also attended several Olympics and secretly helped out many amateur athletes. Through Salik, Ray-Ban was an early sponsor of the Association of Volleyball Professionals, since he believed in the sport’s potential.
His stewardship helped to make Ray-Ban the leader in the sunglass industry and the items were made in the U.S. and Italy. In 1999, it was sold to the Luxottica Group SpA for $640 million in cash.
Salik had retired two years prior. As a sign of Ray-Ban’s lasting cool factor, the company tapped the musician A$AP Rocky as creative director earlier this month.
By helping to establish sunglasses as a fashion staple, Salik accepted an award on behalf of Ray-Ban from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
Music was another interest especially big band, jazz, rock and classical. So much so that he collected more than 125,000 songs on his iTunes, and could reference every track. Salik attended hundreds of concerts and music festivals and became friends with many top artists.
During the ’70s, he would commute two hours from New Jersey to New York City each way, five days a week, and always regretted missing that extra time with his family, Sall said. Before getting into the eyewear sector, Salik worked in market research for Becton Dickenson, studying the diabetes arena for two years. He also had worked in market research at Whitehall Labs for nearly seven years, at Coty for four years and at Audits & Surveys for nearly six years.
At the end of his life, he watched images of his past flash on a computer screen and commented about what a wonderful life he had had, according to his son Scott Salik.
In addition to his one son, Salik is survived by his siblings Howard and Arlene, his wife Joan and his other sons Steven and Andy.
At the family’s request, donations can be made in Salik’s memory to the American Dog Therapy Program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
Best of WWD
Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
