About Ugly Fish

CELEBRATING 23 (AWESOME) UGLY YEARS

Built for the Outdoors. Made Tough for Aussie Conditions.

For over 20 years, Ugly Fish Eyewear has been creating sunglasses for those who live life outdoors. From fishing trips, to worksites, weekends away and everyday adventures, our sunnies are built to handle the harsh Aussie conditions.

We take eye protection seriously, with every pair designed for durability, comfort, clarity and protection in mind. Using premium polarised lenses, and tough frames that are made to last. No overpriced nonsense. Just reliable eyewear built for real life.

DRIVEN BY PURPOSE.

Ugly Fish founder Manuch Darabi migrated to Australia from Iran in 1989 with just $500 in his pocket and a strong work ethic. After settling on the NSW South Coast, he quickly fell in love with the Australian lifestyle spending his spare time fishing, exploring beaches, lakes, and rivers, and embracing everything the outdoors had to offer. While working market stalls selling sunglasses, Manuch noticed a problem. Customers were stuck choosing between overpriced premium eyewear or cheap sunglasses that simply didn’t last.

There was nothing in between. So alongside his son Faraz, he set out to create something different: high-quality, polarised eyewear that everyday Australians could actually afford. That idea became Ugly Fish.

From a Family Garage to Millions of Pairs

The original Ugly Fish logo was hand-drawn by Faraz at the family kitchen table. The first range of sunglasses was launched in 2003 from the family garage in Wollongong. From day one, the focus was simple: Create sunglasses that were lightweight, durable, comfortable, and built for Australian conditions.

Customers quickly embraced our polarised lenses, unbreakable frames, anti-fog technology, and saltwater-resistant coatings, and word spread fast. Twenty three years in and we've sold over two million pairs of glasses! But while the business has grown, the mission hasn’t changed: Deliver reliable eyewear without the premium price tag.

Everyone's Ugly

Today, Ugly Fish has grown far beyond just sunglasses for fishing. Our range now includes lifestyle, safety, motorcycle, sustainable, kids, womens, and floating eyewear designed for people from all walks of life. We continue to push for better comfort, stronger materials, clearer vision, and dependable protection, while staying true to what built the brand in the first place: practical products that perform.

Every pair is backed by Australian Standards compliance and a Limited Lifetime Warranty because we stand behind what we make. Most importantly, we’re proud to have built a loyal community of customers who have supported us from the very beginning and continue to come back for their next pair of Ugly’s.

INTRODUCING RETRO

After more than 20 years building Ugly Fish, we saw an opportunity to create something new.

While Ugly Fish was built around toughness, practicality, and performance, we wanted to create a brand that leaned into style, fashion and trend without compromising on quality. That’s where Retro was born.

Retro combines trend-driven designs with the same premium lens technology and polarised protection we’ve spent decades perfecting. It’s fashionable, wearable and made for people who want eyewear that looks good and performs just as well.

Launching Retro has been a special milestone for the Darabi family and their team. It represents the next chapter of our journey bringing together everything we’ve learned over the last 23 years, while continuing to evolve with a new generation of customers. And we’re only just getting started!

A HUGE thanks to all of the customers and crew who have gotten Ugly with us - we couldn't have done it without you!

If it’s attitude you’re looking for, we’ve got it in bucket loads. So if you haven’t wrapped a pair of Ugly’s around your head it’s about time you tried them, after all... Everyone’s Ugly.