Coincidentally I was thinking about this but yesterday and how it relates to Bluetooth earbuds. Somehow Apple managed to make hearing aids cool.
It crossed my mind when I was thinking about a coworkers hearing aids and if they were ever picked on as a child for wearing them. I bet that the rise of earbuds has made life a lot easier for children who are hard of hearing.
Just like with all fashion things, the causality goes the other way. People think Apple is cool, so when Apple does a thing they think that thing is cool.
For info: I started wearing hearing aids later in life. Couldn't function without them and the occasional glance people give them is nothing compared with being thought stupid because you apparently haven't understood something (people seem much more likely to assume you are stupid rather than deaf).
Even though they are free ('socialised') medicine - UK NHS here - they are still functional blue tooth devices that can stream audio, etc, which is awesome.
They were hideous frames, but honestly I don't think any frames would have been considered 'cool' where I was.
To this day I hate glasses. Since discovering how easy it is to wear contacts at 26, I only wear glasses between the bathroom and bed.