In conjunction with Oak's "Rank your Oakley knowledge"thread, I wanted to throw in this thread for some of you who wants to improve your ranks...


Did you know...

- the cheapest MSRP for an Oakley sunglasses was $35 (Frogskin)

- many of Oakley's endorsements were obtained at little or no cost.
For example,Agassi did not charge O for his endorsement (even though he used to have an endorsement contract w/ Ray-Ban. By comparison, it cost Nike $10 million per year to sign Agassi)

- In early 1995, Oakley had to halt the sale of fake Oakleys delivered to Big 5 Sporting Goods, which the retailer had heavily advertised.

-.In 1996. The discounter,Price/Costco offered E Wires in mail-order catalog. Apparently, these where all unauthorized

- The HQ was built because JJ wanted the facility to look as if it were the sole survivor in a post-nuclear kill zone.

- The initial launch of X Metal line was delayed because Sunglass Hut had cancelled all the purchase orders through early 97 and so O's stock lost 33 percent of its value

- The O shoe was most noteworthy for being manufactured entirely in the U.S. This was a direct challenge to the contention of Nike that they had to manufacture overseas in order to make a profit.

- There was once a CEO who was a former Olympic javelin thrower and former Gatorade executive


*feel free to correct me or add new stuff that I did not know*

Mark Dowley was the one to put together the deal that placed Oakley in the M:I-2 movie.

http://mycrains.crainsnewyork.com/40under40/profiles/2002/249

The Ruby Juliet originally retailed for $300 at launch. Upon finding that it would be more expensive to produce the lenses, Oakley upped the price to $400 shortly thereafter.

you know, that was one of the questions i want t ask the bosses at oakley is how do they get product placement in movies. does the movie contact them or do they just offer their stuff for a movie

In terms os different films, I am sure there are different ways it's happened. I know in Blade 2 and Hellboy, Del Toro just happens to be a huge Oakley fan himself and prob had the costume dept use Oakley specifically.

There is a guy at HQ who is primarily in charge of product placement. His contact list is deep and pretty impressive. I would love to have his job, even for a couple of days! Man that would be cool...

There was once a CEO who was a former Olympic javelin thrower and former Gatorade executive

That was William D. Schmidt, who was eventually ousted by JJ.

http://articles.latimes.com/1999/oct/08/business/fi-20060

many of Oakley's endorsements were obtained at little or no cost.
For example,Agassi did not charge O for his endorsement (even though he used to have an endorsement contract w/ R**-B**. By comparison, it cost N*** $10 million per year to sign Agassi)

Very true: http://www.answers.com/topic/oakley-inc

"Michael Jordan, who first wore Oakley sunglasses while playing golf, then while playing baseball for the Birmingham Barons, negotiated a stock package with Jannard when Oakley went public in 1995 that included a position on the company's board of directors."

Speaking of MJ, did you know "Nike Inc. won an injunction...barring Oakley from distributing an ad in which Jordan was wearing Oakley glasses and an Oakley beret"? "A judge ruled that the beret violated Jordan’s contract with Nike, which prohibits him from wearing anyone else’s gear."

http://articles.latimes.com/1998/feb/10/business/fi-17447

The HQ was built because JJ wanted the facility to look as if it were the sole survivor in a post-nuclear kill zone.

To expand on that thought: "Baden, who came on staff as design director in 1996 and became president in 1999, says his lost-in-time aesthetic borrows mostly from 1940s sawmills (maybe if you squint just so). In fact, much of the steel fabrication was done by an industrial shipbuilder in Tacoma, Washington. He also sourced industrial relics, including massive working exhaust valves. To amplify the absurdity, he requested ridiculously huge bolts and rivets (some in the entryway are a foot wide)"

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/128/oakleys-optical-illusion.html


-The OTT's frame is capable of "withstanding 350 degrees Fahrenheit"

Regarding Agassi not being paid for his endorsement, that was true for about 12 months, then he became an official Oakley sponsered athlete, and had his own eyewear line called the Tennis M Frames, which were White Frames With Black Iriduim Heater Lenses.

For more obscure Oakley knowledge, the following thread is a fountain of it:

http://www.o-review.com/portal_detail.asp?ID=5751

man i wish Mr. Jannard would come around more often just to give us random bits of Oakley facts that the rest of the public doesn't know or maybe even the employees don't know

Another great thread, good reading.

That 'answers' article gives you a whole history and 'behind the scenes' of the later 90's. I always wondered about the cross brand representation with Michael Jordan, and why he was on the Board at the time.

I found it very interesting that JJ didn't take a bonus or salary during the year that their year-end earnings were way behind (1997). This economy wouldn't be the way it is now if more CEOs and VPs were like JJ.

There was an auction a while back by someone who supposedly worked for Oakley years back. He said the internal codename for the Eyejacket 2.0 was the "Flush".

Hear, hear, Matt!
Now that just shows you what kind of stand-up guy Jim is. He's a guy who cares for his people.

Awesome thread, o-xide. This is an excellent way to bone up on your Oakley knowlegde.


~Yukio

He said the internal codename for the Eyejacket 2.0 was the "Flush".

As in the sound of money being "flushed" down the toilet no doubt! Sorry Eric.

The Monster Dog was there fastest produced pair of glasses in terms of turnaround time from sketches to CAD to final finished pieces. I forget the time frame though, but it was within a matter of months if not weeks.

There is one pair, I don't think the name has ever been revealed to which, that went through near 100 if not hundreds of the liquid CAD prototypes until they got it how they wanted it.

I'm sure we'll hear these two facts again in March and I'll update the numbers.

Oakley in movies also goes all the way back to Star Trek 6: The Final Frontier with custom Oakley Space helmets in an attack/assassination scene on the Klingon Chancellors ship. One is still at HQ. Don't know about the other. Has the retro OAKLEY across the back of it.

The Medusa was originally called 'Wombat Hat'.

Anyone remember PACE/Sams Club selling the Gen-1 blue frame/blue iridium (or any color) M-frame for like $70? I always wondered if they were actually real and if they were authorized to be sold there. I remember seeing it in the case and how dusty it and undesirable it looked. Even though I didn't have a cash flow back then, I knew better than to buy them there...

Sam's had a fair amount of basic black and crystal black RazorBlades for a bit too at the end of their life.

My local Sam's still has Cannon red eye jacket 2.0's in the optical dept. for full retail price...lol

Check out this really cool creation:



I don't think that's real Oakley lenses, but here's the interesting possible Oakley connection part (though I can't say if it's true or not):

"the over the tops were never designed to be a helmet or head protection in any way the history of the OTT was a designer quit working for Oakley and in trying to open his own design co. continued working with design director at Oakley, on this really crazy piece of eye wear, that in the end was another look at me piece of eye wear in typical Oakley style."

Could one of the original designers of the OTT have created this? Hmm.....

I dunno about all that, but that is one sick piece of eye/headwear, and I want one! O_O


~Yukio

Awesome find Oak, looks pretty bad ass !

Kind of looks a little modeled or CGI to me. Awesome design though to say the least. Its got spoilers...thats what I love on to see on Oakleys.

Well, we can shoot that rumour down. I e-mailed Rodrigo Canedo and here's the response I got:

"Thank you very much for you rmessage, I am very glad you like my design it is very exciting to receive your message! Regarding your questions, no, I havent worked for Oakley, I included the logo because I am a big fan of Oakley, and the whole concept was inspired by the brand.

We would love to manufacture them but for now there are no plans to do so, I will keep you posted if there are any exciting news about them.

It was great talking to you.

Best regards,

Rodrigo"

Gonna have to top this. It's too cool a thread to let die. Let's see some more links and info that not well known, even to us collectors.