It started with a Man named Jim Jannard, $300, and a desire to make products that work and look better than any others. Setting up shop in his garage, Jim founded Oakley in 1975. For a name Jim was inspired by his dog, an English Setter., whom was named Oakley. Jim Jannard’s first product was what he called ‘The Oakley Grip’, a motorcycle handlebar grip that he started selling out of the back of his car at motocross events. The motorcycle grips were unlike any others available at the time. They were manufactured out of a patented material he had created called ‘Unobtanium’, they were noticed by some of the top motocross pros, who started using them. His company went on to produce number plates, gloves, grips, elbow guards, chin guards, and goggles for the BMX and Motocross communities
Jim’s creation – “Unobtainium” is still used to this day for the earsocks on Oakley glasses, and many of the nose pieces.
In 1980, Oakley released it’s first pair of goggles called the O-Frame, with a lens curved in the perfect arc of a cylinder. With the by then well known ‘Oakley’ logo present on the strap, the brand garnered increasing recognition and prominence throughout the sports industry. These were followed up with their first pair of Ski-Goggles in 1983., and soon after, their first sunglasses, Factory Pilot Eyeshades, which were sport-oriented, and resembled goggles. These were soon followed by a casual sunglass style, the Oakley Frogskin.
Today, Oakley maintains a large sports team customer base that includes some of the World’s top athletes. A few notable examples include: Balaram Stack, Shaun White, Ichiro Suzuki, Dorien Walker, Lance Armstrong, Ricky Carmichael, James “Bubba” Stewart, Gretchen Bleiler, Ian Poulter, Rory McIlroy, Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti and Samantha Stosur. Some past notable Oakley athletes include Michael Jordan, David Duval, Jon Olsson and Eric Koston.
Athletes continue to be closely involved with the companies technological and fashion designs, providing extensive input and testing.
Oakley also maintains US Standard Issue, which provides US military and law enforcement eye protection. Very popular amongst US combat troops, Oakley M Frame sunglasses are included as part of the US Army Authorized Protective Eyewear List (APEL), and have been assigned an NSN number for ordering through military supply channels.
Oakley sunglasses comply with and exceed numerous industry standards including, the ANSI Z87.1 requirements for impact and high impact protection.
The impact protection is one of the main tests that Oakley eyeglasses must pass. Most of the Oakley models also comply with Canada’s CSA Z94.3-02 protection standards.
Oakley lenses and frames are designed to protect against impact, sun and wind. The lenses are made of a patented material, called PlutoniteTM, that characteristically filters out 100% of all UVA, UVB, UVC and harmful blue light up to 400 nm.
Oakley’s High Definition Optics (HDO) is a collection of patented technologies that allow the eyeglasses to pass all ANSI Z87.1 optical standards.
