Technical wear and the ”gorpcore” movement was one of the biggest trends of 2022 and shows no signs of slowing down. Dominated by brands such as arcteryx, Salomon, North Face, Nike ACG, etc. there’s one surprising brand that has had a large impact on the scene: Oakley. A household name in eyewear, Oakley also has a rich history of producing technical wear. Since its inception in 1975, Oakley has produced rain jackets, ski wear, hiking shoes, and more. Being particularly innovative in the early 2000's, Oakley's early clothing and accessory lines feature some really interesting designs that resemble a lot of the technical wear that's being produced today.
Unlike most of the popular technical brands in today's scene, Oakley's vintage products are much more popular than their recent releases. Here's a few "Vintage" Oakley products that have garnered a lot of attention:
Oakley Watches
Perhaps the most currently "hyped" Oakley products is there line of early 2000's watches. Popular models include the "Time Tank", "Detonator", "Killswitch", "The Judge" (pictured below), "Time Bomb" (below). I really favor the style of these watches and they look and feel ahead of their time with their futuristic designs. You can easily find these watches on any online marketplace, but they're going to cost you. Most vintage models range from $250-$800 and there's a few models that are in the $1,000's.
Oakley's Unconventional eyewear
The crown jewel of unconventional eyewear, the Oakey "OVERTHETOP" was debuted in the 2000 summer olympics by 4x100 sprinter Ato Boldon was met with incredibly mixed reviews. The OTT would release to the public later in the year for $185 and instantly became a cult classic. That $185 price tag looks pretty favorable today as vintage pairs almost always sell for $1,000+ and Oakley re-produced 20 pairs of the OTT for $2,000 a piece in the first half of 2020. I personally love the futuristic look of the OTT but would have a hard time pulling them off (as most would). A more approachable but still unconventional piece of eyewear Oakley produced in the 90's is the Michael Jordan "Mars" sunglasses. MJ collabed with Oakley often in the 90's and was a huge fan of the brand.
Oakley footwear
Footwear is probably the last thing that comes to your mind when you think of Oakley, but they produced plenty of aesthetically pleasing pairs in the early 2000's, some of which have been re-imagined and brought back into production through collabs with brands like Brain Dead. The Oakley "Chopsaw" is the most popular vintage model and has become increasingly more rare. Like most vintage shoes, Oakley's past models are hard to find in good condition, but they are circulating on many of the online resell platforms.
Keep Oakley on your radar if you're looking to lean into the technical wear movement, which shows no signs of slowing down. Their futuristic designs are only going to get more rare and popular as time passes.
For inspiration on how to style some of these products, check out:
@gorpcoretex
@planet.gorp
Written by:
Jonathan Thomas
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