Oakley's Eye for Design

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Oakley invests heavily in technology, not only in R&D and in the products, but in the machines that make its products. Every machine was created by the Oakley design department. Oakley builds its own parts, invents programs to run cutting tools, and even develops mold processes unheard of in the world of industrial manufacturing. "This is all to drive the quality of the product," Baden explains. "There are no machines on the planet that can make our products the way we want them. We are forced to make the machine that makes our products."

Keeping all of Oakley's R&D and design work in one place offers tremendous advantages, Baden believes. "We use a lot of rapid prototyping equipment. I am a firm believer in sketching and hand models, but I also am driven to get that into the digital world so we can really craft the product and test its functionality." While Oakley's creative process may take months, once the design has been determined, the company can create a model and prototype inhouse in less than a week.

This is radically different from how most companies operate, Baden emphasizes. "There, you might draw a pair of glasses, then go describe the drawing to a developer. The developer rolls up your drawing and has your words in his head. He gets on a plane and flies 14 hours to Asia, where he meets with the head of a factory and tells him what your company wants. His words are then relayed to the factory design engineer. In three weeks, you might get a prototype back from the factory, but that prototype is an interpretation of what just three people thought it should be. You can imagine the diminishing return on a vision that started out really good. Here at Oakley, it is constant evolution, dialog, visualization, modeling, prototyping, back and forth. You get a much better end product and get it much faster."

The R&D and design team keep many unusual objects —wooden guitars, barbells, Elvis pictures—around for inspiration and contemplation. "Our best products haven't started as what they were intended," says Baden. "A pair of eyeglasses didn't start out as a pair of glasses. It started as a blower on a drag racer. We constantly keep it loose in that department so we have the opportunity to discover something different."

Perhaps because of that, Oakley has not shied away from products that do not fit its flagship eyewear line. Interestingly, a portion of Oakley's business comes from making combat boots for the U.S. Special Forces. That came about because Oakley was providing protective M Frame eyewear to the military, and the relationship led Special Forces to ask Oakley to reinvent performance footwear for tactical use. Until then, no one had built an athletic variance for military footwear. Today Oakley boots are standard Special Forces issue. Oakley also now offers footwear for civilians, as well as leather bags and backpacks.

"Our brand has evolved successfully by pursuing design at the highest level to gain a competitive position," says Baden. "This creates a construct where outcome is front-row stuff. It is not about market studies. That is not what we are about."

At the same time, Oakley focuses heavily on appealing to outdoor sports that have as their premise technical performance—e.g., skiing, snowboarding, surfing, cycling, extreme motocross. For each of these markets, Oakley offers a selection of products, including fashion apparel. The brand has also expanded into precision performance products such as watches and wearable electronics.

That does not mean that Oakley will stay contentedly within the confines of these businesses. "The most disappointing point [in the process] is when we launch our product," Baden admits. "It is over. It is all about the hunt, the adrenaline rush. We need our highs. We are always looking for the next thing."

Perhaps Oakley's corporate profile sums it up best: "With a corporate culture dedicated to purpose beyond reason, Oakley blends science and art to redefine product categories, rejecting the constraints of conventional ideas."

Provided by Corporate Design Foundation—reprinted from @issue: The Journal of Business & Design