How Oakley Started
Oakley sunglasses are worn by sports professionals and enthusiasts all around the world. Regardless of the sport Oakley have a strong influence in the sportswear world and have a number of sponsorship deals with elite athletes. Oakley is relatively a young company but in their short history they have managed to surpass Ray Ban sunglasses and were eventually sold to Luxottica, the same company that owned Ray Ban.
Oakley has always produced a range of products that combine sporting style with practicality. Many sporting professionals wear the brand’s products for this reason alone. The first product the brand ever made featured a patented material that produced a high quality build when compared to the competitors at the time. Oakley now has well over 600 patents for design and materials.
Oakley was able to expand quickly thanks to the innovation of the founder who created products that were always different from what was currently available. By designing a unique product and sometimes creating a new market the company were able to grow sales very quickly and overtake their competitors who were previously the world’s best selling sunglasses manufacturer.
The brand has also raised awareness of its products quickly thanks to a number of lucrative sponsorship deals for both elite athletes and sporting events. The company’s ability to sign up popular athletes has allowed the company to expand into a number of different sports outside of their motocross beginnings. Their most notable sponsorship deal is a lifetime contract with Lance Armstrong.
Oakley has been able to build a company that started in the extreme sports market but now encompasses most sports imaginable. From the humble beginnings in the founder’s garage the company has grown exponentially into many other markets, growing their product offering a customer base, eventually resulting in the owner selling the company for over two billion dollars to their largest competitor.
Find out more about Oakley Sunglasses and one of their biggest competitors: Oliver Peoples Sunglasses.