OAKLEY SUNGLASSES 2025 PREVIEW

Retail Buyers Guide: Sunglasses 2025 Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: Oakley
Interviewee: Will Conk / Director - Category

How was the sunglasses market overall in 2024?
Overall, our Sport Performance sunglasses saw continued growth, most notably in Europe and Asia. Use of sport sunglasses appears to be healthy, as athletes from novice to professional continue to pursue outdoor sports and activities.

What new trends have you seen for sunglasses in board sports for 2025?
The hottest thing we are seeing on the slopes is the resurgence of our Eye Jacket Redux frame. Lots of young riders are wearing this remake of our 90’s classic for both style and function in spring conditions, and many of our athletes are wearing it as their daily frame on and off the slopes. Additionally, we launched Flex Scape this year, which is a goggle/sunglass hybrid with a modular design that can be worn with sunglass stems or with a goggle strap. It uses our physiomorphic lens design which has both bold aesthetics and functional coverage with its nose beak.

Which segment of your 2025 offering do you expect to sell best and why?
2025 is a year of pushing innovation for Oakley. We’re have a brand-new cycling helmet/eyewear combo developed in collaboration with the Tudor Pro Cycling Team. After countless wind tunnel tests and several iterations of helmet and eyewear designs, along with extensive field testing with the Tudor team, we’ve created the fastest helmet/eyewear system on the market with the Velo Mach and Velo Kato combination. The Velo Kato features our physiomorphic lens design (as seen in the Kato), which proved to generate the least amount of drag, and we’ve made key upgrades to make it perfect for cycling.

What new frame shapes and colours are in your 2025 offer?
Our high-wrap lifestyle designs (Plantaris, Lateralis, Masseter) goes live this summer. These frames are inspired by classic Oakley designs from the past but have been modernized with current fit, function, and form language—artifacts from the future. Expect to see many of our athletes from various sports wearing these shades off the field. We are seeing organic adoption of our more 90’s inspired silhouettes, like Eye Jacket Redux, which I would label as an oval lens shape (like an ellipse). We also have some newer models in similar but bolder silhouettes, seeing great adoption with younger consumers. For colours, we are offering some really cool versions of translucent white that are unique to us and fit these oval/wrapped lens shapes very well.

Which lens technologies from your 2025 offer are most in demand?
Vision is a key focus in everything we do, and all our lenses have best in class optical clarity, definition, and impact protection. But still one of our biggest differentiators is Prizm, which enhances color and detail for the user. In 2025 we are seeing a lot of interest in our Prizm 24K lens, which can be universally used for lots of activities and has a beautiful gold colored iridium coating that really pops. We see it selling great in both lifestyle and sport products, and in fact Mathieu Vanderpool just won Paris Roubiax in his signature frame carrying this lens.

Have you introduced any new lens colours and tints in your 2025 offering?
We actually brought an old lens color back, called Slate, but the new version adds Prizm technology for enhanced color and vibrance. It is basically a light grey base with a black iridium mirror coating, PERFECT for mid-light conditions or when worn under a hat or visor. Lots of athletes loved the old slate lens, and this new one is better and super versatile for lots of different activities.

What are your marketing stories?
Eyewear has 3 main marketing stories:

First marketing story is specific to cycling where we have developed the fastest helmet/eyewear system on the market with Velo Mach and Velo Kato.
Second is specific to lifestyle, where we have a series of brand defining sunglass designs that push off the field sport culture into the future.
Another marketing story is focused on prescription, where we have designed some bolder, more youthful designs. Enigma Ink, a large, thick square frame built with grip and comfort in mind has become some of our athletes favorite frame.

Key Products:

VELO KATO- CYCLING FRAME BUILT FOR SPEED:
Built at the crossroads of aesthetic disruption and boundary-pushing performance, Velo Kato^™ resists the conventional with a lens design enabled by PhysioMorphic^™ Geometry for a close fit to the face. The large lens shape and aerodynamic no-hinge system maximizes protection, airflow and field of view to keep you locked in at all times.

VELO KATO

LATERALIS- WRAP LIFESTYE:
Explore in Lateralis, a high-wrap frame designed for everyday wear. Mixing old-school style with new-school design. Built with integrated Unobtainium® ear socks and nosepads for no-slip grip, the O-Matter® frame features deep set lenses to help accentuate the look.

LATERALIS LATITUDE COLLECTION

ENIGMA INK – EYEWEAR ELEVATED TO AN ART FORM:
When life imitates art, art imitates Enigma Ink, a dramatic style designed for the boundary-pushing individual whose self-expression and creativity can’t be contained. An unapologetic celebration of opposites, Enigma Ink was designed to look bold and heavy yet feel ultra-comfortable and lightweight, with a square, O Matter™ frame that offers a wide field of view. TruBridge Sport Unobtainium® nosepads keep the frame firmly in place for a fit so good. The stainless steel, adjustable temples feature Unobtainium® earsocks for a no-slip grip, with an unconventional bent temple shape for that artistic edge. Order Enigma Ink with Oakley Authentic Prescription lenses, which are laser etched with the ellipse logo for proof of quality and authenticity.

ENIGMA INK SUN