Next spring there’s potential for you to walk into your local Oakley dealer and pick bits and pieces to soup up and customize your existing eyewear.
Like a kid in a candy shop, you’ll be able to pick lenses, icons and earstocks for Radar as well as jaws and bolts for Jawbone to completely change the look, whether to match a new team, just for a change or for damage replacement. In many cases a new look will cost less than US$20.
Dealers will be able to set the case how they choose; they could pick the colors of a popular university across the street or their local club team.
A fully customized set of new sunglasses will cost roughly 10 percent more than stock – so a custom Jawbone will be roughly $220 versus $200 – though the end cost is dependant on lens features.
Custom eyewear – Oakley say it's the future
To break it down further, jaws for the Jawbone will cost roughly $10 per set, bolts $5 and earstocks around $12, while lenses will range from $60 to $100.
New sport model on the horizon
Oakley had a few new lifestyle models on display at the Interbike trade show, but nothing in their sport line. The brand plan to use next week’s Ironman world triathlon championships to debut a pair of prototype sunglasses that use a rimless Switchlock design. Switchlock is Oakley’s low-tension hinged lens capture design that debuted with Jawbone and is also found on Split Jacket.
Both Jawbone and Split Jacket feature full frames. These impede both peripheral vision and over-the-shoulder rearward view, making them less than ideal for road cyclists. If the new sunglasses can combine both better peripheral vision and the edgy look so many love about Jawbone, it will likely be a big model for the big O.
Women's sunglasses
On hand at Interbike, Oakley’s Alyssa Gross had two new women’s-specific models that blur the lines between sport and fashion. The Misconduct and Necessity offer big style, but with hidden Unobtanium rubber on their nosepieces and earstems to keep them in place during activity.
Oakley's new Misconduct
“It’s about the aesthetic; they’re just beautiful sunglasses,” said Andy McSorley, Oakley eyewear brand manager. “Women want to look beautiful and we want them to look beautiful.”