Oakley Celebrates 50 Years Of Sporty Sunglasses With New Shades Shaped Like Iconic Logo

Oakley sunglasses have helped set the standard for performance eyewear (with more than a dash of style) for decades: Its instantly recognizable logo is now the inspiration for a new set of anniversary shades, and it’s a momentous one.

Try 50 years, and Oakley is toasting to that milestone with the Ellipse Sunglasses, due to release later this month and most notably, shaped like Oakley’s oblong “O” logo. Frames like the Oakley Subzero also nod to the ’90s, and this particular anniversary silhouette draws particular inspiration from that same decade while using ultra-modern materials.

Oakley broke new ground with its eyewear (and certainly continues to do so), but the company’s intense focus on performance innovation has humble beginnings: Oakley first grew from an investment of $300 by founder Jim Jannard (the company later went public and was bought by eyewear group Luxotica). From his garage, Jannard began making uncommon motocross grips from a material still largely used to make earsocks and some nose grips on Oakley sunglasses. The brand, in fact, didn’t get into sunglasses until 1984, but to say the rest is history is also an understatement.

Models like the Oakley Frogskin helped cement Oakley’s place as an eyewear leader, while models like the Michael Jordan-approved Oakley MUZM Mars Metal Sunglasses made them a major style player and design innovator. It doesn’t hurt that Oakley’s extensive archive can be mined for modern inspiration, and the forthcoming Oakley Ellipse nod to that heritage in a major way, built with proprietary Prizm Lens technology and a durable lightweight frame, another Oakley staple.

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A post shared by Eyesport by Optiek Van Gorp (@optiek_vangorp)

Buzz had been building steadily but quietly for a 50th anniversary sunglasses model, as Belgian eyewear group and authorized Oakley deal Optiek Van Gorp shared an Instagram post in late January teasing the sunglasses. Although pricing info is not yet known, they’ll soon join the brand’s roster of Patrick Mahomes-approved sunglasses, so keep an eye out this month for the debut of the Oakley Ellipse online at Oakley and select Oakley worldwide retailers.