How Oakley’s Snow DNA Evolved Through Eras of Sport and Speed

What started in a California garage in 1975 has grown into over 50 years of shaping vision, performance, and sport. Since day one, Oakley’s philosophy has remained simple: design for the future, deliver to the present.

Guided by athlete-led insights from those who live in the elements, Oakley turns engineering into art. With hundreds of patented lens technologies—from High Definition Optics® (HDO®) to XYZ Optics® to Prizm™ Lens Technology—Oakley enables athletes to read terrain in any condition, backed by protection systems built for speed and impact.

Oakley’s DNA in the snow runs deep, rooted in the knowledge that when athletes can see better, they can perform better. In celebration of The Winter Games and the brand’s latest AURA collection, we look back—and ahead—at decades of rebellion, experimentation, and athlete-driven design.

E Frame & L Frame
In 1983, Oakley released its inaugural ski goggles: E frame & L frame. With a dual-lens design setting a new benchmark for clarity, protection, and performance on the mountain, Oakley’s first snow goggle established an innovative reputation for the brand. The lens, housed in an arc frame design, provides minimal distortion and maximum visibility. The L Frame was developed to offer all the benefits of the E Frame in a size that fits over prescription eyewear.

Factory Lites & Eyeshades
The Eyeshade System was built with the World Cup downhill in its DNA. Originally dubbed Factory Lites, the concept was deceptively simple: everything you wanted in a goggle and less – all the protection, all of the optics, and none of the bulk. There’s zero frame fighting your peripheral and no strap strangling your helmet.

The A-Frame Era
In the 1990s, Oakley changed the snow game forever with the A-Frame, the first-ever injected-snow toric-lens goggle with High Definition Optics (HDO®), setting new standards for performance and on-mountain culture. The A-Frame remains one of Oakley’s most iconic and celebrated silhouettes.

Crowbar
Reinventing the architecture of a snow goggle was no small task. The challenge: relieve pressure against the face without compromising optical clarity, visual acuity, or protection. The solution was Crowbar – a revolution in goggle design.

Oakley engineered an outrigger system that relocated the stress points of the frame and strap to indirect anchor points outside the primary structure. The result was a goggle that floated against the face rather than gripping it. It was a new standard that reset the industry’s understanding of how a goggles should be built.

Canopy
Polaric Ellipsoid lens geometry first appeared in the A Frame. With Canopy, Oakley expanded its view of the world. An oversized lens engineered for maximum field of view, injected with the most precise optics. Much like a fighter jet canopy, this voluminous structure redefined peripheral vision. The release of the Canopy forced the industry to change not only the way you look at goggles, but the way you look through them.

Oakley Software
In 1998, Oakley took their mountain engineering beyond eyewear. The answer arrived as Oakley Software, technical outerwear engineered with the same obsessive precision that redefined optics. The Ballistic and Shell Jackets were built as protection systems, solving real mountain problems.

Flow Scape & Aura Collection
Crafted for the present, Flow Scape delivers the biggest field of view Oakley has ever created. Introducing Vision Rapt Face Foam and the latest Switchlock™ Technology, it unlocks a 60% larger field of view than previous designs, setting a new benchmark in performance, fit, and clarity.

Also debuting this year is the Aura Collection, apparel and eyewear created to honor the unseen forces that drive athletes, energy, intuition, resilience, and focus. Each piece reflects the pulse and spirit that propel athletes long before they reach the starting gate.