Mask-like feel empowers you to channel your inner superpower for limitless possibility
May 6, 2021, Foothill Ranch, California – Today sees the launch of Oakley® Kato, born from 45 years of disruptive innovation and engineered to shatter the boundaries of sport performance. Oakley Kato’s radical aesthetic is made possible by game-changing advancements in optical design. This progression, combined with countless hours focused on research and testing, helped to create this unique piece of eyewear set to revolutionize the face of sport this year, against the backdrop of the world’s biggest sporting stage.
Oakley Kato’s purpose-built design features an innovative, frameless lens, crafted with an extended wrap and built-in retention to mimic the structural properties of a typical frame. The result is a product intended to fit close to the contours of the face, creating a mask-like feel. When paired with Oakley’s unparalleled optics and clarity of vision, this product removes limitations and provides the wearer with the confidence to be at their best, unlocking their inner superpower.
During development, a select group of elite athletes including Patrick Mahomes, Mark Cavendish, Nigel Sylvester, and Joseph Newgarden, were equipped with a prototype, testing the durability and performance attributes that sets Oakley Kato apart. This feedback led to the final design, which features an adjustable rake system and multiple nosepads to enable a customized, seamless fit like never before. The strong yet lightweight O Matter™ stems provide durability, and Unobtainium® earsocks are molded over the stems to deliver all-day comfort with no-slip grip. This next-level innovation required a complete overhaul of the fabrication process – from molds to optical axis machines and lens adhesive. Conventional approaches were abandoned in order to achieve this never seen before aesthetic. Oakley Kato is available with Prizm™ lenses designed to enhance color and contrast to see more detail.
Anticipation amongst Oakley’s global community culminated in the ultimate reveal – a first-of-its-kind, collective augmented reality experience. Team Oakley athletes from across the globe, including Juju Smith-Schuster, Mikaela Shiffrin, Mark Cavendish, Rohit Sharma, Seth ‘Scump’ Abner, Valentino Rossi, and Patrick Mahomes, received a mysterious package with time-sensitive instructions. Upon opening the package, athletes discovered an other-worldly object which guided them through an AR-enabled journey, culminating in an epic crescendo when space-ship-like doors unlocked to reveal the revolutionary eyewear. This immersive, hybrid experience merged physical, digital, and social technology in a beyond human event, to capture imagination and inspire athletes to push boundaries with ultimate confidence.
To give consumers a first-hand look at the product and show-stopping virtual reveal, Juju Smith-Schuster took over Oakley’s Instagram channel, to chronicle the unboxing experience from his point-of-view. Juju was also live on his personal account giving viewers an insight into his reaction to the AR experience and product.
“We wake up every morning obsessed with the goal of igniting human possibility,” says Caio Amato, Oakley Global Brand Director. “Our pursuit for the new and unimagined has taken on many forms throughout the brand’s history, and the latest is Oakley Kato – a redefinition of aesthetics to usher in a new age of optics for the sports industry. Today represents more than just the release of a new product, it is a moment to remind ourselves that anything is possible, that superheroes are not just found in comic books, but in real life, and we can all aspire to be better than we ever imagined.”
Oakley has built a legacy on disruptive design, from the Eyeshade in 1984, to the avant-garde Over The Top debuted in Sydney in 2000, to Jawbreaker in 2015. Oakley Kato is the next step on this journey, engineered to push the boundaries of form, fit and function to achieve a revolution in eyewear design.
