I was in the Oakley shop here in the UK in Portsmouth and noticed a lot of the glasses no longer have 'made is usa' on the frames?

I used to collect Oakley's many years ago and that was one of the marks we were always told to look out for. Having got into cycling recently, I've started buying sports Oakley's again so I was just curious.

Inceidently about 3 years ago I was in China and was at the Oakley factory there, so I was always curious as to why they had made in USA on anyway. Although having worked in the manufacturing industry for 15 years, China seems to have a bad rep for producing products (wrongly so) so instead of putting made in China and put people off are they leaving the frames blank?

Anyway great forum guys, also love the database! Found a lot of my mid 90s glasses on there that are boxed away safely :)

We actually met up with a few designers and PR guys over the summer, and this was on the top of the list of things to discuss from a fan's perspective. Mainly, like you said, the perception that "Made in China" is synonymous with low quality. It is true that the Made in USA label has been removed from all molds, and the two main lines of thought are 1) so they can use the same molds and not worry about where the distribution ends up, and 2) stricter laws on what actually is allow to be labeled as Made in USA.

Regarding point #1, I suppose generally products would be shipped to the closest locations from the factory of origin, but I know certain frames are only made outside of the US (Rx, Acetate, Wires). For point #2, one issue was that the polarizing filter, which was made in Japan, is valued at much more than anything else on the frame so the Made in USA portion is only a few dollars worth of nylon and polycarb, compared to the film.

One suggestion that was brought up, was to either pursued the Assembled in USA, or some description that helps alleviate some wild guesses as to where things are made. With the state of the company, there's little chance that they will meet demand just by pushing everything through Foothill Ranch, but I think just some careful wording might help.

In the end, O Matter can safely be assumed to be Made in USA, as long as you aren't in Brazil, Asia, or near another plant that would be the likely source. I know there's claims that the lenses aren't US, but in that case there must be an army of mimes pretending to work, since they had an awful lot of production going on the times I've been to HQ in the past few years. Heck, they even have a few robotic arms helping out to get more efficiency out of the HQ plant.

Welcome to the forum too, glad you found us. Hope to see some of that mid-90's stash you found. That's the good stuff right there.

Dan, thanks for the thoughtful reply, really insightful and answers a lot of the questions.

I was in China on other manufacturing business, but was in and around where Oakley's are made there and a guy I got talking to (worked for the company responsible for managing the factory) seemed to think that they'd been told putting made in China on would be branding suicide for the long run so Made in USA was embossed as standard, not sure where he got that information from other than that he claimed it was direct from Oakley in the US, whether that was BS or not I don't know.

As I understand it though I have heard there are 'made in China' models out there.

The quality of manufacturing in China IMO is better than that of here in Europe from my 15 years experience of dealing with the Chinese, but what worries me is that market being flooded with 'third shift' products, something someone working there in China told me over dinner, indicating it was already a massive problem (this was 3 years ago).

From my experience 'Third shift' products are almost impossible to tell the difference of. (I work for a big company similar to Oakley but mostly clothing, and we have the same problem with counterfeit products).

Anyway, I was mostly just curious having been out of the Oakley enthusiast game for a while now. Good to know the Holbrooks I saw in the outlet store are good though, I must admit I was a bit thrown off when I saw made in USA on virtually all the glasses on the shelf but 2-3 pairs didn't have it on, I am guessing that are just newer ones!

I will definitely post up some of my 90s frames when I get the chance to sort them out, I have a few lovely sample models I got at a sports trade fair in the late 90s I'm not sure even ended up getting produced :)

Good to know the Holbrooks I saw in the outlet store are good though, I must admit I was a bit thrown off when I saw made in USA on virtually all the glasses on the shelf but 2-3 pairs didn't have it on, I am guessing that are just newer ones! - PRS

Yeah, it's the newer ones. I actually just helped someone out with a Holbrook since he bought a newer one, and I found another local that still had Made in USA. I bought that and he returned his original.

There are some stamped with Made in China. My Deviation wires from my local OPD don't have it, but the few I got from the online vault have the stamp.

I have a few lovely sample models I got at a sports trade fair in the late 90s I'm not sure even ended up getting produced :)

Now I'm really interested.

Interesting Dan again, maybe we are in a crossover period where you are going to find a lot of legitimate frames with all sorts on. I'd say it's less of an issue here in the UK, there's probably not as much made of the made in USA branding, but when I speak to people who marketed sports gear in the last couple of decades, I know a lot who feel the success of Oakley was the made in USA aspect. IMO Chinese standards of manufacturing are generally superb, so I don't see an issue with it, but I can see why the fans have such an issue with it.

As I said, I work in manufacturing, we are going through something similar for the company I work for as regards to where the label says it's made for certain brands of trainers/sneakers.

I will certainly post up some of my sample glasses, I often swapped sample models for clothes/trainers with other sales reps. Have to dig them out of my storage, might even have time this weekend :-)

Is there anyway to search directly by SKU number? Or can you only search via frame model and then scrolling through. I've been having plenty of time browsing when I should be working the last few days :D

Yep, just type in the SKU in the search box at the top. It should detect the pattern (either ##-### or OO/OX####-##) and redirect to the SKU search. Otherwise it will do a name match or soundex match. I've been loading a ton of vintage SKU's over the past few weeks, so there's a good chance you'll be able to find what you're looking for. If not, let me know and I can add them.

Fascinating exchange between you two. I enjoyed it very much.

Fascinating exchange between you two. I enjoyed it very much. - ichibandidisan

Indeed. Now we sit and salivate waiting for the pics... ;)

The "all or virtually all" of the major component parts standard has made it very tough for all US manufacturers to comply. Thus, many are removing Made in USA even when over 90% IS made in the USA.

http://www.business.ftc.gov/documents/bus03-complying-made-usa-standard

I like knowing the % of US domestic content of the items that I purchase.

Hi guys, in Luxembourg on business at the moment but have already instructed my son to dust off my old collection from storage ;-)I have some interesting pics ( I hope ) still at some point. Having browsed through the original racing jackets, I am sure I have a couple of pairs not listed on here that I picked up at the pre race marketing for the Giro D'Italia, maybe in 98 or 99, I can't remember exactly, the only reason I remember even vaguely is that I'm sure it was the same event I picked up one of my best freebie hauls ever, 10 pairs of Briko Stingers (non Oakley, still a good pair of shades just a bit damn ugly looking back).

Heglock, the company I work for in Sports Manufacturing has the same problem (if not worse) with EU law here in Europe. From a branding perspective I've heard executives sit down and discuss "Ok, we can't put made in X or Y anymore, but where can we label to limit our loss of credibility?". China tends to be the last place people want to put because of that increased risk of the idea that goods can be counterfeited. Of course this is ridiculous, because even if you don't put made in china and it still is anyway, the same counterfeits will pop up no matter how you label your brand.

It's a headache for a lot of brands and interesting that as of now Oakley are simply choosing to not put made in anywhere effectively. Dann obviously has much more insight in terms of Oakley if he's met with their PR guys and what direction they are going.

I don't know why this decision got made FWIW, but a popular brand of trainer I rep and market for here in Europe often, the decision was made to label 'Made in Vietnam' (it was perceived to be not as bad as having made on China on, I don't know who's genius idea that was) whereas as far as I am aware and have been to the factory, 99.9% of the shoe is made in China. Interestingly, the EU don't seem to care about that (both Vietnam and China both being outside the EU) but if we put somewhere like USA or Cental Europe for example, they would be all over us like a shot.

Interestingly enough, the thing that caused the largest uproar lately was this:



But that's mainly because there were fears that it was simply a Luxx frame from some other line, and the Icon was slapped on it. I did bring this up with PR and got this:

All Oakley eyewear is designed by the Oakley design team at FHR. At times we have manufactured specific styles at the Lux factory in Italy (like Unstoppable), but regardless of manufacturing location, all Oakley products are designed by the Oakley design team to meet our universal standard for quality, fit, and performance.

Form letter basically. Ah well.

Not in defense of Oakley Dann, but shows they can't win. No longer has 'Made in USA' on and instead products are made in China, suddenly the product is cheap, tacky, fake (insert any other cliche here).

Bring out a model and make it somewhere perceived to have high standards of quality goods in Italy (probably wrongly perceived IMO) and people are outraged it's a rehashed Ray Ban etc.!

I've found in my day job, as long as the products meet the same standard that 99.9% of the buying public expect, most people don't have a problem and neither will the company. There will always be that tiny percent of collectors and fanatics to a brand they will have fond memories of how it's usually done, wishful and idyllic memories of how products are crafted, blissfully aware that whilst companies like to keep the customers happy, it's ultimately about profits, anyway sorry I digress, but I find it all interesting nonetheless. I've had numerous arguments with trainers/sneakers fansites on a professional level over the years.

For reference in any case

Interesting Dann, I wonder how true that is. Adidas I know got in trouble reasonably recently in Germany a few years back about percentage of items they claimed were still European or German made on certain lines, turned out the laces or something from the Beckenbauer range were at a stretch manufactured locally!

With my interest in Oakley turned back up after a decade or so gathering dust, metaphorically and literally, I've managed to worm my way into working for a company I represent at the Cycling World Championships, headed out to Spain from Friday.

I've already emailed an old friend of mine who as far as I know usually goes to these things on Oakley's behalf to liase with a lot of the cycling teams etc., so I'm already licking my lips at what I might be able to pick up as a freebie, although these days aren't what it used to be like, in the 90s you'd leave with a suitcase of your own branded stuff and come back with two suitcases of different branded sporting goods, if only eBay were around back then, I wouldn't have to still be working :-)

For those who are curious as to what the new USA Made vs. USA Assemble badges mean:

The 95% vs 100% should help more get the Made in USA approval. Still yet to see anything other than assembled though.

The 95% vs 100% should help more get the Made in USA approval. Still yet to see anything other than assembled though. - Dann

My latest Straightback had "USA made" on it.