As a sports and lifestyle based brand, Oakley fuses together both art and science to create state-of-the-art technologies and high performance products such as sunglasses, goggles, apparel, accessories and more. They strives to create some of the best products on the market by disregarding conventional norms and constantly reinventing products and technologies with ground breaking innovations and ideas. With some of the most active people and world's top athletes in mind, Oakley eyewear seeks to provide unparalleled protection combined with a lightweight and fashionable design for athletes and those who live an active lifestyle. Founded by Jim Jannard in 1975 Oakley began as a company that manufactured and sold BMX grips utilizing materials and designs that had never been seen before. Jannard patented a special material for the hand grips called "Unobtanium" which is still used today for the earsocks and nose pieces of their sunglasses and eyewear. In 1980 they released their first pair of BMX goggles known as the O Frames, followed by the production and sales of ski goggles in 1984. Upon the release of sports driven goggles and eyewear, they began to produce their own line of sunglasses with one of the first models known as the Frogskins, a casual style that has become one of their most popular styles of sunglasses. Since then they have become a global icon leading the way in innovative designs and technologies and currently features 575 patents and 1,100 trademarks. When Jim Jannard originally founded Oakley he set out to create products that not only looked better, but functioned better too, and it is with this mentality that Oakley has been able to establish themselves as a leading brand in eyewear and build a team of over a hundred professional and amateur athletes who help drive their innovations and designs.