As Oakley's former Vice President of Design, Peter Yee is the hidden man responsible for the Oakley logo and many of the brand's most popular designs that marked the aesthetic of the 90s and 00s. To celebrate Yee's inaugural solo phygital exhibition, powered by SPIN.FASHION, at K11 MUSEA during Art Basel Hong Kong, we take a stroll down Oakley's iconic archive. The exhibition translates Oakley's 25-year design legacy into the digital realm.
Dennis Rodman sports Oakley Sub Zero 1992 shades in Double Team (1997)
Off the court, the 90s fashion icon was ahead of his time, challenging the established gender norms by confidently donning gold button-ups, metallic nail polish, glitter crop tops, and maximalist jewelry. His avant-garde style, unconventional for the 90s, is now embraced by younger generations as a distinctive mood. Almost always seen with shades, what brand could better complement his pop-star-meets-hip-hop-meets-goth-meets-club-kid aesthetic than Oakley?
Brad Pitt rocks Oakley Mars X-Metal Michael Jordan 1998 sunglasses in Fight Club (1999)
Fight Club (1999) is a classic, standing as one of the most iconic and celebrated thriller movies of all time. In his role as the narrator's cool, charismatic and powerful alpha alter-ego, Tyler Durden, Brad Pitt wears the Oakley Mars X Metal Michael Jordan 1998 sunglasses. Adhering to the first rule of Fight Club, we will not talk about Fight Club further. The Oakley Mars sunglasses, worn by Pitt, are one of the highly coveted pieces from the archive.
Ato Boldon wears Oakley Over The Top (OTT) Silver/Fire Iridium sunglasses at the 2000s Olympic in Sydney
The Overthetop Oakley shades were designed to minimize bounce, specifically focusing on track-and-field athletes. All eyes were on Trinidadian Olympian Ato Boldon when he sported the Silver Over The Top Oakleys during the Men's 100-meter track race at the Sydney 2000. Later, these shades gained popularity among pop-culture stars and even made an appearance in Spy Kids 3 (2003), solidifying their status as a global sensation. In 2020, Oakley revived this iconic design, which remains uniquely distinctive to this day.
Glen Plake wears Silver Oakley Minute sunglasses
Glen Plake is instantly recognizable on the slippery slopes, thanks to his vibrant mohawk. The American Hall of Fame skier stands as a known Oakley icon, often seen sporting the brand's designs again and again. In 1998, Oakley introduced the Minute sunglasses, evidently one of Plake's preferred choices. The Minute shades boast a classic and timeless design, and their popularity endures — silver sunglasses were ubiquitous in 2022-2023. If you're drawn to the gas station sunglass vibe, Oakley is the blueprint.
Kerwin Frost in Oakley Kato Prizm Black Lens sunglasses
Entertainer and fashion icon Kerwin Frost is a modern-day example of a true Oakley stan. Kerwin Frost has a significant influence on the street-style and sneakerhead crowd that listens to Tyler The Creator and Lil Uzi Vert (this includes me). Whether sporting the Oakley overheads or the Kato Prizm shades, Frost exemplifies how Oakley still runs deep in the veins of style icons and continues to live on today.
RENAISSANCE 2.0 x Peter Yee hosted by SPIN.FASHION will run during Art Basel Hong Kong from March 28 to April 28 2024 at K11 MUSEA.
The people love Oakley.
What is your ideal office?
Seagram Building, carpeted, filled with natural light, with our factories a few blocks away.
What is your most powerful tool?
The fact that we're a team, our similarities and differences included.
How did you two meet?
Downtown, at a mutual friend's birthday dinner.
Is there an era you often refer back to when it comes to your clothing designs?
'80s and '90s corporate Asia.
What street comes to mind when you think of New York City? Why?
JK Crosby street, where I used to intern.
DC 15th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenue, where my first dorm was.
Which artist, alive or dead, would be your dream collaborator?
JK Wolfgang Tillmans.
DC Keizo Kitajima.
What is something you collect or have collected over a period of time?
Photography books, at our office.
What are some of your proudest accomplishments since starting the brand?
Being shortlisted for LVMH, starting our menswear line and receiving re-orders.
Who do you make clothing for?
Ourselves and our friends.
Why did you start Commission?
There was really no brand at the time that spoke to being Asian and our heritage the way that we wanted to in America. The representation was either scarce or generalized because our industry's references to Asian-ness were honestly quite narrow and questionably stereotypical. Being Asian was far from being considered "cool" or "aspirational" at least through the lens of American fashion so we wanted to create a brand that's just that — cool and aspirational. When we met, we each wanted to eventually build something of our own and the common thread was our shared memories of growing up in Korea and Vietnam, so it was quick for us to realize that Commission should be about telling that story in an intelligent, truthful and nuanced way — not "assuming" what being Asian is about.
What's the most memorable piece of advice you've ever received from a stranger?
If you believe in it, everyone else will too.
Alaïa
Alaïa’s subtle splatter of poise was a case in point: keeping with the season’s yearning for reductionism, the collection exemplified simplicity and purity, with dashes of intimacy that nodded to a freedom that chose not to “minimize but to focus,” reworking Azzedine’s concepts in sheer separates. The result? A rich dish, skimmed of all fat. And as Pieter Mulier proved here, there’s no aesthetic loss to working along this lane.
Chanel
At Chanel, Virginie Viard took the jewel-button into the realm of ballet. A medley of artistic influencers came together as fuss-free poetry, translating into the likes of short straight skirts, jumpsuits and capes emblazoned with embroidered details that nodded to masculine figures.
Christian Dior
Uptown girls of a certain class have–no doubt–found affection for Maria Grazia Chiuri’s oeuvre at Dior, who flexed her creative muscle by exploring the “plural beauty of textiles.” The pleasing element was found within the tangible, chromatic and breezy presence of the elements that constitute the silhouette, working alongside the theoretical dimensions of haute couture: an experience that is not only “contemplative, but also performative.”
Schiaparelli
Welcome to Schiapar-alien! For Spring, Daniel Rosberry drew influences from sci-fi movies, retro technology and his Texan upbringing, to question what it means to be human in the backstage age, continuing his dictionary of sculptural dressing by blending traditional tailoring techniques and contemporary cool.
FENDI
Speaking of blend, there was a newfound pragmatism at FENDI, where geometric pattern cutting created lightness in textures like gazar, all while following the female body through rigorous cuts.
Valentino
A rigor that embraced all manner of grandeur at Valentino, with a collection that acts as an interplay of pieces, creating a modern wardrobe that owns the fundamental ground of recontextualization, shifting perceptions, resetting key values and attitudes of the modern age.
Maison Margiela
Elsewhere, Maison Margiela’s Spring 2024 Couture show — a poignant, masterful mimicry of John Galliano’s Fall 95/96 outing — brought forth the showy hallmarks of fashion The attention to detail was–as always, with Gallano – impressive, but more than that, the collection eased some of Margiela’s excess into minimal territory — a place where designers have taken the ‘safe card’ to extreme proportions over the last few seasons (you’re welcome, loud luxury). Galliano presented a fantasy without fear: dramatic gestures and romance, stirring emotions, with a spectacular show that reaffirmed the position — and purpose — of fashion right back to where it belongs: In the trunk of dreams.
