Oakley, the vision beyond the limit Brutalism, technology and Winter Olympics
What is a bunker doing in the middle of some of the most beautiful ski slopes in the Alps? It looks like a brutalist vault, drawing you inside, inviting you to step in and feel its AURA. Aura is the keyword of this bunker, Oakley’s latest idea to present the Aura collection and reinforce its role in the world of winter sports, in Livigno, the stage for some of the most spectacular events of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. At the Games, Oakley is not simply a technical brand supporting athletes; it is a cultural presence. The activation in Livigno is not just a territorial statement, but a symbolic moment where the brand chooses to tell a story about performance and identity, reaching its highest expression through storytelling and the athletes themselves, the same athletes who stepped into the bunker after winning medals of the most precious metal, like Mathilde Gremaud.
The Olympic Games are where everything is amplified: pressure, precision, error, detail. For Oakley, it is the perfect stage to reaffirm what has always defined its history, radical innovation, and a deep relationship with a vision that goes beyond pure technical performance. Brian Takumi, Vice President Brand Soul & Creative, was present at the bunker, helping us trace the starting point of that story: «Usually everything starts with a vision. Whether it’s performance or aesthetic, it’s almost always a combination of both. It rarely starts from aesthetic alone».
Takumi explains how that vision quickly turns into a concrete question: what are we solving? What technical problem, what emotional need? Because for Oakley, creating a functional object is never enough; it has to inspire. «Satisfy the eye, the mind and the heart» is one of the brand’s core creeds, a principle that speaks to how a decision or a project looks, how it works, and how it makes consumers and athletes feel.
Athletes, performance and platforms of legacy
If vision is the starting point, athletes are the gravitational center of the project, especially in the Olympic context. The traditional brand-ambassador dynamic feels limiting; athletes are direct collaborators, actively involved in product development and in shaping the brand’s identity. This becomes clear through the words of German snowboarder Annika Morgan, protagonist of the Aura campaign, and Mathilde Gremaud, two-time Olympic champion (slopestyle at Beijing 2022 and Milano Cortina 2026), who also holds a silver (slopestyle at Pyeongchang 2018) and a bronze (big air at Beijing 2022).
Mathilde speaks about her journey and the legacy of an Olympic gold: «The first gold medal was crazy. Now with the second one, I’m mostly proud that I can use these results in different ways. Over time, every medal carries a different weight, especially in a sport that’s still considered niche. The more it goes on, the more relevant the legacy you’re building becomes».
In Oakley’s vision of sport, the Olympics are not just a competitive milestone but a cultural platform. For Mathilde, «When you win here, you’re the best. Everyone knows what an Olympic medal means». For Gremaud, it represents visibility for her sport and, eventually, the chance to give something back. «The gold medal is a big push, a strong foundation to build on».
In the pursuit of perfection in such a demanding environment, equipment becomes decisive. «The product is key», says the Swiss gold medalist without hesitation. «If my jacket has too many pockets, it annoys me. If it’s too heavy, it annoys me. If it’s too cold, I won’t wear it. Balance is everything. Feeling good in your own skin is mental before it’s physical. If you’re putting something over your skin, it has to feel good». When it comes to goggles and lenses, her judgment is even sharper: «You put them on and you don’t even notice them. I’ve never tried anything better. For someone who’s upside down in the air, vision means orientation, control, safety». «Vision is everything», she says, and as copy lines go, it’s hard to beat.
Annika Morgan also connects performance with personal expression. «AURA to me is when you see someone and you can feel their energy. Whether it’s snowboarding or DJing, it’s the same thread, expressing myself. When I snowboard, I want to show my style. When I DJ, I want to share the music and make people feel good». Sport, then, is not just about results but about language. And it is precisely on this terrain that Oakley builds its dialogue with new generations.
No Comfort Zone
The ability to push boundaries has been part of Oakley’s DNA from the very beginning. «If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got», Takumi reminds us. It’s not just about innovating, but about doing so before anyone else, often where no one is looking. In 1987, Oakley purchased one of the first 3D printers ever made. At the time, the technology was used in aerospace; the brand applied it to eyewear design, paving the way for the Eye Jacket, the first piece of eyewear ever designed entirely in CAD.
«It’s not that we invent new technologies all the time», Takumi explains. «We’re very good at taking technologies from other industries and applying them in ways others can’t». That’s how innovations like High Definition Optics and X-Metal were born, solutions that brought sculpture and engineering into an everyday object. But for Oakley, technology is never an end in itself. It has to function flawlessly and inspire at the same time. The balance between extreme performance and distinctive aesthetics is a constant tension, resolved through research and close collaboration with athletes.
Beyond sport: the new disruptors
Takumi points out how the sports landscape has radically changed. «In the ’80s and ’90s athletes were everyday heroes. Today, for Gen Z and Gen Alpha, heroes can be creators, influencers, hybrid figures». The line between athlete and cultural personality has become increasingly blurred. Performance and storytelling intertwine, and Oakley sees this transformation not as a threat but as an expansion of the playing field. «It’s not just about athletes on the field. It’s a much broader definition of what being an athlete means today».
At the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, Oakley consolidates a position that goes beyond technical supply. The Livigno activation becomes a storytelling space and an opportunity to reaffirm its philosophy, while athletes connected to the brand continue to step onto podiums across disciplines. As one of the brand’s core principles reminds us, you have to «do what others are afraid to do».
In a world where sport is increasingly language and identity, Oakley continues to start from vision, and to push a little further every time, always coherently, always offering a clear and recognisable reference point. Just like the ellipse that symbolises the brand: a perfect shape that remains perfectly symmetrical no matter how you turn it. There is no left or right version, no forward or backward. Look closely at the podiums of the 2026 Olympics, and you’ll almost always find the aura of a small O.
