Brain Dead and Oakley have officially announced the release of their Oakley Flesh collaboration. This marks the starting point of a new beginning for the innovation lab created by Brain Dead and Oakley: the Oakley Factory Team.
The Oakley Factory Team acts as an R&D division for the highest form of conceptual design and experimentation, focusing on pushing the limits via product and multimedia storytelling. The vision is to take Oakley’s rich history of innovation and experimentation and take it a step further by integrating the DNA of archived products into new models via Brain Dead’s design and marketing matrix.
According to Brain Dead founder Kyle Ng, the Oakley Factory Team “represents the cross-section between art, design, experimentation and functionality. We look at Oakley Factory Team as being the experimental prototype that facilitates the imagination to be realized.”
First order of business for the Oakley Factory Team is resurrecting the early ’00s Oakley Flesh with three new styles. Two were created as limited edition styles exclusive to Brain Dead, coming in Lime/Blue and Ice, the latter previewed by Sean Pettit last month. The third is a mainline model that comes in a Sand/Blue color scheme. All three come with a brush calf leather upper and form-fitting padded neoprene sock collar, though the Brain Dead versions have a couple added features such as oval appliqués and a metal Oakley logo.
“Brain Dead has always been one to push the boundaries of the avant-garde via experimentation,” says Kyle Ng. “We look to take the founders of Oakley’s original concepts and ideas and bring them forward into our new world. Some of Oakley’s earliest designs, such as the Flesh, seemed so futuristic at the time that it is only now that they have begun to feel like contemporary objects. From the desires of functionality to those of performance, the Oakley Factory Team desires to expand the mind and bring to life ideas from Oakley’s alt imagination.”
The Brain Dead x Oakley Factory Team Flesh launches in “Ice” and “Lime/Blue” colorways on April 19th exclusively at Brain Dead Studios Fairfax and Harajuku and on the Brain Dead website. The Oakley Factory Team Flesh “Sand/Blue” drops on May 3rd at Oakley stores, Oakley.com, and select retailers such as Dover Street Market, HBX, and SSENSE. Check out all three pairs below.
Brain Dead x Oakley Factory Team Flesh “Ice”
Release Date: April 19, 2022
Price: $165 USD
Brain Dead x Oakley Factory Team Flesh “Lime/Blue”
Release Date: April 19, 2022
Price: $165 USD
Oakley Factory Team Flesh “Sand/Blue”
Release Date: May 3, 2022
Price: $155 USD