What will sportswear and eyewear look like 50 years from now? Oakley is answering that question in its boldest campaign yet: Artifacts From the Future. Marking five decades of relentless innovation, the brand isn’t just looking back—it’s leaping forward. With football superstar Kylian Mbappé as the face of the campaign, Oakley unveils a futuristic vision where design, technology, and storytelling collide.
From the next-gen evolution of its iconic sunglasses to the function-driven SS25 Reserve apparel line, Artifacts From the Future imagines how athletes will move, see, and perform in the decades ahead. And with a powerhouse lineup that includes Mbappé, NBA standout Jaylen Brown, and soccer phenom Trinity Rodman, Oakley reinforces its status as the intersection where performance meets style—both now and in the future.
Reimagining 2075 Through Oakley’s Lens
Oakley’s Artifacts From the Future campaign dares to imagine what sports and performance wear might look like five decades from now. Equal parts speculative fiction and brand manifesto, the campaign introduces high-wrap eyewear and futuristic apparel, all infused with bold, sci-fi-inspired design. The visual storytelling is immersive, transporting viewers into an otherworldly realm—one that feels just as visionary as the gear itself.
“2025 is our 50-year anniversary. And 50 years from now, we want people to recognize the products we make now as leaving their mark in history,” says Brian Takumi, Oakley’s Vice President of Brand Soul. With that future-forward mindset, Oakley isn’t just designing for today—it’s crafting what it hopes will be the icons of tomorrow.
Where Innovation Meets Identity
Kylian Mbappé’s presence in the campaign goes far beyond a typical celebrity endorsement. It embodies Oakley’s unique fusion of athletic excellence and radical design. With his blistering speed and futuristic playing style, Mbappé naturally aligns with the brand’s bold vision of 2075.
In the campaign visuals, he wears pieces from the Reserve apparel collection and dons one of Oakley’s most avant-garde creations: the Plantaris eyewear. These wraparound sunglasses draw inspiration from both frog-leg biomimicry and Oakley’s own legacy—specifically, iconic ’90s silhouettes like the Eye Jacket and Straight Jacket. The result? A design that looks like it crash-landed from another galaxy, yet pulses with the rebellious spirit of a California motocross pit.
Plantaris: A Nod to the Past, A Leap Into the Future
At the center of the campaign is the Plantaris family—a futuristic eyewear line already spotted on trendsetters like Travis Scott and Kyle Ng. The latest additions, Lateralis and Masseter, push the vision even further. With aggressive curves, sculptural frames, and silhouettes that look straight out of a sci-fi film, these designs imagine what Oakley sunglasses could be 50 years from now, while still nodding to the brand’s iconic design heritage.
Nick Garfias, the brand’s Vice President of Design, makes it clear: “We’re not recreating the past, because that’s not how you build a future.” Instead, Oakley uses its legacy as a springboard, drawing on its archives to shape products that feel bold, modern, and unmistakably timeless. By weaving past and future into every frame, Oakley is creating artifacts that are built to endure.
Apparel for Tomorrow’s Athletes
Of course, eyewear is only one facet of Oakley’s futuristic vision. The SS25 Reserve apparel line—modeled by NBA star Jaylen Brown—fuses performance utility with high-concept fashion. Think multi-pocket jackets, advanced technical fabrics, and silhouettes that look lifted from a sci-fi action film, yet are engineered for the gym, the streets, or the trail.
Designed with both form and function in mind, the collection delivers gear as versatile as the athletes who wear it. With bold cuts, futuristic textures, and a neutral, utilitarian palette, Oakley’s apparel line doesn’t just complement the eyewear—it completes the immersive world of Artifacts From the Future.
A Legacy of Reinvention
Founded in 1975 by Jim Jannard, Oakley began as a scrappy venture—selling motorcycle parts and goggles out of the back of a car. A decade later, in 1985, it introduced the Frogskin: a bold, irreverent design that would go on to become one of the brand’s most iconic and laid-back styles. Fast-forward 50 years, and the frog still leaps—this time as a symbol of Oakley’s relentless innovation. The new Plantaris eyewear, for instance, draws direct inspiration from the musculature of a frog’s leg, blending biomimicry with futuristic form.
What truly sets Oakley apart is its resistance to nostalgia. Rather than recycling retro designs, the brand transforms its legacy into forward-thinking creations. Artifacts From the Future isn’t just a campaign. It’s a declaration—that Oakley’s past is merely the launchpad for what comes next.
The Future Is Now
With Artifacts From the Future, Oakley delivers a campaign that’s visually striking, narratively rich, and unapologetically product-driven. Featuring world-class athletes like Kylian Mbappé and designs that feel lightyears ahead, the campaign cements Oakley’s role not just as a sportswear brand, but as a cultural force shaping the future.
Whether you’ve been with the brand since the Frogskin days or are just discovering it through this visionary drop, one thing is certain: Oakley isn’t just imagining the future—it’s designing it, in style.
Artifacts From the Future is available now at Oakley.com and select Oakley stores worldwide.
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All photos courtesy of Oakley
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