From February 20 - February 23, Oakley took over a space directly between legendary Los Angeles diner Canter's and Supreme's West Coast flagship to celebrate its latest initiative, the City of Origins, centered around the love of sport and the return of an icon: the Oakley Sutro Eyeshade.
Located at 427 N Fairfax Ave, the three-day event kicked off with a launch party on Thursday evening where a who's who of the industry's brightest showed up to be the first to explore the City of Origins. Unlock the House provided music throughout the evening, while Burgerlords cooked up food inspired by California cuisine circa 1984.
On Friday, doors officially opened to the public at 11am and the first fans came streaming in. They were treated to an expansive, welcoming space that included a photo exhibition by Evan Mock, exclusive Los Angeles Oakley merch, a screen-printing customization workshop that featured artwork from Sage Adams and Ganna Bogdan, a live dip-dye demo from Oakley product expert Evan Barnhart, prints by Bob Haro, and, of course, a wide range of Oakley eyewear.
Highsnobiety's West Coast Editorial Director Brock Cardiner was on hand to moderate two interviews that were live-streamed on Oakley's YouTube and Instagram channels, respectively. The first saw him sit down with Bob Haro, the Southern California native who practically invented freestyle BMX, and Nigel Sylvester, the New York local who catapulted himself to the forefront of the sport through his viral GO series. Together, they discussed the origins of freestyle BMX, the relationship between art and sport, and what the future of the craft looks like.
Later that day, Highsnobiety walked through the space with surfer, skater, model and photographer extraordinaire Evan Mock to learn about one of his first-ever solo exhibitions. Mock shared insights on intimate photographs that captured his origin, featuring subjects close to his home in Hawaii in addition to candid moments with rap superstar Travis Scott in Houston, Texas.
Saturday saw fitness and wellness advisor Ariel Foxie lead a guided training experience connecting inner vision to physical performance with a chance to test Oakley's EVZero Blades. The program continued with the artists featured in the customization workshop, Sage Adams and Ganna Bogdan, discussing the role of sport and creativity as forces of change in front of a live audience. The day wrapped up with artist Hassan Rahim sharing his thoughts on how the pioneering vision for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics incited a design revolution.
On the final day of the event, Oakley once again gave guests the opportunity to hear from Ariel Foxie directly, as well as one last chance to experience everything the City of Origins offered.
Scroll through the gallery above to get a better sense of what went down and watch the video below for even more insight in to the City of Origins.
