Oakley releases Green Fade collection for Olympic athletes

Mark Cavendish

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Mark Cavendish

For the Games in Rio this August, and in the spirit of connecting athletes across sporting disciplines and nations, Oakley has released its Green Fade collection.

The glasses in the collection are hand painted in Foothill Ranch, Calif. Workers with paint sprayers apply the colour that hearkens to Oakley’s ’80s performance eyewear. The green covers the rim, bridge and hinges of the glasses, then fades to white on the temples. At first glance, a pair of Green Fade glasses might look just another. But, if you look closely, you’ll see variation in the fades from one pair to another. The hand-painting process makes sure that each pair is unique.

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Oakley-sponsored athletes at the 2016 Olympic Games will sport Green Fade glasses. They can choose from  the new EVZero, launched earlier this year, Jawbreaker, Radar EV Path, Flak 2.0 XL and RadarLock Path. There are also lifestyle glasses for out of competition, including Frogskins and Crosslink Zero RX. The effect, Oakley hopes, is a visual connection in Rio. You’ll see they company’s athletes on the roads, trails, boards and in the stands.

“It doesn’t matter what country we’re representing. Everyone is going out there and striving to do the best they can,” said Mark Cavendish in a gesture of international unity. Other cyclists with Oakley include Canada’s Catharine Pendrel, Nino Schurter of Switzerland, and Julien Absalon and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, both of France.