Made In Italy

[NiGHTSx2]

So after watching the 60 minutes bit, I have to wonder if the frames were designed at Lux, like they do with most of their other brands. Hopefully not...but you have to wonder if the manufacturing is done in house at Lux.

 

[Oakleymans]

So after watching the 60 minutes bit, I have to wonder if the frames were designed at Lux, like they do with most of their other brands. Hopefully not...but you have to wonder if the manufacturing is done in house at Lux.

All Oakley styles are still unequivocally and 100% Designed at Foothill Ranch...

Being more fashion oriented Lux has some cool color treatments and processes we are able to leverage for the Women's collection.

I know Lux isn't a popular subject in the forum, but I will say that the 60 minutes piece was a complete slam job. All of the Lux manufacturing is done in house. Agordo for instance, the main Italy plant is Lux owned and runned. Even the plant in China is Lux owned and run...even Apple can't say that. Apple farms out their jobs to third-party Chinese manufacturers like Foxconn that hire 14 year olds to assemble the iPhone.

When it comes to innovation and technology Oakley is the gold-standard, but Oakley and Lux share a common pride in producing quality product. Take a look at this video from the Agordo plant, it's not Foothill Ranch, but still pretty impressive...especially the hand attention to detail: 4 Luxottica production - Metal frames - YouTube

I didn't want to go on diatriabe, but I have worked for Oakley my entire adult life, pre and post Lux. In my current position I work closely with the Lux org and all of this skin-deep, armchair-analysis drives me nuts.

 

[ippotaz]

I blame LUX already

Believe me or not
but here in Italy we are able to produce good stuff...

 

[Batwolf]

I didn't make this thread to insult any countries ability to make a product, it was just to show people so that they know that some frames are being made elsewhere now (in addition to China).

And qtrain, that's a great point about Apple that a lot of people don't seem to realize. Made in China and they're the biggest brand out there. Everyone has their products and quality is never questioned.

 

[dr.chop]

O Matter will remain USA made from what I have been told due to the contracts with the military (just like the sand colored boot is USA made while the others are not)...As for Acetate, who cares. Junk anyway. Thick, not nearly as comfortable, metal hinges, just all around poo poo...That has been manufactured overseas for years, and I believe it's been hammered into the ground the fact that Lux owns like 80% or better of the factories that produce acetate frames (or something to those likes)...Has no influence on me, I will never wear acetate frames.

 

[Razerwire]

Where the frames are made don't matter to me as long as they're of excellent quality. They could be made in Timbuktu for all I care as long as the quality is best.

What I do care about is the road the company is taking in ridding themselves of the things that made Oakley unique as far as the Mad Science designs and engineering areas. Now whether or not it's because of Lux remains to be seen since, as I've stated before, neither side seems to be willing to come out clean about what exactly happened with the merger.

 

[NiGHTSx2]

What I do care about is the road the company is taking in ridding themselves of the things that made Oakley unique as far as the Mad Science designs and engineering areas. Now whether or not it's because of Lux remains to be seen since, as I've stated before, neither side seems to be willing to come out clean about what exactly happened with the merger.

So for now, all the design work is done in the USA; but will it always be the case? All of the manufacturing used to be done in the USA, and that's no longer true. Same went for Ray-Ban a while back. Just saying...

I guess it would help to know if Lux does the design work for most of their other brands because the companies don't have the design expecience/don't care to do it in house, or if Lux decides for them.

 

[Batwolf]

Design and production are two completely different aspects. Honestly I think ALL Oakley design will stay with them in the USA.

 

[Razerwire]

So for now, all the design work is done in the USA; but will it always be the case? All of the manufacturing used to be done in the USA, and that's no longer true. Same went for Ray-Ban a while back. Just saying...

I guess it would help to know if Lux does the design work for most of their other brands because the companies don't have the design expecience/don't care to do it in house, or if Lux decides for them.

Eh, as far as I'm concerned at this point, if Oakley doesn't do anything extraordinarily innovative, I'm just going to stick to finding and buying X-Metals and Splices from here on out. So it matters not if eventually the design work were to be shipped overseas too. And even if the designs were no longer from the US, as I said in the previous post, as long as the designs, engineering and manufacturing are top notch, I don't mind.

Hell, if they were to continue the X-Metal process overseas I'd be giddy with glee.

 

[dcl10]

I have some designer sunglasses, and some italian made persol and Oliver Peoples, which I would assume were made in a lux factory. I like the styles and I can typically get good discounts so it dosent bother me that much, but the build quality on most of those is terrible. My girlfriend almost exclusivly wears DG, and they don't seem to last more that a year before the hinges and such wear down, rhinestones fall out etc. One of the things I like about oakley is that they are actually a pretty good value when you compare the quality/price to the fashion sunglasses made by lux in italy.

I think the retail on my OP's were about $420, and while the lenses are fantastic (and yes better than oakley, although they are glass) if you compare the frame to something like a crosshair they are not even in the same league. I don't care where they are made, and some of my Japanese made glasses are of the highest quality, but if they are not made well then that is a problem, and from my experiance lux's italian facilities are not turning out a product in line with oakleys american made products.