From Spy Kids and Blade to the Olympics

The use of eyewear in films can be a nice touch for fleshing out a character or furthering a story. Over the years, though, some pairs of eyewear stand out more than others. Oakley’s Over The Top sunglasses have an immediately recognisable silhouette. Quite possibly, there’s no other pair of eyewear like it on the market — decades after its release.

Of course, Oakley is no stranger to featuring in films. The sports performance eyewear brand is famously the go-to brand for the action blockbuster franchise, Mission: Impossible. The iconic Tom Cruise stunt, where he rides a bike off a cliff, featured custom-made Oakley goggles that were lightweight and prioritised Cruise’s safety and performance.

Still, the iconic Oakley Over The Top’s distinct look far exceeds the custom-made stunt goggles featured in Mission: Impossible. As a result, the shades have been seen across different movie genres. Below, we’ll take a closer look at the Over The Tops and how they were used in film and in real-life sports:

Oakley’s Over The Top sunglasses

Oakley’s Over The Top sunglasses were produced between 2000 and 2004 and bravely innovated the conventional structure and design of sunglasses. Instead of regular frames and arms, the Over The Top fits over the wearer’s head and is armless.

In deg the look and feel of the Over The Top, Oakley consulted with runners and athletes to ensure the glasses’ design doesn’t hinder athletic performance. The over-the-head structure, instead of conventional arms, was designed to eliminate pressure points and the bounce typically felt while running.

In comparison, Oakley’s other running sunglasses — and the rest of the brand’s collection or products — all take up the traditional frames and arms design. Of course, Oakley’s running shades still incorporate the brand’s signature bold design philosophy. The Oakley Kato, for example, are frameless wrap sunglasses that use the brand’s patented PhysioMorphic™ Geometry tech, allowing the lenses to be as close to the face as possible to provide a wider field of view for runners and athletes. While no other Oakley shades are as exciting or unique as the Over The Top, they do offer prescription , which the OTT does not.

Below, we’ll take a look at some of the iconic Over The Top appearances through the years:

Spy Kids 3

The Over The Top was famously featured and worn in 2003’s Spy Kids 3D movie. In the film, Arnold, one of the main characters, wears the shades in the movie’s fictional in-game world. Arnold wears the silver colourway of the frames, with red lenses that match his red in-game outfit.

Blade 2

While Blade, the Marvel-borne Vampire Hunter, is known for the titular character’s use of sunglasses, the character that wears the Over The Top in this movie is Nyssa Damaskinos. Oakley even released a limited-edition Over The Top Blade II Edition in the Matte Black/Ruby Iridium colourway.

Spider-Man 2

Oakley was famously one of many corporate brands looking to contribute to and be featured in the Spider-Man films. Notably, the eyewear brand hoped their lenses could be used for Spidey’s mask’s lenses, while Nike wanted to contribute material for the hero’s boots. Still, Oakley did end up getting featured in the second Sam Raimi Spider-Man movie. The Over The Tops can be seen worn by a couple of background characters while they tested Green Goblin tech.

The Olympics
Beyond Hollywood, however, the Oakley Over The Top was famously featured in multiple Olympics. For the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Ato Boldon, the stylish sprinter from Trinidad and Tobago, wore a pair of the Over The Tops. He recently told GQ that, despite initially not wanting to wear them, he thought they “looked insane” and was going “to be really, really, cool.”

Years later, ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Oakley re-released the Oakley Over The Top in new gold and bronze FMJ colourways. There was also a new “Precious Mettle” colour option, which was priced at $2,000 (£1,528.29) and only 20 units produced worldwide. Each pair was stamped with a unique serial number to mark its significance.