Baden, who came on staff as design director in 1996 and became president in 1999, says his lost-in-time aesthetic borrows mostly from 1940s sawmills (maybe if you squint just so).
In fact, much of the steel fabrication was done by an industrial shipbuilder in Tacoma, Washington. He also sourced industrial relics, including massive working exhaust valves.
To amplify the absurdity, he requested ridiculously huge bolts and rivets (some in the entryway are a foot wide).
Image: The Oakley faithful can tour the HQ, starting with an ear-splitting video in the 400-seat theater. Other attractions: a customer-service repair-and-warranty center (situated behind a blast door, of course), a retail store, and a museum that highlights the company's product history -- including autographed shades worn by Lance Armstrong in his Tour de France victories. | Photograph: Dwight Eschliman
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