Posted on Jun 18, 2022
How Oakley came to be accused of ‘fascism’ for selling Thin Blue Line sunglasses
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In the last few years, if you have come face-to-face with a police officer in riot gear at a Black Lives Matter protest, a masked militia man with a big gun outside a statehouse, or an in-your-face, flag-waving Trump supporter, there is a decent chance they are wearing Oakley sunglasses.
The futuristic shades have become a fashion shorthand for a wider set of identities and their associated politics, just like the Patagonia puffer vests of the San Francisco tech elite, or canvas Carhartt jackets of blue collar Midwesterners and the hipsters who imitate them. For Oakley, this symbolism is a long time coming.
Colin Baden, CEO of Oakley until 2015, remembers a trade show in the 1990s in Southern California. A rival brand put up a sign that said, “Cops wear Oakleys,” thinking it would damage the company’s standing among the region’s massive (and lucrative) surf market, not a group known for its excessive fondness for law enforcement.
The futuristic shades have become a fashion shorthand for a wider set of identities and their associated politics, just like the Patagonia puffer vests of the San Francisco tech elite, or canvas Carhartt jackets of blue collar Midwesterners and the hipsters who imitate them. For Oakley, this symbolism is a long time coming.
Colin Baden, CEO of Oakley until 2015, remembers a trade show in the 1990s in Southern California. A rival brand put up a sign that said, “Cops wear Oakleys,” thinking it would damage the company’s standing among the region’s massive (and lucrative) surf market, not a group known for its excessive fondness for law enforcement.
How Oakley came to be accused of ‘fascism’ for selling Thin Blue Line sunglasses
Posted from independent.co.uk
Police
Law Enforcement
Fashion
Fashion and Apparel
Black Lives Matter
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."It’s Oakley,” he added. “That’s what the cops wear. I’m not terribly surprised. It’s pretty gross. That’s pretty stomach-churning to see that they would put out something of that sort.”
The Blue Line has a long and tangled history. Some trace its origins back to a famous “thin red line” battle formation used by British troops in the Crimean War in the 19th century, which was later heralded in art and popular culture.
The concept later migrated to policing and the US, with law enforcement leaders in cities like New York and Los Angeles in the early and mid-1900s touting the idea of the “thin blue line.” Among its proponents were New York police commissioner Richard Enright, whose department in 1920s struggled with widespread corruption during the Prohibition era, and Los Angeles police chief William Park, who said immigrants were “not far removed from the wild tribes of Mexico” and called Black people who rioted against police brutality in 1965 “monkeys in a zoo.”...
..."It’s Oakley,” he added. “That’s what the cops wear. I’m not terribly surprised. It’s pretty gross. That’s pretty stomach-churning to see that they would put out something of that sort.”
The Blue Line has a long and tangled history. Some trace its origins back to a famous “thin red line” battle formation used by British troops in the Crimean War in the 19th century, which was later heralded in art and popular culture.
The concept later migrated to policing and the US, with law enforcement leaders in cities like New York and Los Angeles in the early and mid-1900s touting the idea of the “thin blue line.” Among its proponents were New York police commissioner Richard Enright, whose department in 1920s struggled with widespread corruption during the Prohibition era, and Los Angeles police chief William Park, who said immigrants were “not far removed from the wild tribes of Mexico” and called Black people who rioted against police brutality in 1965 “monkeys in a zoo.”...
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That is crossing the line and stretching...instead of looking outwards to shift any blame maybe they need to look at their embezzling leadership that turned thierback
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