#HTE

Oakley’s Boundary-Pushing Frameless Kato Sport Sunglasses

To me, Oakley is to eyewear what Bang & Olufsen is to audio equipment. Both companies lavish heavy, boundary-pushing design attention on objects at high cost, and while their aesthetics don’t appeal to me–they seem to target superheroes or supervillains–I’m always interested to see what they’re doing over there on the cutting edge.

Oakley’s latest is the Kato, a pair of frameless sport sunglasses that rely on the monolithic lens to provide the structure.

The lens changes thickness up top, forming into an arched rib for rigidity; at the bottom the lens flares out to form a nosepiece, inside of which users can attach one of three included nosepads with different thicknesses.

The stems contain a second rotating hinge that allows the lens to tilt, which Oakley says help it better adapt to the shape of one’s face.

As you’d expect, the Kato is pricey, ringing in at $291.