Smith Goggles

Smith Optics called upon Dept of Energy to present conceptual ideas for a line of helmets and goggles. Always keeping one ear to the ground to hear the rumble of an approaching trend before it hits big, we saw a visual pattern starting to form with a few small independent clothing designers and a small circle of street artists showing in galleries. These designers were drawing inspiration from an early 17th century form of porcelain called Delftware, named after the town of Delft that produced it.

Delftware was traditionally tiles, pottery and dining sets, which obtained their unique look by the process they were created with. The clay was shaped, glazed with liquid white tin glaze, fired, then the design pricked through on a piece of paper where when laid on the clay, was transferred to the tile by pouncing through the holes with charcoal so the painter could then complete the painting before firing one last time.

Though the style has been mimicked in ski sweaters forever, we felt incorporating it in a new & fresh manner with the right imagery could lead the charge on a style untapped in the surf/skate/snow industries. We're glad Smith Optics agreed with us and pushed this concept through to production to begin a new fashion trend in the field.