Jim Jannard disrupted eyewear and then the movie business and has now made a quiet move back into sunglasses with M-Experiment.
The serial entrepreneur said on social media his latest project is now “up and running” as of July 5. Jannard had been teasing M-Experiment for some time with Instagram posts of tightly cropped images featuring the brand logo and product pieces.
M-Experiment was founded with his son, Jamin Jannard, who Jim said he now works for in another social media post.
“Oakley and Red founder Jim Jannard and his son Jamin are back to scratch their design itch…and just have some fun,” reads an about section of the company’s site.
Jim Jannard is known for starting Foothill Ranch-based Oakley, which he sold to what was then Luxottica for $2.1 billion in 2007. He had already started his next company, Red Digital Cinema, by the time of Oakley’s sale, building cameras that helped speed up Hollywood’s adoption of digital over film.
Currently, there are three styles available for purchase online, named Business, Pleasure, and Gigawatt, in addition to apparel, headwear, and accessories. The eyewear ranges from $90 for a matte black version of the Business frames to $185 for a Gigawatt polarized style.
In keeping with all things surrounding Jannard, the eyewear is high tech, touting features that help reduce glare and eye strain, protect from UV rays, and enhance clarity, among other things.
The Gigawatt style alone is made up of 27 parts.
The sunglasses include a proprietary material the company calls M Carbon that offers resistance to heat and adds durability.
“This is the beginning of the experiment,” the company said in a social media post this month. “There are many designs in the works that range from mild to Mars. No timetables…released when ready.”
Kari Hamanaka can be reached at kari@shop-eat-surf-outdoor.com.
