Oakley Snow Helmets 2024/25 Preview

Retail Buyers Guide: Snow Helmets FW24/25 Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: Oakley
Interviewee: Brad Parker, Product Manager for Oakley Helmets

What are the main customers’ demands when buying a snowboarding helmet?

Safety, Fit, and Style are the main drivers for our consumers when they shop our accounts.

Do you target specific customers / rider types?

100%! We build our products with our consumer as the number one priority. We take UX research seriously, leveraging consumer insights with all snow riders across the globe. All Oakley helmets have specific product features that meet the consumers’ needs and wants. Our consumers enjoy a variety of riding styles such as all-mountain, resort, park, alpine racing, and backcountry.

What were your biggest sellers in 2023/24 and why?

MOD1 is our main driver within the world of snow helmets. Consumers love the clean design, comfortable soft goods package, and seamless goggle integration. We have a new model for Fall 2023 called MOD3. To help riders make the most of their day at the resort, we’ve given MOD3 the style, comfort and technology needed for riders to conquer the day with confidence. FH24 will bring new consumers to the brand as we enter the backcountry community. MODBC will be our first backcountry helmet that will feature multiple certifications, third-party technology that enhances the rider’s safety, adjustable ventilation, and a unique liner concept not seen before in this space.

In which type of helmet do you expect the biggest growth?

Oakley’s MOD1 family will continue to grow over the next few years for our helmet category. The line has multiple size options from youth to adult which allows us to speak to more consumers, while the traditional skate-style design appeals to a broader audience.

5. What are the design and material highlights of your 2024/25 collection?

For all Oakley helmets, we focus on seamless integration when it comes to goggle compatibility. Fit, Ventilation, and design all play a big role when we design our helmets.

The 2024 color palette reflects revival and balance seen through heightened earth tones. Additional brilliant, jeweled hues are mixed with thriving greens, while Oakley heritage colors pop to inspire our bold evolution toward the future.

Are you implementing sustainability in your products and production processes?

Yes, we started replacing our existing packaging for more environmentally friendly boxes and inks. For FH24, our new helmet, MODBC, uses a greener manufacturing process that uses half the power to produce one single helmet. We are continuously trying to source better manufacturing and material options to better our environment — we aren’t 100% sustainable, but Oakley is taking a unified approach across the business to aim for better standards. We feel that producing our products in a greener way is just as important to our consumers.

Do you offer accessories to your helmets?

Yes, we offer replacement goggle gaskets and replacement lenses for MOD7. This allows the consumer to customize the helmet for any riding condition. We also provide a removable chin bar for our MOD1 Pro SL, ARC5 and ARC5 models.

What are your marketing stories for 2024/25?

Our biggest consumer benefit for Fall Winter 2024 is modularity and adaptability. Our new helmet, MODBC, is equipped for any mountain and any terrain through product innovations that help the consumer adapt depending on your environment.

10. How are you supporting retailers to sell this category?

Oakley supports sell-in through multiple teams such as product, marketing, and sales. Our 360 approach to the snow category means our retailers have the support needed to trust our product offering, convert our consumers in an authentic way, and help bring new customers to the brand brand. Tools such as sales meetings, catalogs, fresh POP, marketing assets, and in-depth storytelling all support a full category approach for our retailers. In addition, our strongest selling point is giving our retailers the opportunity to cross-merchandise across our goggles, helmets, and apparel lines.

What is your situation regarding stock and deliveries?

The market is a little challenging at the moment across all snow products. However, we’re committed to delivering our products on time and providing our accounts with the best service possible.

3 key/hero models for 2024/25.

Our hero model for Fall Winter 2024/2025 is our MODBC helmet. This will be our first product specifically designed for the backcountry space, so we’re putting most of our focus and efforts into authentic storytelling when it comes to the launch. We’re really excited about this new frontier of consumers and can’t wait to see where this category takes us as a brand.