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Did Netflix’s ‘3 Body Problem’ Riff On One the Most Absurd Pieces of Olympic Sportswear Ever Made?

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a black male athlete wearing unique silver sport glasses
Olympic sprinter Ato Boldon wearing the original OVERTHETOP sport glasses.
Oakley

Instead of using temples or arms like most glasses to stay put, the shades featured two curved metallic, hook-like pieces that wrapped snugly over the wearer’s head. 

In the following years, the unmistakable eyewear appeared on celebrities like Flavor Flav and Andre 3000 of Outkast, and even a Swedish golfer, Jarmo Sandelin

Oakley also revived the sunglasses from the original mold it used for the original in 2020. The new edition, dubbed precious mettle OVERTHETOP, was updated with a color that changed from gold to silver and bronze in a nod to Olympic medals. Oakley made just 20 pairs for an astounding $2,000 each, which, along with the original release, you can still hunt down on eBay. After the revival in 2020, Oakley stated it would be destroying the OVERTHETOP mold for good. 

While the facemask portion of the 3 Body Problem’s headset may look more like an X-Wing pilot helmet, the smooth arch that stretches over the wearer’s head, presumably to distribute the weight of the headset better, seems similar to Yee’s OVERTHETOP design, at least to me. 

gold sunglasses with frames that go over the top of the head
Oakley’s 2020 Precious Mettle OVERTHETOP.
Oakley

More broadly, the prop also seems imbued with the aesthetic ideal Yee strived to achieve in all of his work for Oakley, which he describes as “accelerating curves.” As Sabukaru notes in their retrospective on his work, Yee focused on “creating a continuous, dynamic flow throughout all his designs” which helped shift Oakley’s brand identity to one of “futurism and hyper functionality.”



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