Did you know that Travis Scott is Oakley's Chief Visionary Officer? The rapper has overseen the sportswear giant's "visionary" side since last year, actually, and though his consumer-facing efforts have been limited to a handful of ultra-rare sunglasses, Scott is clearly still making moves. Case in point: he just brought Matthew M. Williams on board.

Williams, the cofounder of 1017 ALYX 9SM and former Givenchy overseer, is currently working on his new eponymous label but can now add "Oakley creative director" to his resume. In a release issued on March 26, he was confirmed to be leading Oakley Apparel Footwear & Accessories (AFA).

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Tellingly, the release also noted that the move was made "in close alignment with Travis Scott," who has been a big-time proponent of Williams' work for just about forever.

When T-shirts from Been Trill, the brand Williams developed with Virgil Abloh, became a hot commodity, Scott was clad the rarest variants. When ALYX's rollercoaster belt became streetwear's Big Flex, Scott already had a collection. And, a year after Matthew Williams debuted his collaborative Audemars Piguet timepiece, Scott's Cactus Jack imprint introduced its own.

It's less that Scott followed in Williams' footsteps and more that the two are in perfect creative sync. These guys get each other, simply put. There's a reason that Scott's name comes up multiple times in Oakley's release.

“Growing up in California, Oakley was part of my upbringing. I have always admired the brand’s technical and innovative intent, which greatly aligns with my own process and design language.” Williams said therein. “I am honored to join the company and look forward to working together with Travis and all Oakley teams to guide the brand into a new era.”

Indeed, Williams' design language was already very Oakley. At ALYX, he favored a kind of utilitarian techwear that was luxurious by dint of mostly being made in Italy of fine fabrics but had a kind of future-savvy grit that organically aligns with Oakley's POV.

Williams' remit will be not only to retool eyewear, of course, but also clothing and footwear. These latter categories have a ton of potential. Beyond Oakley's archive par excellence, its oeuvre lends itself naturally to all kinds of newness, newness that could use a strong voice like that of Mr. Williams. That's the thing: Oakley needs Williams not because it doesn't already have great product but because it could offer even greater product, killer clobber made even better by a unified design language.

And, considering that Oakley is owned by EssilorLuxottica, the same company that owns Supreme, is it too ambitious to consider that Williams, a streetwear veteran of about two decades, might be able to finally unite the two?

Perhaps that's a call for the Chief Visionary Officer.