Golf`s Apparel Innovators

FEATURE RICK YOUNG
Uncommon Threads
Quagmire golf apparel
Golf’s Apparel Innovators
Clothes make the man. Naked people have
little or no influence on society.
Author Mark Twain coined this indelible
phrase at the turn of the 20th century, a
timeless reference to the concept of fashion
and the image it visibly portrays.
Whether someone walks a Paris
runway, walks up to a podium to address
the United Nations or walks up the 72nd
hole of a major championship, that
person makes a statement - a fashion
statement - as personal and unique to
someone’s individuality as what they
drive or where they live.
But what would the famous American
literary giant surmise about ‘golf fashion’
and the overall style statement this
category of apparel has made on the
game and the people who play it?
“I grew up being very uncomfortable
with where golf fashion was, or at least
how people viewed it,” attests John
Ashworth, founder of the Ashworth Golf
Company. “I played in high school and
three years at the University of Arizona and
believe me it was not cool to be a golfer.
“It wasn’t cool because golf course
fashion at that time was so specific, so
regimented, so cliché. I remember hearing kids say, ‘hey, what are you going to
be for Halloween? Oh, I’m going out as
this nerdy golf guy.’ Growing up I was
always conscious of my clothes and my
appearance. But I also grew up a golfer.
The two didn’t compliment each other
very well.”
APPAREL THROUGH THE AGES
Style and fashion though are cyclical in
nature. Notwithstanding Ashworth’s
personal viewpoint, history shows that
golf and fashion have at times struck a
harmonious balance.
In the 1930’s Bobby Jones’ woollen
Plus Fours, necktie and jacket were style
staples on the links just as the crisp grey,
black and white tones were for Ben
Hogan and professional golfers who
dominated the 1950’s.
When colour television made its
debut in the 1960’s, Doug Sanders
donned peacock blue shirts, mandarin
orange sweaters and hot pink trousers
becoming the first professional golfer to
move away from the fashion mainstream
to carve out his own style persona.
Into what was an otherwise monochrome sport, Sanders is credited with
introducing a splash of colour.
The late Payne Stewart will always be
remembered as a gifted player and a U.S.
Ryder Cup stalwart. But the former U.S.
Open champion is probably even more
famous for the brilliant array of knickers
he wore so elegantly on the PGA Tour.
“Payne embraced fashion,” said Marty
Hackel, The Golf Channel’s fashion guru
at the 2006 PGA Merchandise Show in
Orlando. “He took style on Tour to
another dimension.”
And in more recent memory, 1997 to
be exact, Jesper Parnevik hooked up with
Swedish fashion mogul Johan Lindeberg
and began showing up on Tour in pipe
cleaner pants, form fitting shirts and his
cap bill flipped up. Suddenly, the
European influence had segued into
American golf fashion.
photo courtesy of the RCGA/Canadian Golf Hall of Fame Archives
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FEATURE
T H E FA C E O F T O D AY ’ S
FA S H I O N
Currently, it’s not hard to spot
Englishman Ian Poulter’s rainbow of
colourful ensembles, including his now
famous Union Jack and Stars and Stripes
pants. They make him one of the game’s
current trendsetters, even if his look
occasionally flies in the face of fashion
sensibility.
In Europe, Lindeberg brought elements
of the Paris fashion houses to the fairways
in the 1990’s and continues today as one
of the golf apparel companies of influence
around the world.
Here in North America it was
Ashworth who came along to modernize
golf fashion in the 1980’s, ending a
lengthy run of monotony.
The apparel-based equivalent of
Karsten Solheim’s development of
perimeter weighted irons and Gary
Adams’ marketing of the first metalwood; Ashworth’s soft collars, Californiainspired look and the ultra-cool ‘Golf Man’
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Paula Creamer (right) and
Sergio Garcia (below) in adidas
logo enabled Ashworth Golf to be the first modern day company to
have its products enter the realm of ‘lifestyle’ - apparel that can cross
over from the office, to the golf course to an evening on the town.
In doing so Ashworth altered the perception that golf was a styleless sport. And the regimented, clichéd look he loathed growing up?
By pushing fashion to the forefront he removed that stigma.
TA L K I N G T E C H N O L O GY
But not unlike what has happened in the hard goods category of the
industry, the advent of new technology in fabric and fabrication has
today become crucial to the success of the industry’s latest fashion
offerings.
Technical fabrication initiatives have made golf apparel more
breathable, lighter weight, less prone to wrinkling, a protector against
the sun’s harmful UV rays – all this while being infused with the
ability to draw moisture away from the body and trap it inside the fabric.
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John Cook, John Ashworth and Fred Couples
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REAL
FEATURE
Apparel today is technologically forward,
it’s advanced in functionality and it plays
a role not only in comfort on the course,
but in performance.
“Our ‘Equipment For Your Body’
campaign might look like a marketing
catch phrase,” says Bob Maggiore, Senior
Director of Brand Marketing for adidas
Golf, “but we design every piece of our
apparel and footwear with the same focus
TaylorMade would use in designing a driver or a putter - as an integral piece of a
golfer’s everyday equipment.”
Just as other apparel brands have
focused on making the game more enjoyable under a variety of conditions, adidas
has been one of the industry leaders in
‘function specific’ pieces including its
ClimaCool, ClimaLite and ClimaWarm
product lines, each ‘weather positioned’
for specific wearability.
Examples of Nike Fit
Storm, Nike Fit Therma
and Nike Fit Dry lines.
Profitable Blends
The apparel mix at the green grass shop
Understanding your customer base, their buying habits and their
scale of affordability is something every good operator must not
only be conscious of but keep up with on an ongoing basis.
Criss-crossing the country and visiting a number of pro
shops over the years it pleases me to see shop merchandise
balanced so well with consumer demographics. But it can be a
precarious balance, one which can tip the wrong way with one or
two uninformed, ill-conceived purchasing errors.
Protecting the bottom line while trying to maximize profit
through the apparel and soft goods category begins with
adopting brand names that have a history of success, that are
renowned in the industry (and on Tour) and above all are
quality pieces which combine fashion forwardness and technology-based attributes.
This is where golf apparel has been and where it will stay
for the foreseeable future.
The sheer volume of companies and brands in this category,
though, means you must pick and choose with discretion.
Clearly, listening to your customers and picking up on what
they’re wearing on a daily basis will give you a strong sense of
where to position your shop’s contents.
Paying attention to the competition – be it green grass or
off course – is also crucial in sell through as is the practice of
spending considerable time at whatever Buying Show you attend
annually. This cannot be stressed enough. Talking to company
reps and getting them to show you their new products and detail
their wearability advantages should greatly affect purchase
decision making.
A best practice option is also to not do this alone. Multiple
opinions, either through a spouse and/or staff, can make those
purchasing decisions for apparel much more streamlined.
Being loyal to brands that have been successful for you
also makes smart business sense, but it’s important not to get
caught in a retail rut. Adding new lines to existing incumbents
can keep the shop atmosphere from getting old and stale.
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Zach Johnson wearing Dunning Golf
Ashworth Golf promotes something
similar with its All Weather System
(AWS) products as does Nike Golf with
its Nike Fit Storm, Nike Fit Therma and
Nike Fit Dry lines.
The concept is well intentioned. How,
for example, does a golfer feel on a day
where the mercury is pushing 30 degrees
with high humidity? If he’s wearing a
traditional (and thick) 100 percent cotton
polo which sticks to his shoulders and upper
torso, not only is he uncomfortable but
performance can be negatively impacted.
To give you some idea how far
technology has brought apparel, consider
Nike Golf ’s Sphere Macro React garment
line. Laser cut vents down the back panel
of the shirt in this line open as you
perspire for enhanced breathability and
close as you cool down.
“Through research in our running
apparel we’ve learned that the centre
back/spine area is what you want to keep
cool to bring your body temperature
down,” states Kim D’Oliveira of Nike
Golf Canada. “With that in mind we
changed the laser cut panels from vertical
(up/down) to a more left-right pattern
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which better follows a golfer’s range of
motion during the golf swing.”
On a more all encompassing function level Dunning Golf introduced
arguably golf ’s most comprehensive playing system in 2006, the same system
worn by its Tour staff member, Zach
Johnson to win this year’s Masters.
The collection consists of compression
undergarments, polos, mock necks, shorts,
pants, pullovers, thermal tops and a variety
of outerwear all incorporating the company’s
proprietary fabric technologies.
“We’ve created a complete playing
system that is unique in golf and made to
exceed Tour player expectations,” says
Ralph Dunning, founder and principal
designer of the renowned Canadian
brand. “It starts with the next-to-skin fit of
our compression undergarments supporting
muscle structure and enhancing blood
flow. This combines with the technical
characteristics of our shorts, pants and
tops for increased airflow, moisture wicking, breathability and UV protection. For
inclement conditions, our outerwear is
quiet and waterproof while providing
unequaled fit and function.”
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FEATURE
C R E AT I V E C A N A D I A N S
Not unlike John Ashworth who changed the
fashion paradigm in 1987 with Ashworth
Golf, Ralph Dunning was on the cutting
edge of technical fabrication in golf,
crossing over to the sport from his days as
a tri-athlete and Iron Man competitor.
“Golfers are athletes with many of
the same concerns that a cyclist or rower
would have,” he says. “The mandate was
to manufacture a line of technical golf
apparel that was fashion forward but also
loaded with performance qualities
specific to golfers’ needs.”
No stranger to elite athletes, being
fashion forward was never a problem for
Linda Hipp while working as a staff member of the Vancouver Canucks hockey club.
The golf course was another story.
Hipp, an avid golfer, found women’s
golf apparel to be inexcusably antifashion with absolutely nothing taken
into account for a woman’s body or how
a woman wants to portray herself in a
public setting.
Setting out to alter another perception
– that women’s golf apparel is not meant
to be fashionable — Hipp founded Hyp
Golf in 1987 before re-branding to LIJA
in 2004.
Today LIJA is one of the world’s
most recognizable women’s golf apparel
companies.
“When we started, golf fashion was an
oxymoron for women – there was a real
need in the marketplace for apparel that
was both stylish and functional, and
transcended the golf course,” says Hipp,
principal designer and founder. “I
remember going into pro shops and finding these plain, boxy cuts which were
nothing more than men’s small garments.
They were awful. It was a completely
underserved market.”
Given the ratio of men to women in
the sport for many years, this reality is
perhaps not all that surprising. But the
increased numbers of women now
frequenting golf courses across the country
means that the ‘women specific’ apparel
category has grown exponentially with
participation.
That has attracted designers like Hipp,
Jamie Saddock and Claudia Romana into
the industry and ramped up brand recognition, interest and sales for companies
like Grace Lane, E.P. Pro, Sport Haley,
adidas, Ashworth, Cutter & Buck,
LizGolf, Izod G, Nike and Tehama.
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It has also placed more widespread expectations on these companies and designers
from discerning women consumers seeking
balance between fashion and technology.
True, it did take slightly longer to
introduce technical fabrication into
women’s apparel, but the same moisture
wicking/moisture management, UV
protected, lightweight fabrication pieces
dominating the men’s market have finally
become common in women’s golf clothing.
“Women tend to be the shoppers,
certainly more so than men,” Hipp says.
“They’re more fashion conscious, a little
less prone to buy on impulse and look to
put entire collections together top to bottom, especially lifestyle outfits that can
easily cross between the golf course and
the office.”
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FEATURE
Quagmire golf apparel
What about the younger generation
of girls and boys? Traditional golf apparel,
the kind Baby Boomers and early
Generation X’ers have grown up with, is
not exactly being embraced by today’s
younger golfers who are much more specific about what they wear. It certainly
isn’t uncommon for teenagers to show up
on the links sporting pieces from
Hollister or American Eagle as opposed to
garments from Fairway & Greene or Nike.
The apparel industry is responding
to that demographic somewhat but has
not made it a major priority (yet) based
on the potential ROI.
A trio of entrepreneurial Canadian
companies, however, are using a more
youthful movement as their demographic
platform.
Sligo, Phresh and Quagmire Golf are
churning out pieces targeting the 25 and
under set, a niche they feel will heighten
their brand recognition going forward as
they fill what might best be described as
an underserved area of the apparel industry.
“Originally, we were going to restrict
ourselves to the junior category only,”
says Geoff Tait, one of the principles
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behind Quagmire Golf, “but we soon
realized that there was a much bigger
group out there looking for stuff more
funky, less boring but still within a club’s
traditional dress code.”
At last year’s Canadian Open in
Hamilton amateur golfer Victor
Ciesielski turned up wearing Sligo’s
checked pants twice during the week,
complimenting Tour staff member Eric
Axley’s fashion forward appearance.
“The phone rang off the hook,” says
Jeremy Nudds of Sligo. “People wanted
to know where they could get them; that
they’d never seen anything like it on the
golf course before.”
MAXIMUM EXPOSURE
In whatever golf apparel category, elements
of fashion and technical fabrication along
with proper display techniques and product
knowledge are crucial for point-of-sale
purchases.
But from a marketing perspective,
Tour validation remains one of the
apparel industry’s most effective marketing and promotional tools.
Just as Tiger Woods or Grace Park
can help sell Nike’s equipment, they have
an even greater potential to impact
Swoosh brand apparel given its multimedia exposure possibilities.
“That’s why we opt for our Tour staff
to have a clean look with no other brands
endorsed on them,” says Vitalis Gomes,
Director of Marketing for Nike Golf
Canada. “We want our products and our
logo to dominate appearance.”
Today, more than ever before, apparel
companies are striking a balance between
fashion sensitivity and technology. They
are maintaining a close watch on other
areas of sport and fashion and incorporating those elements into innovative
new products.
This mandate has turned apparel
into a multi-billion dollar, multi category
industry seemingly limitless in possibilities
for the present and the future.
Golf may have been “a good walk
spoiled” for Mark Twain – yet another
one of the American author’s famous
quotations - but surely if he had been
alive today and sporting today’s uncommon
threads, his game might have been less
spoiled and more appealing? Or, at the
very least, dryer and more comfortable.
HONOUR THE GAME.
RICK
YOUNG
Rick Young has been writing
about golf for 23 years for all of
Canada’s major golf publications
and spent the last seven years
serving as Equipment & Business
Analyst for SCOREGolf Magazine
and Scoregolf.com.President of
the Golf Journalists Association
of Canada, Young resides in
Woodstock, Ontario with his wife
Carol and his two daughters. He can
be reached at ryoung@golden.net.
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