Fairway fashions set new trends

YOU CAN blame it mainly on the young dudes, those guys who go by the names "Spiderman" and "AK". They've changed the way players kit out for the golf course, dispensing all those old sniggering asides about plaids and flairs uttered by non-golfers to the rubbish bin. No, these days, the wardrobes of male golfers are more likely to feature vibrant colours rather than traditional beige or grey . . . and, especially if you're part of the young and trendy set, the main fashion accessories will likely comprise a white leather belt with a customised buckle. Times, for sure, have changed, writes PHILIP REID

A couple of years ago, Camilo Villegas was named in People magazine’s list of “Hottest Bachelors” in the United States, not because he is loaded (with career earnings in excess of €10 million) but because of his “Latino looks, and his enthusiasm for wearing tight pants and colourful shirts – hot pink, day-glow orange, purple – on the golf course.”

A fashion icon, it seemed, was born; and the upshot has been a fashion trend for mere mortals to imitate golf’s superstars. So it is that Tiger Woods (more traditional in his dress code, admittedly) has been paid to endorse Nike; Sergio Garcia (a little flashier) is a clotheshorse for Adidas; Pádraig Harrington, faithful player that he is, has stuck with Dublin-based company Kartel since he first played for dough; Fred Couples (appealing to the older generation) sports Ashworth, although the acquisition of Sean O’Hair and, reputedly, Rory McIlroy also lined-up, would indicate a move to a younger, trendier line; Davis Love is a Ralph Lauren man; Johan Edfors wears Puma and Graeme McDowell wears Q’aja Couture; and Villegas is one of those (along with a fistful of slim Swedes) who don the J Lindebergh line of clothing.

Lindebergh’s arrival on the scene shows there’s money in golf fashion. He’d helped Italian jeans label Diesel launch its international collection before cutting out on his own, while Tony Q’aja first made a sporting impact by tailoring to the needs of soccer players from Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea before discovering a fresh oasis for his fashion on the golfing fairways.

For sure, it is a packed market, with the blurring of the lines between on-course and off-course fashion increasing the marketability of brands.

But there has been a significant change in recent years away from the traditional cotton shirts to ultra-thin and ultra-light styles which, according to Karl Swan, the managing director of John Swan who manufacture the Kartel line, has – despite the weather – found favour with Irish golfers. These shirts are made from absorb-tech moisture management fabrics which, even in the premium markets, have taken over from mercerised cotton.

Anyone keeping up to date with Harrington’s wardrobe will probably have noticed a move towards more colourful attire, and Swan admits “our collection is very focused on colour, and the trend seems to have moved towards more vibrant colours. The goalposts have moved. Where once you had a lot of beige, black and navy, it is the vibrant colours that are the big sellers.”

Kartel now exports to over 15 countries – among them, the USA, Canada, South Africa, Dubai and throughout Europe – with its golf range and, although its products cross a number of divides (providing garments to price-focused chain sports, retail sports and quality-ended resorts), Swan makes the salient point that golfing style here doesn’t always follow European trends. For example, shirts with horizontal stripes are made for the Irish market.

Oonagh Purfield, a former Irish ladies international, is the agent for Adidas and Ashworth in southern Ireland – the line below Dublin-Galway, basically – and has noticed a number of trends, one of which is the huge demand for white belts, primarily among the younger golfing generation. We assumed that means those with waistlines of 30 inches or less! “These belts retail for around €35 and there are very strong sales in this line,” admits Purfield.

If the white belt – and, invariably, the big buckles showcased by the likes of Anthony Kim and Rory McIlroy – is seen as a fashion accessory by the young band of golfers, Purfield also makes the point that golf fashions generally are “getting trendier, but what has changed is that the shirts etc are more affordable and golfers are buying fabric that performs.” She adds, “we deliver golf-specific clothing created around evidence of what promotes improved athletic performance. Through research and innovation, we make equipment engineered with advanced technologies to optimise the body’s potential . . . golfers pay so much for good golf clubs, but you mustn’t neglect your body.”

Apart from the belts, which might add a bit of a spring to your step (maybe!) but doesn’t actually make you hit the ball longer or straighter, the other fashion trend that has caught on amongst the Irish golfing public in recent times has been the wearing of thermal compression garments such as those worn in the depths of winter by rugby players.

These compression tops (Nike, Adidas, Under Armour are among the suppliers) retail for less than €40 and are designed to maintain body heat without adding bulk or restricting a player’s swing and also aim to increase muscle support. In our climate, and not just in the winter after the summer we’ve endured, these are proving to be increasingly popular acquisitions for golfing wardrobes of men and women.

“The compression tops have really taken off. Golfers have discovered there’s no need to put layer after layer of jumpers on any more,” says Purfield.

And one area, it seems, where Irish consumers refuse to compromise is when it comes to purchasing wet suits.

“The trend is still to buy the top quality wet suits. Irish golfers are serious about their golf and see buying a wet suit as an investment, not as an impulse buy,” says Swan.

Yet, there’s no evidence that the biggest fashion statement to hit the golfing fairways around the world has infiltrated the Irish fashion houses as of yet . . . the colourful trousers worn by former British Open and USPGA champion John Daly on his travels this year. Daly has sported polka dot, striped, check and other trousers designed by the California-based Loudmouth company, whose founder Scott Woodworth claimed that golf trousers have always been “a fashion joke, but no one knew where to buy the really hideous ones.”

At least the main players haven’t resorted to putting zaniness over what the customers really want.