Sure, some may claim it’s about getting a ball into a hole, but let’s be real: golf has always been about getting fits off, whether you’re looking at the flares and deep polos donned by Jack Nicklaus and co., the voluminous, pattern-adorned polos and pleats of the ’90s or the color-blocking and slim fit pants from the modern era.
More recently, we’ve seen a proliferation of new golf clothes hit the market, arguably making for the most fun golf apparel market ever. There are performance brands like Rhone and Brady Brand that lean heavily on innovative materials, but there’s also a new set trying to capture the zeitgeist and bring a youthful spirit to what is normally a stuffy sport reserved for affluent white men. (Just compare the duds recently worn by Tom Brady and Lewis Hamilton for a look at the dichotomy between performance and style.)
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A standout among these brands is California-based Metalwood Studio. Looking to recapture the vibes of golf’s past, Metalwood combines youthful exuberance and inclusivity with a passion for vintage golf apparel to craft a brand that resembles golf in its purest, and most fun, form. (In the end, it’s a game, after all.)
This attitude has caught the eye of golf lover and eyewear designer Garrett Leight, a purveyor of California cool whose frames have been found on the likes of Tom Holland and Brad Pitt. Looking to develop a capsule that captures the spirit of the ’90s, both on and off the course, GLCO and Metalwood linked up and put their heads together to create a badass line of goods that not only look good, but will perform on the course.
CourtesyThe standout of the collaboration is the lightweight, flexible nylon cylindrical frames, which come in two colors and, of course, with their own custom croakies. The frames call back to safety glasses and sporty shades you’d find at a gas station back in the day, featuring a bladed, semi-transparent lens that you can’t help but compare to the popular sports shades that ran rampant some 30 years ago.
