Luxury fashion’s hole in one with golf as inspiration.
While pickleball has exploded on the stage, gaining new players each year, data shows people are equally enamored with a more traditional sport: golf. From 2016–2023, there was a 44% increase in players internationally, according to The R&A, the governing body for golf worldwide, except in the United States and Mexico, which are overseen by the USGA.
For context, The R&A spun off from The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews to focus on the governance of golfers outside of North America, and as a result the Royal and Ancient Golf Club went back to being a private golf club. On this side of the pond, the National Golf Foundation estimated that a record high of more than 500 million rounds of golf were played in the United States in 2024.
“Golf has seen exponential growth over the past few years,” says Erica Malbon, who cofounded her eponymous golf-inspired lifestyle brand with her husband in 2017. “The sport has evolved past the course and is influencing culture, lifestyle, and wardrobes.”
Luxury brands have always hit for par around the sport. Rolex has partnered with The Masters Tournament since 1999. Ralph Lauren has outfitted the PGA of America and the United States Ryder Cup Team for more than a decade. And OMEGA sponsors both Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy—the winner of this year’s thrilling Masters Tournament. Still, luxury brands are in a full frenzy to satisfy customers who want more flair on the course. It’s a big business. The expected value of the global golf clothing market is $1.54 billion by 2030, according to a 2023 study by Allied Market Research.
To wit: Dior’s 2025 golf-inspired sportswear collection bridges the gap between a more traditional golfer and a modern take on the classics. Inspired by the glamour of the ‘80s in Paris and New York, the collection marries usual suspects, such as polo shirts and Bermuda shorts, with more streetwear-inspired pieces, such as velour tracksuits and argyle knits bearing the house’s CD Diamond logo. Another example is Louis Vuitton men’s spring 2024 collection, which featured a sold-out collaboration with Tyler, The Creator. He reimagined golf kits, bags, and shoes and styled them with the house’s beloved tailored menswear pieces.
Left Image: Tyler, the Creator’s 2024 collab with Louis Vuitton included these vibrant green trainers (Photo by Gregg DeGuire/Getty) Right Image: TAG Heuer’s Connected Calibre E4 Golf Edition offers a sporty take on the brand’s sophisticated smartwatch (Photo courtesy of TAG Heuer)
Erica Malbon has bottled up the game’s momentum and brought a fresh perspective to the concept of golf as a lifestyle. Last year, her company’s partnership with TAG Heuer created the TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 45mm x Malbon Golf Edition watch. “We wanted to bring a collection to market that meshed both brand identities, and it was important to us that it embodied the performance and luxury TAG Heuer is known for,” she says—but with a unique approach.
Colorful, irreverent, and beautifully made, the watch was such a success that the brands expanded the collaboration to include golf-inspired merchandise before selling out. A Malbon shoe collaboration with Jimmy Choo launched this spring, and more fashion partnerships for the brand are soon to follow.
Malbon is confident that blurring the lines between performance and aesthetics is a winning partnership. “The appetite for luxury golf apparel will only continue to grow. It’s evolved beyond the traditional country club setting into a global lifestyle movement,” she says. “By blending technical innovation with elevated design, brands can captivate both golf and fashion enthusiasts, ensuring that golf’s influence in luxury fashion remains strong well into the future.”
That’s great news for weekend golfers and non-players who just like the looks. You don’t have to win a golf tournament at the Masters, or even at the local course, to enjoy golf-inspired luxury goods.
