Blue Cast: Scott Morrison on His Swing Toward Golf Wear
For designer Scott Morrison, golf was his entry point into an interest in apparel. And now his story with fashion and the sport has come full circle.
In the latest episode of our Blue Cast podcast, Lenzing’s Tricia Carey caught up with the “serial brand builder.” After numerous ventures in denim—most recently the bespoke label 3×1—the entrepreneur has shifted gears to the sports world with a new golf attire brand.
The focus on golf is rooted in Scott’s own history. Growing up in Southern California, he played the sport through his childhood, and his first taste of the apparel business came courtesy of his high school team. Since he was particular about the clothing being purchased for the players, he was asked to sit in on buying meetings. He landed a golf scholarship to the University of Washington and continued to explore fashion by interning for clothing companies and writing business plans for golf clothing companies. Post-graduation, however, he turned to denim and worked in that world for years before returning to golf.
Along with his college best friend and fellow collegiate golfer, Scott has started Radmor, an eco-friendly golf wear company. In the past, golf attire has relied heavily on polyester. Moving away from the synthetic, Radmor has eliminated virgin polyester, and uses less than 10 percent recycled polyester. Instead, Radmor leans more heavily on natural fibers.
“The golf business in particular has been just so focused on polyester and just taking kind of a very same-old, same-old attitude towards product development and design and sourcing,” said Scott. “What I think is a real opportunity is to be able to come in and talk about natural fibers, talk about things that can be presented to that same golfer in a different way, and it’s just not being done right now. So we think we can do that in a really compelling way, and hopefully tell a fun story that’s going to invite a younger audience into the world of golf.”
Just as he is shaking up the norm in golf, Scott previously broke the mold in denim. After working at Mudd Jeans leading sales and marketing for the launch of its premium denim division Jack Jeans, Scott turned his attention to building his own brands. His first label, Paper Denim & Cloth, was founded in 1999 as an early success story in premium American denim. Following Paper Denim, he founded the brand Ernest Sewn, which embraced the Japanese idea of “wabi-sabi,” or beautiful imperfection.
Most recently, Scott created 3×1, a denim company that was focused on customization and transparency. As part of the retail experience at the brand’s only store, located in New York, customers could choose from a vast array of fabrics and watch jeans being made live in a small-scale on-site factory. After almost 10 years at 3×1, the market was changing and the lease on 3×1’s retail space was up for renewal. Scott decided to sell the business, and moved across the country right before the pandemic.
One of the things that has put things in perspective for Scott is his family. “I want to spend my time doing things that make me feel more fulfilled, and part of that is taking a deeper dive, whether it’s an industry like the golf industry, or whether it’s participating with incredible partners in the denim space, certainly in that last couple years that were really focused on trying to do something different and making an industry better,” said Scott.
Click here to listen to the full episode to hear more about Scott’s experiences in the denim world and his new venture.