You won’t find a more thoughtful and creative apparel script for this year’s Open Championship (British Open) than the one Charlie Schaefer, the founder and creative director of start-up label Greyson, has designed for Morgan Hoffmann. While many brands simply outfit their players in four shirt and pant combinations from their latest collections, Schaefer has taken a much different approach — one that pays homage to St. Andrews and the history of the game.
I recently talked with Schaefer for a PGA Tour Style Insider column and learned that with his high-fashion background (Schaefer was the head designer of the RLX and Polo Golf lines at Ralph Lauren), he approaches every tournament as if it is a fashion show. This means researching and drawing inspiration from the history and location of a particular venue. Take, for example, the sophisticated black, grey and light blue color palette that Hoffmann will be sporting. Schaefer drew inspiration for this from the Scottish skies, the stone buildings surrounding St. Andrews and the North Sea.
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Morgan Hoffmann’s script for The Open Championship elegantly pulls together a confluence of styles that juxtapose one another.
“When we play off of pin stripes, cardigans and Morgan’s two-tone spectator shoes, there is a perfect juxtaposition of classicism, golf, heritage and the birthplace of the game mixed with sport, function and fashion,” said Schaefer
In creating Hoffmann’s script, Schaefer achieved a perfect sartorial balance by pairing simple and sophisticated pieces with bold and eccentric statements. You can see this in Friday’s look — a classic crewneck sweater paired with a tonal camo pant. You can also see it with Sunday’s outfit — a sporty hooded sweatshirt paired with a unique Scottish Fair Isle print with wolf heads, wolf paws and arrows.
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Now, you may think that one of these two eye-catching looks would be Schaefer’s favorite, but he actually favors Saturday’s more understated and classic ensemble.
“I really like the nuances of the shirt with the subtleties of the English cut-away collar. Again, the dress shirt blue coloration gives the look more depth while retaining the sophisticated image. This goes back to the British undertones and Savile Row, bespoke, and haberdashery attitude,” said Schaefer. “The cardigan I love. It is style at its highest. It was born on the golf course and it should be brought back to the course in a big way and worn by the right people – the people who will modernize the look of the cardigan.”
I couldn’t agree more, and Morgan Hoffmann is the perfect player to do just that.
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