Sustainability has been a watch word for businesses worldwide for more than a decade, but the concept is just now beginning to get into the golf industry. To that end, Seattle-based Radmor Golf is leading the way with sustainably-sourced golf clothing that forgoes virgin polyester in favor of natural cellulose fibers, such as Peruvian Pima cotton, elastane yarns, and super-soft Tencel and recycled Repreve that it says create the most environmentally minded golf apparel in the industry.
Radmor showed off those fabrics, designs and technologies at this past week’s PGA Show in Orlando.
“We’ve realized that being a good citizen of the game means embracing the idea of doing more, making better choices, and in our case, being more mindful about what materials we use in our clothes,’’ said Radmor Co-Founder Bob Conrad. “We are driven by sustainability and focused on the end game – what happens at the end of a garment’s life.”
Radmor, according to Conrad, is the first brand in the golf industry to eliminate the use of virgin polyester on a garment level – unheard of in a fashion category that’s relied on this environmentally disruptive material for decades. Radmor also limits the amount of recycled ocean polyester and recycled nylon used in all garments to less than 15 percent of the entire collection, instead opting for Non-GMO organic Pima cotton, certified recycled Repreve, and Lyocell blends.
“Sustainability is important because we are starting to see it affect the environment every day,’’ Conrad said. “I don’t think we can deny that there is something out there. We want to do our part.’’
Fabrics in the company’s 2023 collections include its flagship 96 percent ELS Cotton, four percent Elastane blend, ultra-light 100 percent Pima – an organic Pima with recycled polyester/stretch blend – and a new 92 percent certified recycled poly/stretch blend designed for fans of synthetic fabrics.
Radmor’s Hudson recycled Polo shirt is made from proprietary forty-singles blend of Organic Peruvian Pima Cotton + RadCycled Repreve polyester and stretch yarns. Our breathable, hypoallergenic, non-GMO, ELS Pima (extra-long staple) cotton, the smoothest in the world, is also the purest of cellulose fibers, and like all cellulose fibers, are biodegradable. The certified Repreve polyester is spun from regenerative ocean plastic.
The shirt, like every other garment (top or bottom) in the lines offers no indication – visually to the touch – the garments are made from recycled materials. The Five-O Knit Performance short, by the way, is a ‘must have’’ in any man’s wardrobe.
What Radmor offers now, Conrad said, is just the beginning.
“It’s still difficult to change someone’s mind to move from a polyester shirt or synthetic shirt to a natural fiber. But today we’re getting more people in the game. I think it’s going to be a good year for the industry as a whole to make some changes and really pay attention to what we are doing out there.’’
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