Tyler the creator announces Golf Wang store in NYC
November 10th “See you again” musician Tyler the Creator announced the launch of Golf Wang in NYC. The store is located in the most popular streets of high-end fashion, Soho. Golf Wang, similar to the collective Wolf Gang title first launched in 2011 when Tyler and The Odd Future Crew were gaining popularity. The name Golf Wang was derived from the musical Group, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (OFWGKTA), or Odd Future for short, of which Tyler was a co-founder. Golf Wang was more successful than their regular merch because of its higher quality, and design. Gildan blanks printed with different types of graphics, usually cat heads, and with laser beams shooting from their eyes, or the “famous’ donut logo, and we cannot forget the OF member Lucas Vercetti’s teenage face. This was the influence the group had compared to other groups, being known for their fluorescent colors and useful graphics, which maintained the groups ethos. But Golf reflected Tyler’s creative abilities, as he had full creative control which represented the then 18-year-old well. The rise in popularity amongst his fans, Golf Wang became uniform amongst his fan base.
Courtesy of Golf Wang
Phill Toselli, co-designer of the brand gave insight on the rapper's creative process, in a 2016 interview with “Hollywood reporter”. The designer expressed how unconventional his method was when it came to his creative process. Most of his designs were “wild ideas” that he would then bring to reality shown on the designs. Because Tyler’s fame was growing so fast, he decided to separate his brand for music and solely focus on the expansion of his clothing line, Golf Wang became a sole entity by 2014. The brand's first collaboration was with sneaker brand we all know as Vans. With this partnership the two brands collaborated in releasing a multi-colored bright variation of the era which were released from 2013-2016. The shoe is a low-top sneaker the rapper frequently wore with white tube socks, knee-length shorts, and a colorful T-shirt. Tyler also started developing look books that were seen as thematic that accompanied each Golf Wang season. The apparel remained consistent, with each season being more refined compared to the last. The musician not only gained popularity for his music, but was known for his colorful, bright and unique choices of fashion which was different from the typical rapper.
Courtesy of Golf Wang
The brand has not only been known for good things, as Golf Wang sparked a controversial conversation with its 2015 collection. One of the T-shirts consisted of a rainbow Neo-Nazi emblem repurposed as one of the graphic designs. The purpose of this was to promote anti-homophobia and anti-racism, this collection was made to make a statement through pieces of clothing apart from its typical look. Another look was the “We fucked” image which depicted former president Donald Trump with a doodled mastache as a graphic on the shirt. This collection was released in April 2016 before the November election that was to take place that year. 2013 Golf Wang’s Fall/Winter collection illustrated a person in “blackface” as a graphic on pieces of clothing. Apart from these radical statements, the brand has yet to be extreme since then regarding its designs, but definitely matches the rapper’s unapologetic, unspoken nature.
Courtesy of Golf Wang
The colorful and playful nature of Golf Wang has remained, but the designs of the brand have matured over the years. The brand has developed and produced items such as knitwear sweaters, work jackets, as well as button up sans with the cartoon doodles became what the brand was highly recognised as. Because of this, the brand is on the cover of Cherry Bomb and has become a signature offering from the brand.
Golf then opened a permanent flagship space on Fairfax avenue in Los Angeles, which launched in late 2017. The aim of the store is to not only sell pieces from the brands collection, but also to promote the rapper’s music as most of his album merchandise is sold there too.
Aaron Miller
The most popular item to date has been the Converse One Star, which Tyler collaborated with Converse as his off-shoot Golf Le Fleur sneaker. This partnership was more successful than the last he did with Vans which kicked off in 2017, when he dropped his fourth studio album Flower Boy.
Aaron Miller
The original low-top design done with Converse has a variety of distinguished designs including materials of glitter, faux crocodile skin as so forth. The inspiration behind this collection is Tyler’s take on the chuck 70 as well as his own original silhouette, the Gianno which appeared in 2019. The collection has been a memorable highlight throughout the Spring/Summer 2019 collection, debuted in June 2019 through Vibey lakeside video lookbook.
Golf Le Fleur had one of the biggest collaborations to date with Lacoste, a capsule that dropped in 2019. This was highlighted by a pink cardigan which the rapper helped debut for the French open during a visit. This featured various pastel garments such as polos, pants, as well as T-shirts
Golf is still known to be one of the most unique streetwear brands right now, which stands out compared to its competitors. The brand continues to grow a larger fan base which has become high in demand. The success of the brand has allowed the brand to expand to different locations, hence the launch of the store situated in NYC. As the rapper continues to expand his musical talents, so does Golf Wang. Golf Wang continues to elevate with its expansion, and we are excited to see yet again what surprises Tyler has in store for us.