Flair for the dramatic: How Greyson Clothiers evolved to the golf course

By: Marley Sims

April 25, 2023

Two-time major-champ Justin Thomas is a Greyson investor.

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Charlie Schaefer’s passion for fashion didn’t go unnoticed.

After competing on the Duke golf team from 1998 to 2001, the Detroit native returned home and took a job on the floor of a Polo Ralph Lauren store. Remarkably, Lauren himself dropped in one day and sparked to the 23-year-old. Suddenly, Schaefer was being ushered into the company’s corporate development program.

He remembers being stunned. “I’d never had a creative outlet before,” Schaefer says, “and Mr. Lauren really took me under his wing.”

Fast-forward 13 years. Schaefer had become a Polo senior VP but one with an itch to scratch: the urge to fuse his two loves — golf and fashion — into his own brand of sophisticated performance wear. Greyson Clothiers, which Schaefer co-founded in 2015 with longtime friend and former No. 1 World Amateur Morgan Hoffmann, was built on a dream and great connections. Luke Donald, a Schaefer pal for more than a decade, was an early adopter.

Eight years later, Greyson has three retail locations and brand ambassadors that include Justin Thomas, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Eric van Rooyen and Sam Ryder.

“I’m so proud of the family we’ve created,” Schaefer says.

Thomas, a Greyson investor, is attracted to the company’s aesthetic — high-quality, boldly colorful, fashion-forward athleisure suitable for on or off the course — and also its ethos: “I want to be a part of a brand where I’m not wearing it just to wear it. I’m wearing it because I want to show other people how good it looks, how good it fits and how good it feels, but also how it’s more of a lifestyle thing than just throwing on a pair of pants to go play golf.”

A decade ago, joggers — a feature of Greyson’s line — were unheard of in a golf setting. Today, on pros like JT, they feel like sport style with an edge. Think of it as Greyson’s investment in golf culture — and golf’s future.