TrapDraw Podcast – No Laying Up 366: How an Apparel Business Gets Built
Oct 30, 2025
Alex Holderness and John Bourne, co-founders of Holderness & Bourne, share their journey from Yale classmates to golf apparel innovators. They discuss spotting a gap in modern golf fashion, the challenges of product development, and how they built credibility through wholesale partnerships. Their candid recounting of early failures, pivotal moments like landing their first pro shop order, and the importance of customer service offers inspiring insights. Plus, they emphasize the significance of clear roles and staying focused on quality in business.
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Business School Friendship Sparked The Brand
- Alex and John met at Yale Business School and bonded playing a lot of golf together during downtime between classes. They used that friendship and shared golf obsession to start exploring a golf apparel idea together after school.
Golf As The Perfect Athleisure Entry
- They saw golf as an ideal entry for modern athleisure because golfers want polished but comfortable clothes that work on and off the course. That crossover meant golf apparel could become everyday apparel, widening the brand's potential.
Made-By-Doing: Garment District Prototyping
- They started by wandering New York's garment district, buying remnant fabrics and learning the sample-maker process one prototype at a time. A year of nights-and-weekends prototyping led to a production-ready shirt and their 2014 incorporation.