Aimé Leon Dore’s Golf Collection Channels MJ Swagger and 90s Cool
The cult NYC label steps onto the course with a collection that redefines golfwear for the style-conscious player, blending nostalgia, tailoring, and lifestyle swagger.
It starts with the cigar.
Not because it’s part of the collection, but because the image it conjures, Michael Jordan, stogie in hand, is exactly the kind of energy Aimé Leon Dore brings with its latest drop.
For those unfamiliar, Aimé Leon Dore is a New York-based fashion label founded by Teddy Santis in 2014. If Ralph Lauren and Nas collaborated on a capsule collection for the New York Gold scene, ALD would be the result. It’s a brand that leans heavily into nostalgia and filters it through a lens of clean tailoring. The brand has become a symbol of tasteful hype. And now, it's returned its attention to golf.
With this new golf collection, ALD’s second, the brand brings its signature approach to the fairways: deliberate, thoughtful, and loaded with cultural reference.
Let’s start with the clothes. There’s a panelled golf jacket with a boxy, vintage fit; double-pleated trousers that nod to an era when elegance, not elastane, defined men’s style; and performance polos that could pass for something you’d wear to dinner in SoHo.
Colour-wise, it's a restrained palette, allowing textures and cuts to take centre stage. And they do. Cordura fabric is a standout, durable enough for the course but styled like a fashion week favourite.
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Golf has spent the last five years undergoing a quiet revolution, one you don’t need me to rehash. Streetwear’s entry into the space has opened the door to a new wave of brands, players, and aesthetics. But while others have leaned hard into maximalism or athleisure, ALD has done something subtler: they’ve made golfwear aspirational again, not just accessible.
What makes this drop stand out is how it builds a bridge between two worlds, one where you have still a 4-iron in your bag wrapped in leather, and one where you’re sipping an overpriced artisan coffee on the Lower East Side.
There’s a deliberate rhythm to the collection’s styling, pleats falling clean and jackets worn with a relaxed poise that says, “I care, but not too much.” It taps into a masculine ideal that feels rare in modern golf apparel: cool without trying too hard, nostalgic without being cartoonish. It’s easy to throw around words like “timeless,” but here, it fits.
Accessories round out the capsule, but they’re not an afterthought. We’re talking leather gloves, embroidered umbrellas, club covers, and even hints at a forthcoming FootJoy collaboration, an updated classic golf shoe, through the ALD lens. That FootJoy tease is important. It signals that ALD isn’t here for a cameo; they’re here to build something with longevity.
The best fashion speaks without shouting. And while plenty of new golf brands have brought energy and chaos in equal measure, ALD’s entry feels like a reminder that style can whisper and still be heard. It's for the player who sees their golf wardrobe the same way they see their whisky shelf or watch roll: refined, curated, meaningful.
There’s a quiet confidence to this collection that aligns it more with legacy than trend. Which brings us back to MJ, the prototype for cool in golf. The swagger, the confidence, and an aura that can’t be ignored. You see it in the cigar, yes, but more so in the mindset: this isn’t just sport, it’s personal style.
For golfers who care about how they present on the course, this drop is more than just a brand doing golf. It’s golf finally being done by a brand that understands cultural currency.
And for those just discovering Aimé Leon Dore? Welcome. You’ll start with the pleated pants. You’ll stay for the philosophy.
The collection is now available at ALD Golf
Thanks for reading, David Skilling.
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