FIELDREPORT As for the styling of
the new garments, it is maybe best summed up by two of the five words Ping have used to represent their first European range – Timeless and Clean
listening to the consumer and making the best product for them. The garments created under license weren’t necessarily reflecting our brand, and why we’re in golf. We are in the game to make better performing product – the best – for that golfer.”
waterproof technologies – all of which you’ll see in SS15 – we’re placing ourselves more in the top two categories. We want to make sure we’re more consistent at retail with the consumer experience, regardless of product type, and that means premium experience and the ultimate in performance.”
This is not to say SS15 will suddenly feature a raſt of new techy buzzwords. Ping Collection’s Three-pronged Sensor performance platform – Cool, Warm and Dry – remains the basis of each garment, though all three have been developed and enhanced to boost golf-specific performance. Neither will the scope of the new range dramatically change. “We’ve focused not so much on new product types as on offering more quality and variety within existing ones,” Forsey explains. “For example on that Good/Better/Best theme we will be able to offer a Tour level merino wool pant with water resistant finish, a cotton blend with 6% elastane, and a 100% polyester product which is light and moisture moving.
“Since we’ve known Peter was going to retire we’ve got more involved in the range and that’s why we’ve developed the Sensor technology platform and eliminated a lot of pieces that weren’t about the best performance or quality. There’s definitely been a transition through SS14 and AW 14, though SS15 is certainly where you will see the most dramatic difference in pretty much everything we do.”
Forsey uses polo shirts as an example. “We’ve been using 100% polyester – a good, moisture- wicking material, but we know we can bring more performance to the consumer by looking at new fabrications, and expanding our technology base. The Latimer polo, new for SS15, is a case in point; it’s made from merino wool and has a water-resistant finish, a fantastic garment like nothing we’ve produced before.” If this all sounds like Ping Collection is moving upmarket, that’s probably right. The premium Latimer polo will retail for £65, though the soſt- feeling Bancroſt echoes this year’s Rockaway at £54.99. Forsey splits the UK’s apparel product into Good, Better and Best, with 40%, 45% and 15% split. “We were only competing in Good and a little bit of Better, he adds, “but with merino wools, merino with linings and the best
Ping’s first collection will be characterised by what the brand is calling the Eye mark. Appearing in apparently random places on the garment – for example on the back of the right shoulder, on a Velcro closure or a zip – it is inspired by the head adornments of the iconic Ping Eye II iron. It can be hard to tell whether Ping are prouder of their past or of their present, and the Eye characteristically represents a Janus-like focus both back and forward, to invoke both the brand’s heritage and technical innovation.
In an echo of Ping’s lie angle system, each eye features a coloured dot to mark its position in the lines’ three Sensor technology stories – blue for Cool, orange for Warm and silver for Dry. As for the styling of the new garments, it is maybe best summed up by two of the five
words Ping have used to represent their first European range – Timeless and Clean. “The new lines take much of their inspiration from the late 50’s and early 60’s, when Ping was founded,” adds Forsey. “If you see what guys like Steve McQueen, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby were wearing then, you’ll realise those styles could still be relevant today.”
As for Clean, Forsey informs the geometric shapes of the current spring/summer line-up, as
found on the likes of Rockaway and Reef shirts, will be replaced by a calmer feel. “There’ll be no loud graphics, geometry or branding. Even our colour palette is more considered, tasteful. You’ll see rich red, navy and black, though there will certainly be room for some pop colours like lime twist, pink grapefruit or pomegranate. They will oſten be used as accents, however.” In case you were wondering, the other three words Ping are using to sum up SS15 is Considered, Tailored and Authentic. The first two show up in terms of attention to detail, for example the replacing of heat transfers with woven labels, and the sharper, crisper plackets, collars and cuffs.
Authentic underlines Ping’s commitment to golf, and golfers. “We don’t want to be an athletic brand,” Forsey insists. “We want technologies developed for golf, authentic to the sport. From the original Ping 1A putter, everything we’ve done in hardware has been authentic to the game and brought some kind of performance benefit. Soſtware will be no different.” And that is something of which Karsten would definitely have approved.
SGBGOLF 15
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