Off-White's Debut Golf Collection Is Three Years in the Making
Co-designer and professional golfer Paris Hilinski dishes all on the new collection.
When fashion-minded golfers, streetwear enthusiasts and Virgil Abloh apostles first saw the news that Off-White™ was launching a collection of golf apparel along with 21-year-old professional golfer Paris Hilinski, some cast aspersions on whether the late Abloh would have cosigned such a decision. The brand, now owned by Bluestar Alliance as of this past October, was straying from its roots, they said. But the truth requires some more investigation. Because the reality is that “ALL IN ONE”, the name which Off-White™ has given its debut golf line, began as a DM conversation between Hilinski and Abloh himself. How does one get the attention of a world-renowned designer and acting Louis Vuitton art director? By having a few tens of thousands of Instagram followers, a keen sense of personal style and a hell of a golf game.
The collection arrives three years in the making and began during COVID with Abloh sending Hilinski graphics which she would heat transfer onto polos and jackets. Now it has officially arrived. But this time Hilinski has taken on the role of designer rather than fabricator. The range is geared for both men and women and leans on two opposing color stories. Black with red and gray accents and a more lighthearted combination of cream, sand and yellow. Prices are in line with what one would expect from Off-White™ with performance polos coming in just shy of $500 USD, a chic golf dress settling at $765 USD and the hero varsity jacket clocking in just north of $1500 USD.
We spoke with Hilinski to find out more about the collection, which generated quite a splash when we first posted about it on Hypegolf, and how it all came to be.
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How long has this been in the works?
I would say since I first started talking to Virgil, which was back when I was 17. So I think that was April or May of 2021. Basically I played every big amateur event, but that year specifically I was playing in Augusta and I was working with Nike back then as an amateur. So they were just giving me product, but the plan was to sign with them eventually. But they sent over the looks that they wanted me to wear, and I was like, yeah I’m not wearing that.
I love fashion and I like looking a certain way. Like I’m 17 I’m not 80. And that was basically that with Nike. So I remember I reached out to Virgil but I didn’t get a response at first. And then a month later, I was playing in the U.S. Amateur Four Ball with a friend of mine. And I ended up just buying a pair of Off-Whites and cleating them myself.
This was during COVID so the Golf Channel was playing the most random events. And I was playing really well so they showed me a bunch of times on TV. I posted a clip on Instagram, sent a little note to Virgil, and then he wrote back the next day saying ‘Oh my god, I’m so sorry I missed your last message. I wish I could’ve gotten you stuff.’ A couple days later after the event he said we should plan a capsule collection around golf.
So you were basically making these clothes yourself at first?
Sort of. I bought shoes and I cleated them myself. Virgil said they couldn’t really make anything because of COVID and what not. So I just learned how to cut and press vinyl. I started making clothes, and Virgil saw that and was like ‘this is so dope, we should just run with this.’
He sent me more graphics and told me ‘any graphic you need, any questions you have on how to use a Cricut machine, let me know.’ And from there, we continued working together and I made all the clothes that I wore up until now.
“[Virgil's] whole thing was to not worry if there isn’t a place for you. Instead of that, make a place for yourself.”
You’ve referred to Virgil Abloh as a mentor in the past. What did that mentorship look like?
I feel like people assume that I mean design and fashion specific stuff when I say that. But Virgil was one of the most incredible human beings I’ve ever been around and gotten to even somewhat know. Golf is a sport where it’s very easy to fall into the negative. Not even just because you lose more times than you win, but there are a lot of times in professional golf when there’s just not a lot of positivity. It was hard for me coming from other sports and not immediately being accepted by that group of people. I would say I felt very out of place.
So to know someone like Virgil who felt that way in his own career was really affirming. He taught me how to be more loving and kind to people when you don’t necessarily want to be. It sounds so basic, but he genuinely did live like that.
That was such a huge game changer. I would say it helped my golf game. It helped everything, to be honest. His whole thing was to not worry if there isn’t a place for you. Instead of that, make a place for yourself.
How much was Virgil aware of golf before you two started talking? When Brooks Koepka wore those Off-White™ x Nike shoes it made a big splash.
Definitely a little bit. I remember when that was big news. And I think Brooks was a perfect person to do it, I love Brooks. But I don’t know if it had the same effect because at the end of the day it’s still a performance brand working with a high end brand.
But I think it was a cool step in the right direction. And obviously for Virgil it brought golf into the picture. But I ended up finding out that Shannon’s brother grew up playing competitive golf. So it wasn’t like Virgil knew absolutely nothing about golf whatsoever.
How did things change when Virgil died?
I think I was in shock. I was actually supposed to finally meet him in person that week at Art Basel. And to be honest, knowing that someone who wholeheartedly believed in this path that I was taking was gone, I didn’t know who was going to back me anymore. So I just had to keep pushing for it.
The guy who was CEO at the time set up a meeting right before he stepped down. And a lot of the people that I had met back when Virgil was still alive were really happy to try to make this happen. And so I’d say about a year and a half ago is when we really started working on it officially.
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What can people expect from this collection as far as designs? Where were you pulling inspiration from?
I would say the women’s stuff is more performance driven. Obviously I’m a professional athlete so I need to be able to play in it, which is something Virgil and I talked about a lot. The shoes had to be the Out of Office. I probably made 25 different pairs of those and they were my favorite shoe by far.
I also wanted to keep some sort of streetwear element, so the men’s stuff has a little bit more of that feel. I wear a lot of the men’s stuff too, so I would say it’s more unisex. But I kept a lot of the arrows. It’s sort of a different looking arrow because the brand wanted to keep evolving and not go back to the exact era Virgil used. But I wanted to make sure that was in there because it’s a very iconic graphic in my mind.
And then there’s also a graphic that’s on the back of the sweater and varsity jacket that has Virgil’s name in it. For me, that was a no brainer because obviously none of this would exist without him. So I wanted to make sure there were odes to Virgil throughout the collection because he wasn’t here to actually design it, but his presence is still so strong that I couldn’t not have him in there.
Lastly, why launch this during Art Basel week?
I would say there were a couple things. Timing is one of them. Playing professionally, you don’t have a lot of time. So making sure it lined up with my schedule was huge. I also live right outside of Miami now and I love it here. And another reason was that when Virgil passed I was supposed to meet him during Art Basel. And so I just feel like it’s a very significant week. It feels very full circle to be able to launch it this week.
