House of Fleming Is the Masters' Best Kept Style Secret
Making belts for top golfers since the late ’90s.
The two busiest times of the year for House of Fleming? The weeks leading up to Christmas, and golf fans’ own version of Christmas: the Masters. The Atlanta-based company has been crafting bespoke leather goods for business folk since 1980, but its emergence as the preferred belt maker for the world’s top golfers was never the plan. That was until legendary swing coach Butch Harmon, who worked with Tiger Woods from 1993 to 2002, introduced the rising phenom to his accessory of choice. Having worn House of Fleming belts for years prior, Harmon suggested Tiger give the brand a try. The rest is history as Fleming would go on to supply the young golfer with the distinct western-style belts that became a signature element of his iconic late 90s look.
“Most of the people I work with are friends that happen to be good golfers.”
Even though Tiger retired those belts just after the turn of the century House of Fleming is far from a relic of the past. The company continues to flourish at tournaments none bigger than the 89th Masters, where owner Bob Childs estimates more than 20 players (Shane Lowry, Tyrell Hatton and Patrick Cantlay just to name a few) will be wearing his gator and crocodile skin belts. Each one is custom crafted in-house at Fleming’s Atlanta headquarters and color matched to coordinate with each player’s outfit from Thursday through Sunday. The materials are sourced from the same Milan and Paris tanneries used by the top European fashion houses.
Despite its long-standing influence on golf fashion House of Fleming’s impact remains widely unknown to the public. It operates primarily through word-of-mouth, avoiding overt branding on television or publicizing its successes. Instead, the company’s achievements are celebrated within its headquarters, where tournament flags adorned with handwritten notes from trusted partners are proudly displayed. “I think we’ve had 24 majors, but we really respect the privacy of our players,” says Childs. “We don’t use anybody’s names and images … most of the people I work with are friends that happen to be good golfers.”
Why this approach? Securing sponsorships on tour is costly, and House of Fleming isn’t structured for that type of advertising. The company focuses exclusively on custom orders and isn’t found in retail stores or country clubs. But Childs prefers it this way. “Everybody’s got contracts,” he explains. “They have their sponsorship deals and we do what we do because they like the product and they want to wear something unique. So we have to just keep it ourselves. If you know, you know.” In a world where marketing campaigns, process videos and behind-the-scenes content have become the norm, there’s something to be said for a little secrecy.
