Adam Scott's New Uniqlo Collection Is Finally Here, Just in Time for Another Major

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I recently asked Max Homa, six-time PGA Tour winner and general giver of takes, who his worst-dressed colleague was.

"Adam Scott," he said with a grin on his face. "He can't be mad. He's the most handsome, but he is addicted to tan. He's like an upgrade from the UPS 'What can Brown do for you?' What can tan do for you? But he can't be mad because we all know he makes it look great. He's the only person that could pull it off."

I didn't tell Scott, when I spoke to him a week later to talk about his new collection with Uniqlo, that Homa said this. But I did follow up on the ongoing discussion about his embracing of the toasted coconut fit. "It's an essential," he told me over Zoom from Dallas, where he was preparing for what wound up being an impressive T-8 finish at the Byron Nelson Classic. "It's incredibly practical and I've been wearing it casually for a couple years."

I knew Homa was kidding the second the name "Adam" came out of his mouth, because for all intents and purposes, Scott is arguably the most well-dressed professional golfer on the PGA tour (and really, always has been.) Earlier in his playing career, when his colleagues began trading fashion for function in the form of stretchy poly-blend polos, Scott leaned into style as the only Burberry ambassador in pro golf that I can remember, sporting the iconic plaid on his polo placket.

The golf world has finally started to catch up with Scott's sensibilities. Luxury fashion and golf are having something of a love affair right now. But untapped has been Uniqlo's sweet spot—getting a capital-D Designer to create an affordable collection with high-fashion sensibilities at an approachable cost and easy-to-wear silhouette. It's only fitting the brand employ Lucas Ossendrijver, whose resume includes names like Lanvin and Theory, to team up with the world's best-dressed golfer to delve into that sweet spot at the same time as a boom for the game as a whole.

The result, on sale June 12, is a true "walking of the walk" of golf's biggest marketing trope—that the apparel in any given collection is made for "on and off the course." Because literally any clothing item can be worn in both places, the phrase has lost all value. The truth is, the best golf clothing in 2023 is inspired by a reversal of that routing. More of the regular styles you're used to buying for a weekend function—especially in knitwear, pants, shorts, and shoes—have a home on the golf course than they have since probably the late '80s and early '90s.

Because Scott is a guy who has demonstrated his understanding of that, I asked him about the process of putting it all together with Ossendrijver, who told me himself over email, "I didn’t need to convince Adam on anything; the collaboration was very easy, he knows what he likes and what he feels comfortable in. And it helps that he looks good in a lot of things!"

Esquire: From wearing Burberry to Uniqlo, I feel like you've always gone against the grain of what most of your colleagues were doing. Can you talk a little bit about your approach to dressing for the game?

Adam Scott: I think that's one of the unique things with golf: we don't wear uniforms, really. So we have some flexibility and we can certainly express some of our personality through what we wear out there. I've been playing for a long time and I kind of got into the fashion industry a little bit by chance early on in my career in Europe [with] Burberry. But the opportunity came along to work with Uniqlo and I was a little older and a little more aware of how my decisions can influence other things in the game. And I've always felt like golf's been so pigeonholed and strict in its rules and regulations and I've always wanted to try and have a crossover.

Esquire: What do you think most amateur golfers are missing about Uniqlo?

Scott: You can't find them at a Pro Shop, you can't find them at a Dick Sporting Goods. They're their own thing. So, maybe it's an effort for somebody, but I think they're missing out. The biggest thing for me is, I really feel like it's an affordable luxury. And that was another thing that really drew me in. This was a brand that I felt like could look at the people who watch me play golf and allow them to actually afford to buy what I 'm wearing.

Esquire: So, and specifically talking about this collection, can you tell me about some of your thoughts that went into the design of it and then talk a little about working with Lucas [Ossendrijver] on it?

Scott: Obviously I had seen where he'd come from and was excited that Uniqlo put him into work on this with me. We chatted a little bit, but I 'm certainly not a designer, although I do know what I like. He listened a lot to what I like, but his concepts were really fun right from the get go. They were scaled back a little bit for the final production, but I think we hit a really, really good spot. I really enjoyed working with him and liked the direction he went.

One thing for me is, the striped golf shirt is kind of a golf cliche, and it's something I've really stayed away from, although I did wear Burberry plaid back in the day. But the striped golf shirt is just such a thing from the '90s and early 2000s that I looked at and I've always stayed away from. But he's managed to get some stripes in this collection.

Esquire: I saw there's a pleated pant there, too. Was that something that [Lucas] presented to you or is that something that you asked for?

Scott: He presented that. I'd owned some pleated pants a few years back, this is just a single pleat. And it's nice little design details and something different. It seems like, in golf certainly, and amongst my peers, we've really moved far away from pleated trousers. But I think it's nice to see a little design change and it makes a big difference to the silhouette of the trouser. It's noticeable and that's what we want to do. We want to look good and stand out a little bit. And I think I can pull it off.

Esquire: Correct. What were some of the things you asked for?

Scott: Performance is obviously an area, working with a designer who maybe hasn't made or designed clothing for high-level sport, there can only be a little compromise in that area to where you feel comfortable. So, materials were important to get on the same page early.

Even down to noise—the noise it makes as you swing. The golf swing is quite a dynamic movement and there's a lot going on. And the clothing can make noise and it can be off-putting. So, there was a bit of outerwear that we worked on in changing the material to be a little more quiet and a little more flexible in its movement and less restrictive. So, little things like this, but that's the beauty of Uniqlo is they have so many materials to choose from. We found some good common ground and I don't think we ended up really compromising on design or performance.

Esquire: I know how the sound of the ball off of your clubface can come into play, but I never thought about the clothes.

Scott: You don't want that outerwear crunching around too much. But the tricky thing, too, is planning weather-wise. May in Rochester, it could be nice, it could be beautiful and you're out there in a polo shirt, or you might be getting your winter woolies out and then you need to have plans for the right kind of outerwear and backup. (Editor’s note—it was both)

Esquire: I did want to ask you about the color brown. I know you've commented on last year’s streak of brown sweaters, but I know that there's more to it than that. I want to go back to the beginning. I want to know what you like about tan to begin with.

Scott: Yeah, you could look back, certainly at the major championship outfits I've won the last few years, it's really earthy tones. It's a little more subdued than the weekly stuff that I wear. But I really feel like that khaki, that brown color kind of came into fashion the last couple years again and it looks really sharp with black jeans or looks really sharp with beige—the whole monotone look. It's incredibly practical and I've been wearing it casually for a couple years, because it's an essential.

Esquire: It’s the new navy, if you ask me.

Adam: Absolutely.

Esquire: Well, we encourage you to keep going.

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