Centric Brands has formed a joint venture with Eastside Golf, the label founded by professional golfer Earl Cooper and designer Olajuwon Ajanaku. The deal gives the lifestyle brand access to Centric’s licensing and distribution infrastructure.
The structure mirrors the playbook used across athleisure: keep the creative team in place, attach a supply-chain partner, and expand distribution without diluting the brand’s point of view.
Eastside Golf built its name on reimagining golf apparel for a generation that did not see itself in the traditional country-club wardrobe. The brand’s graphic-heavy pieces have appeared on tour and in streetwear contexts alike.
The first collections under the venture are expected to reach retail in the coming seasons. The test will be whether Eastside Golf can grow beyond its cult following without losing the edge that built it.
Golf’s fashion moment has widened well beyond the fairway. The sport’s dress codes are loosening, and apparel brands are following younger players into a market that once resisted them.
