Golf Wang, or Golf, has become a thriving streetwear brand since its birth in 2011. It is also the brand I consider to be my favourite. As a consumer I value Golf Wang’s unique authenticity and versatility as well as loyalty to its customers, values and roots, all of which have earnt it patronage from an ever-growing audience.
Golf Wang sets itself apart from other streetwear brands by providing its audience with an interactive personal connection to the brand’s founder, the world-renowned rapper, Tyler, The Creator, this forms a friendly, cooperative dynamic between brand and audience. Tyler’s social media presence acts as an effective and intimate vehicle for the brand’s communication, further encouraging consumption and patronage while pushing the brand to a wider audience. On his social media, Tyler almost exclusively wears Golf Wang with utmost execution and style, previewing new designs and explaining their corelations to his music. Golf Wang could be mistakenly described as Tyler’s form of merchandise but, although details of Tyler’s music may appear in the designs, Golf Wang is a separate entity which has earnt legitimacy and respect in the world of fashion, drawing in an audience outside the world of Tyler, The Creator.
Communication between Golf Wang and its audience takes a minimalist approach, almost exclusively via social media, where information is drip-fed through posts showing new designs, release dates and hints of upcoming collections. Golf Wang campaigns are interactive, versatile and delivered with a unique wit, which alongside the release of minimal information, prompts online discussion and prediction for the upcoming season. This increases anticipation and subsequent exposure for the brand, amplifying their campaigns to a far wider audience. This effective strategy is similar to that used by many streetwear or ‘hype culture’ brands to maximise their desirability, prestige and, of course, hype. But Golf continues to innovate, paving the way for a new age of streetwear brand communication.
At face value, the communication between Golf Wang and its audience, via exclusive hype culture- style social media marketing, alongside the personal communication on Tyler’s part, is clearly effective due to the paradox it creates of remote intimacy. But the brand also represents something much more important than its products or desirability; for many of its audience members, including myself, it acts as an escape.
Throughout Tyler’s career he has been a symbol of inclusion for the outcast and of success for the disadvantaged. These themes are held at the core of Golf Wang’s ethos, namely that its authentic intention, ethos and values alongside its meticulous, versatile designs and campaigns, have encouraged the embrace of individuality, inclusion, creativity and confidence amongst its audience. This significant achievement would be unattainable without the brand’s effective, interactive communication to its audience.
Golf Wang has given people a place in which to create a sense of belonging by embodying the brand’s values and harnessing self-expression, innovation and creativity, allowing for an escape from reality and hardship.
