Hey everyone, Dan here. I wanted to take some time to reflect on our year at SOLO, and give you a peek behind the curtain on what we’ve been up to. First, a massive thank you to everyone that has supported us since day one, as well as all of the new folks who joined in on our journey this past year. We’re constantly blown away by our growing community: the messages, the creative requests, and seeing all the places around the world our gear winds up.
At the beginning of 2021, we were nearly done with our pop up store at Derby St. We were anxiously finalizing all of the last minute details for our spring/summer pieces and working on planning for the fall. My wife and SOLO’s co-founder, Tessa, was 4 months pregnant with our twin girls and we’d just sold our house, as we needed to find a place with more space to accommodate our now family of six. Lots was happening both with SOLO as well as our family. We carry a lot of gratitude for what has unfolded for us this past year. Most importantly though, welcoming the miracle of our twin girls was something I never would have imagined.
As spring came around, we launched our new version of the Core Hooded Vest, followed by a number of other pieces: Tencel Quarter Zips, Band Collar Shirts, and for our non hoody-loving friends a Traditional Vest. As I look back on the spring, I can easily overlook what we did, and discount our trial of new pieces. What I learned is that, for now, we need to lean into what we’re really good at.
In the spring we also partnered with some really great brands. Most notably is our partnership with No Laying Up. These guys really embody the style and perspective of golf we appreciate. It is awesome to partner with folks that are breaking the mold of traditional golf, whether that’s through media, broadcasting, clubs, apparel, you name it. I look forward to seeing stuff like this develop more over time.
As summer came, we really fine tuned our fall lineup and prepared for our twins to be born. On June 24th between the hours of Midnight and 7am both of our girls were born healthy and thriving. I could not ask for anything more than healthy girls and a healthy mother. Them being born 7 hours apart was pretty wild to experience, even more so for Tessa. Shoutout to all the mothers and mothers-to-be for being such superheroes.
As we got home from the hospital and settled into our new life with four children under 4, we quickly had to shift focus to winding down the pop up shop. This was a pretty massive undertaking for a number of reasons, but we got it done.
Fall gave us the opportunity to debut a number of new pieces. Our Fleece-Block Hooded Vest and the DeSales Quarter Zip drive home our commitment to leaning into what we’re really good at, while still making creative-forward tweaks. These pieces speak to the SOLO mentality: of bringing uniqueness and expression to the golf course.
More recently I have shifted my focus back on what next year looks like. Spring/summer are planned and done with at this point. We are doing something I never thought we would do but I firmly believe we are doing it in a way that aligns with who we are and what we stand for. We will also continue to come out with some more of our core pieces in new variations and colors.
As I look to Fall of 2022, I am trying to be laser focused. We know so much more than we did when we got started. We want to continue learning and bring the best possible gear to market in line with our ethos. I believe that our hooded vest has had a positive impact on the sport, and I want to continue bringing pieces to market that carry the torch along.
I hope all of you out there have an amazing Holiday season. I truly look forward to engaging with you more in the New Year and continuing the journey. Thank you all for your support, kind words and believing in us. Cheers to 2021 and kicking ass in 2022.
-Dan, Founder at SOLO