After being bitten by the golfing bug and finding it to her social taste, Innocentia Motau decided it was time to add a fashion twist to the luxury sport. When she discovered that the clothing did not suit her style, she went against the grain and designed her own golfing apparel. This is how Itu Golf Wear came into existence. Motau, who was born and bred in Tshwane, is currently based in Johannesburg Sandton where she practises as a maritime economist.
She started Itu Golf Wear in 2017. “I am a golfer by passion, I am very fashion conscious and I travel locally and globally while playing golf,” she told Vutivi News. “I also shop a lot for golfing clothes, and whenever I would shop, I would find bits and pieces of what I like, so I asked myself why don’t I make unique golfing apparel?
“I did my research into how one goes about making golf garments, what fabrics I need and what business model I want,” Motau said. She made an outfit that consisted of a golf shirt and a dress, which she tried out at a social game. “I met someone at the event and told them that I make golf clothing. He asked me to design a shirt, I accepted the challenge…,” she said.
The avid golfer said that over the past three years, her company has worked at customising fabric, which she described as its unique selling point. “A customer can come with colours and ask us to design something for them and we design according to their specifications,” she said. Itu Golf Wear sells a variety of clothing items for the green.
“We specialise in two types of golf shirts, namely the collared shirt and the blade collar shirt. We also design dresses in different shapes and sizes, gloves and caps too,” Motau said. “Soon we will be extending into belts, socks, shoes, kiddies clothing, knitwear, pants, tracksuits and jumpsuits among others,” she said. Motau said that her biggest challenge was consistency in product quality.
“Because my model is based on me designing and providing different fabric to a different factory, I use to cut, make and trim factories since each specialises on a specific fabric,” she said.
“Each of these factories has different strengths and weaknesses. Balancing them out was a challenge for me. You’ll find one that I am relying on can make 100 shirts beautifully and the other one can only make a few dresses.
“I do a lot of consultations and research and development to bring out in continuous improvement,” she said.
Motau has been a golfer since 2008. She got into it for the same reasons as may others – networking and building social circles. “I love golf because it brings happiness in my life, it brings good comradery and it is a very social game.”
