This Golf Company's One-Armed Hoodie Helps Amputee Veterans
MR. MA, a year-old golf apparel company, is a passion project for co-founders Mason Reed and Matt Andresen (the MR and the MA), who are self-described "golf sickos."
After Reed met players participating in last year's Simpson Cup, featuring injured veterans from the U.S. and U.K., MR.MA wanted to help. With an assist from Episode Four, the brand created a product to show support and raise funds for The Simpson Cup and "other programs that use golf as a way to rehabilitate wounded veterans and find them employment in the golf industry," says Teddy Lynn, founding partner of Episode Four.
The one-armed hoodie is green with the MR. MA logo in the center and a missing left sleeve. "In support of veteran amputee golfers" reads the left side of the hoodie. Shipping in November, the hoodies cost $100.
Samples came together in two weeks' time, and remaining hoodies will be manufactured in Los Angeles.
"We'd like consumers to wear the hoodie in support of a great cause," says Lynn. "When you wear a hoodie missing a sleeve, it provokes people to ask why. And that gives the wearer a chance to talk about the cause."
Here's MR. MA's Instagram post on creating the hoodie and the inspiration behind it: Nick Kimmel.
MR. MA's network of influencers, ranging from players and caddies to golf course architects and bloggers, are wearing the hoodie and posting it online.
"The One-Armed Hoodie has done exactly what we hoped it would do: galvanize support for injured, veteran golfers—and by extension, anyone playing adaptive golf or overcoming a disability," Mason Reed, CEO and co-founder of MR. MA, tells Muse. "This is a corner of golf getting increased attention that is long overdue, and we're happy to be a small part of it. We're thrilled with the response so far, from the able-bodied, injured-veteran and adaptive-golf communities."
