Adidas has just dropped a new collaboration with Metalwood Studio, comprised of a limited capsule inspired by Y2K golf style. That means baggy pants, oversized polos and footwear that looks like it wandered off a European football pitch circa 1997. This is not subtle, performance-first gear. This is nostalgia for an aesthetic that some people covet and love while others have spent the last 20 years trying to forget.
And yet … there’s something refreshing about a major brand acknowledging some golf lovers still yearn for gear from when Tiger Woods was winning majors in mock turtlenecks and pants were wide enough to smuggle contraband. For these folks, golf fashion has calcified into a predictable rotation of slim-fit everything, moisture-wicking fabrics in 47 shades of navy, and athleisure wear that works equally well on the course and strolling the aisles at Whole Foods. Metalwood Studio, based in Los Angeles, has built its brand on rejecting stuff like that.
Founded by Cole Young, the company exists to preserve what golf looked like while pros were trading in their persimmon woods for titanium, when style meant baggy and bold stripes instead of fitted and safe. Metalwood Studio’s website looks like something that was made back when America Online was in its heyday. Its aesthetic shouldn’t work, and yet it does.
The Adidas partnership makes sense because it has never shied away from blurring the lines between sport and street culture. This Metalwood drop goes further, pulling design cues from skateboarding, fashion, and the kind of Y2K excess that gave us frosted tips and cargo shorts pockets upon pockets upon pockets.
The collection includes six pieces: a polo with subtle nods to mid-2000s adidas Teamgeist soccer ball patterns, a windbreaker, a hat, a glove, and the standout item, a golf pant with zippered leg ventilation that reveals three-stripe detailing when opened.
The hero product might be the MC70 golf shoe, which takes inspiration from 1970s football boots with deco-stitched leather upper details that feel more vintage than functional. Modern golf footwear technology lives inside, but the exterior screams throwback. It’s the kind of shoe that will photograph well on Instagram and provoke strong reactions in the pro shop.
Limited is the operative word. The collection hits adidas.com and select retailers on February 20. Quantities are intentionally restricted, which is a Streetwear Strategy 101.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Adidas x Metalwood Studio: Y2K golf style returns to the course
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