Original Penguin: 70 years of golf apparel and counting

The Original Penguin brand has been a staple in the golf game since 1955. And the best part is, they’re showing no signs of slowing down. But, how can an iconic brand remain relevant for so long? We asked a designer at the heart of the team to find out how they’re still at the forefront of golf fashion.

Like many of the best stories, the origin of Original Penguin apparel involves a salesman, a delayed flight, and a little too much alcohol. Back in 1955, a man by the name of Abbot Peterson was on a business trip, when his flight was pushed back and so he headed to the bar, where he consumed a few too many cocktails. Peterson, an avid golfer, stumbled along through the airport, before finding a taxidermy shop. In that shop, a penguin caught his eye.

In his drunken haze, Peterson did manage to board his flight, with his new flightless bird friend in tow. Unfortunately, during the journey, the penguin’s head became detached from its body. Fortunately, the stewardess on Peterson’s flight was alert to the situation and suggested a tie be used to re-attach the head. As she performed the surgery, she remarked how cute the penguin was and that Abbot should put his silhouette onto a shirt. In that moment, Pete the Penguin was born.

Peterson, inspired by the events, came back with the nucleus of an idea. Before too long, Pete the Penguin had made it onto a shirt and that shirt had made its way to some of the biggest stars on the planet. Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer is not a bad list of golfers to have in your line-up and that was once the case for Penguin.

• Original Penguin toasts 70th anniversary with special collection

That shirt which started it all, the Earl, was released in the early 1960s. As Lupe Benitez, senior vice president of design at Perry Ellis, the manufacturer of Penguin, explains, designs like the Earl are essential for the brand.

“It all really started with that polo shirt,” Benitez told bunkered. “It’s funny because it was named after this bowling guy [Earl Anthony, a legendary ten-pin bowler, who was also a scratch golfer] in the 1960s. This shirt has become such an icon. We see so many brands trying to do a version of it, but they can never do the same version because we’ve trademarked it.

“It’s amazing because this shirt from 1962 has been copied so much, but the Penguin is still the original. You’ve seen guys like Bob Hope and Bing Crosby wearing it but also modern-day cool kids like Brad Pitt and Jake Gyllenhaal, too.”

Perry Ellis acquired Penguin in the 1990s. One thing that struck Benitez was the longevity of the workforce in the team, with some of the sales force from the original 1955 team still employed by the company.

That longevity is something shared not just amongst the workforce, but also the styles in the Penguin line. While the Earl shirt is still going strong, influences from other parts of the brand are evident, too, as Benitez explains.

“You feel pressure working on a brand like this because you need to make sure you’re honouring something that has been around for so long and has all that history,” she said. “You need to make sure you keep that performance for golf but also you need to honour that history and that heritage and make sure you bring it to modern times.

“We’re seeing a big trend in prints now, and the brand has such a big history in print.”

One thing that is unique to Penguin, of course, is Pete. The iconic logo carries a lot of weight, and he is often the centre of discussions around upcoming designs for the Penguin team.

“A lot of the things we create, they’re done by thinking, ‘What is Pete going to be doing this season?’” Benitez explained.

“Sometimes we’ll have him in the south of France, or we might have him in a bar after playing golf in Palm Springs.

“We want to make sure that, whatever the trend that is happening right now, we still want to involve some of our key details and trademarks.”

While Penguin is a huge brand, the design team that now works on it is not. The travelling sales force from the 1950s comprised dozens. The design unit that comes up with ideas nowadays is made up of less than ten, across the men’s and women’s section.

Nevertheless, in early summer, that team gets together and throws ideas on the board, often for ranges that are still two years – or even further – down the road. A “magic ball” to see to the future, Benitez says, is often required.

That brainstorming session involves the team thinking about trends in not just fashion, but the wider world. If a certain colour is the in thing, then perhaps it’s time to launch a polo with that as the main focus. Or, maybe it’s time to send Pete off to the latest popular holiday destination. Designs could even focus on food and drink that are fashionable at the time.

One thing Benitez is proud of, however, is that Penguin has always been the brand that innovates, with others following. Right now, golfers wearing streetwear-style clothing is the big trend, but that’s nothing new for Penguin.

Take to the course in style this summer with the 70th anniversary collection from Original Penguin. Available now with select golf stockists #OriginalGoodTime🐧 pic.twitter.com/FOfokslr2p

— Original Penguin EU (@PenguinEurope) June 13, 2025

“I think that’s really funny,” said Benitez, who has spent nearly a decade working on the brand. “Everyone is now saying that clothes should work from the golf course to the office and wherever, but that’s actually what Penguin was saying in their commercials in 1955.”

That’s a trend that is ‘in’ right now but, behind the scenes, the Penguin team is sceptical as to whether it will continue much longer, with Benitez thinking it may have reached saturation point.

Instead, she and her team reckon that golf fashion is having something of a full circle moment. Remember those baggy trousers that Tiger Woods used to wear in the late ‘90s? Yeah, those are coming back, apparently.

“I’ve noticed that young golfers are obsessing about the way Tiger Woods dressed in the 1990s. They want something that fits a little looser, that has that heavy cotton pique. The challenge comes in the fact that, sure, they might want to look like that, but they don’t want to play in that fabric.

“If they play in cotton that is heavy, they’re going to be sweating so bad. Our job as designers is about how you bring that look to the modern fabric and how do you make it perform. They might be wearing the coolest looking shirt, but if they start to sweat and it looks stained, it’s just not going to look good and they’re probably not going to play well either.

“You need to make sure you keep performance for golf but you also need to honour that history and that heritage and make sure you bring it up to modern times.”

Currently, Penguin has several tour players on its roster. The most notable is perhaps Jake Knapp, who has a win under his belt on the PGA Tour and is renowned for his easy-on-the-eye swing.

“He is really particular about his pant fit,” Benitez said with a laugh. “It’s funny, because he has a better body than everyone else. You think, ‘Why do you want to wear something that’s loose?!’

“But I suppose he just wants to be more comfortable than everyone else when he’s playing. He feels like if it doesn’t fit right, then it’s bad luck and he won’t play his best.”

While Knapp is a budding superstar, it remains to be seen if he will hit the heights of others who have worn the brand in the past. Palmer, Player and Nicklaus all used to sport Pete, and it’s the 18-time major champion that Benitez recalls a story about.

“Over the years, Penguin worked with Mr Nicklaus,” she said. “It was around a two-month process deciding the sleeve length he was going to have on his shirt that was going to be the perfect length for him.

“Sometimes, players want it right above their elbow; sometimes, they want it much shorter. It’s small details, but we want our guys to look the best.”

Benitez’ favourite moment working for Original Penguin, however, comes from a golfer that might not have had the success of the aforementioned three, but is just as memorable.

“We did a Chi Chi Rodriguez collection, probably around three years before he passed away. I had done all this research on him and the collection was around these hibiscus flowers. When he saw it, he said he was really moved by the collection because his wife was from Hawaii and she used to buy all these tropical Hawaii prints.

“He was shocked that we used something very similar to what his wife would have picked. His wife had just passed away and he felt like, while looking at the collection, that she had designed it with us. That was amazing.”

For more on the new Original Penguin 70th Anniversary Collection, visit originalpenguin.co.uk.

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Lewis Fraser As bunkered’s Performance Editor, Lewis oversees the content that’s designed to make you a better player. From the latest gear to tuition, nutrition, strategy and more, he’s the man. A graduate of the University of Stirling, Lewis joined bunkered in 2021. Formerly a caddie at Castle Stuart Golf Links, he is a member of Bathgate Golf Club where he plays off four.

Performance Editor