In 2023, Susi Proudman founded Williams Athletic Club, drawing on 30-plus years of global apparel industry experience with brands like lululemon, Nike, Aritzia and Marks & Spencer to create a women’s golf line that blends high style with performance functionality in classic wardrobe pieces.
Her most recent collection – grounded in core colors that can be made sportier by layering in bold hues, or more country club chic with refined new neutrals – features elevated styles that transition beyond the course and are designed to reflect the unique personality of each golfer and culture of her club.
The name Williams Athletic Club evolved from Proudman’s original consultancy, Rose & William, named after her two children. Its masculine, established sound has opened doors in a traditionally male-dominated industry, she says.
With expertise in product creation, merchandising, brand strategy and sustainable innovation, Proudman – Williams Athletic Club’s CEO – further discusses her sources of inspiration, the brand’s rising momentum in the green grass community, and how her company is allowing customers to “build a timeless collection that works both on and off the course.”
1 What inspired you to launch Williams Athletic Club?
Susi Proudman: I wanted to bring a fresh perspective to golf apparel – crafting fashionable silhouettes from functional fabrics that seamlessly blend the elegance of classic club dressing with the performance demands of today’s athlete.
Growing up in Lytham St Annes (England), a town steeped in golf history and home to Royal Lytham & St Annes, which has hosted 11 Open Championships, I vividly remember Seve Ballesteros’1988 victory as a defining moment. Golf was truly the heartbeat of our community.
Those early experiences, and a 30-year career working with brands like Marks & Spencer, Aritzia, Nike and lululemon, have shaped my approach to design as one rooted in heritage, innovation and authentic connection to the sport. Golf is very much a family affair for me: My son currently plays collegiate golf in Illinois, which keeps the passion and dedication to the game alive at home.
2 How does customer and athlete feedback shape your design process at Williams Athletic Club?
Proudman: Having worked closely with customers and elite athletes, one thing is clear: Feedback is key. We integrate comments and seek input at every step throughout the process to ensure what we design is relevant and performs well. At the same time, we remember our role is to take the consumer somewhere new – pushing boundaries beyond expectations.
Fabric is always the starting point, because craft follows function. I attend the most important fabric fairs globally, always searching for innovative, high-quality materials that elevate performance and style. At Williams Athletic Club, we create fabrics that blend luxurious textile fibers with advanced functionality, bridging the space between pure fashion and pure sport.
Quality and a careful “make” are essential to us. We focus on the details that help our customers feel comfortable, confident and great, ensuring every piece is thoughtfully crafted to support their game and lifestyle. After leading material innovations across global brands, I saw how expectations had been lowered to basic polyester jersey fabrics and wanted to change that, bringing true technical delivery and style sophistication back to golf apparel.
3 How are you working with PGA of America Golf Professionals and merchandisers to make sure the brand sells through in their golf shops?
Proudman: We designed Williams Athletic Club around the concept of wardrobe dressing collections and colors that flow seamlessly from one season to the next, allowing customers to build a timeless collection that works both on and off the course. For PGA Professionals and merchandisers, we provide complete retail support: flow direction, merchandising plans, mannequin styling and curated assortments tailored to each club’s unique membership.
We also host in-shop events where we share the story behind our Williams Athletic Club products, explaining the engineering that goes into each garment – from fabric performance to construction details. It’s about helping the customer understand not only how our pieces look and feel, but how they’re designed to support her game and lifestyle.
4 What separates Williams Athletic Club from other brands in the women’s golf market?
Proudman: What truly sets us apart is our deep expertise – decades of working with global performance brands and a genuine understanding of the sports consumer. We look to fashion trends and translate them into styles appropriate for golf, ensuring each piece delivers both performance and polish.
For example, our Suki Polo is engineered from Supima cotton – an extra-long staple cotton – blended with polyester for wicking properties. This gives you the performance needed with the luxury of lifestyle wear. The addition of pearl buttons further distinguishes it from traditional polos, bringing a refined, fashion-forward edge to a course staple.
Our approach is deliberately different from the norm, introducing innovation not only in design and materials but in challenging long-held assumptions about what women’s golf apparel can be. Fundamentally, women want apparel that performs on the course and also fits effortlessly into their lifestyle. If our offering doesn’t make someone pause and rethink what golf apparel can be, then we’re not doing our job. Innovation means pushing beyond expected styles and materials to create pieces that elevate both function and fashion, taking the consumer somewhere she didn’t even know she needed to go.
5 What early wins show the momentum behind Williams Athletic Club?
Proudman: In under a year, Williams Athletic Club has gained remarkable momentum. We’ve been featured on NBC Golf Channel and in Golf Digest, Sports Illustrated, Women’s Wear Daily and now PGA Magazine. We’ve secured orders from prestigious country clubs and built strong partnerships within the club and resort space.
Already, we’ve risen to become the No. 2 women’s wear brand in several clubs, and some of our most unexpected pieces – like performance bodysuits and skirts without built-in shorts – have sold through faster than expected, proving there’s a genuine appetite for fresh, innovative women’s golf apparel.
This momentum is only building. Our influencer partnerships are introducing the brand to new audiences and with new styles launching every few months, there’s always something new for consumers to discover and a compelling reason for retailers to keep their assortments current. We are deeply grateful to those who have taken a chance on us so early, but we can assure you, we’ve only just begun. There is so much more to come.
