When Scott London first came onto my radar a few weeks back, his name wasn’t immediately familiar to me. But his former apparel brands certainly were. Among them: Aspen Apparel, Wu-Wear, Zoo York, and Baby Phat. And, as I’ve learned from subsequent conversations with him, this Miami-Beach-based street-wear fashion legend and angel investor now has his sights set squarely on the U.S. padel market via his newest venture: GLDN PNT.
Friends Don’t Let Friends Play Padel in Tennis Clothes
That’s just one of GLDN PNT’s many highly memorable tag lines. But as I’ve discovered, it’s far more than a catchy bit of marketing. It’s actually a retail and fashion philosophy that the founder truly believes in.
Given that we both have ties to Colorado and a passion for winter sports that involve snow, Scott and I have talked at length about how what he is seeking to do with GLDN PNT in the padel space is very similar to what brands like Burton, Arbor, DC, Dakine, Never Summer, and Ride did in the snowboarding space when it first started to emerge as a serious competitor to skiing in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
(I’ll pause here to mention that while I almost always refer to people in the articles I write by their last name, from the second I began speaking with Scott, I could tell he was a first-name-only kind of guy).
As I’ve learned from our discussions, like me, Scott sees padel not so much as a threat — or even competitor — to tennis, but rather just its cool, edgy, sexy, oh-so-fun cousin. And he believes that, as such, it deserves an apparel line with its own distinct look, feel, and vibe — much like Lululemon brought to the once-vanilla yoga space.
For Us (Padel Addicts), By Us (Padel Addicts)
As I’ve discussed in previous articles, it’s always a great relief to me when I meet someone who has decided to dive headfirst into the padel industry that tells me they aren’t just trying to make money off the sport, but they also actually love playing it as much as I do. Which is definitely the case with Scott.
As Scott told Meghan Day in a recent interview with Interwoven (which helped him launch the brand), “I moved down to Miami about seven years ago, after selling my last business. I played a lot of tennis and then was introduced to padel. [Now] I play a lot of padel…
One of the great things about padel is that it’s a real community. There’s something about padel. I could talk about padel forever in terms of why it’s so addictive.”
Of his decision to launch GLDN PNT, he continues:
“This became a more personal project for me, a more personal company design-wise than any I’ve done before. I used to manufacture for a company called FUBU, which stands for For Us By Us. And GLDN PNT is sort of my FUBU in the sense that it is something that I’m manufacturing for myself.
I’ve always loved what Rick Rubin says about his taste in music and why he’s a successful producer. He says that he doesn’t know anything about music. He produces for himself and, luckily, people like that. This time, I’m taking that approach.
I know what kind of shorts I’d like to have. I know what kind of t-shirt I’d like to wear. I don’t have to be everything to everybody. It’s a small capsule and I can design what I know I like and what I know my friends in the community like. We like to say that this is by padel for padel.”
More Than Just a Brand
Probably like some of you reading this, I spent a large portion of my life working for a company that spent a large portion of its life talking about how they weren’t actually in the business of selling things, but rather just making the world better.
I definitely don’t get the impression that Scott believes he’s changing the world with GLDN PNT — beyond just creating a stylish, fun, and functional line of performance clothing that padel players can call their own, that is. But he’s obviously also looking to build something more than just a brand.
This especially becomes clear when he delves into telling me about how he landed on the company’s name (which stand-up comedy legend Andrew Schulz hilariously commented on to his 4.4M+ followers on Instagram) — and why he loves all of its multiple meanings.
Sure, we all know that a “golden point” is the winner-take-all tiebreaker that’s played at deuce in padel. But for Scott, it’s also a metaphor for how to live your life, whereby you’re always focused on making each next moment count and having the confidence to step up and say that you want the chance to win the game.
To that end, he reflects fondly on his time spent playing in padel tournaments where the champions got nothing more than a six-pack of beer to enjoy amongst fellow friends and competitors after the match. (Which is why he has also started sponsoring small, friendly community tournaments at various clubs around the country).
It’s clear that those kind of simple — but profound — pleasures and approaches to life are what drives Scott’s love of the game and what he hopes GLDN PNT will ultimately come to be associated with within the industry.
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