Spotlight: Ulrika Skoghag

There are a variety of roles for women within the golf industry, Ulrika Skoghag is the CEO of the popular Swedish Clothing brand Daily Sports.

W&G asks the questions ….

What is the history of Daily Sports?

Daily Sports is a family-owned company that was established in 1995 by my father Ralph and his wife Elizabeth. I joined the company in 2005, initially taking care of the production side of things, drawing on my experience from previous roles as production manager and purchasing manager for large companies specialising in women’s and children’s’ fashion. I became CEO in 2003. Elizabeth sits on the board, but she and my father now spend most of their time in Thailand.

Tell us about your collections

Each year we produce three collections – spring/summer, autumn/winter and holiday – the latter is a warm weather collection sold in places like Florida and Australia. For 2015 we’ve introduced an exercise collection as we believe that a customer who likes our golf brand is also likely to enjoy other activities like running, cycling etc. If you see a piece of our clothing, you should be able to recognise it through personality, either classic modern, sporty, or functional. It should have a feminine fit, and matching combinations. If you cannot see that, then we haven’t done a good job.

How long has it taken Daily Sports to establish itself as a brand in different countries?

Daily Sports is now sold in 28 countries, however, it has perhaps taken longer as we are working as a family business, currently with a team of nine staff. We haven’t invested millions on marketing to build the brand, but instead have focused on the collection, the products, and being close to the customer. We work very closely with women who wear our products to obtain their feedback on fit, colour, length of shorts etc and from listening and learning; it’s this knowledge that has helped develop the brand. Now we need to build relationships with our current distributors to ensure the brand becomes even stronger.

It’s a competitive market, so what’s the secret of the brand’s success?

We bring fashion into golf, we focus on what we are trying to achieve and we are very clear about what our customers like. Our strength is that we are confident in what we are doing. Some years ago we introduced men’s clothing but we decided to take it away and focus on the market that we do well. Daily Sports also caters for larger ladies, up to size 20. There is a market there, especially online and it works very well in the UK and Sweden.

What are the biggest changes you've seen in women’s golf fashion?

Functional material has entered the market so much stronger, even in Europe. Originally it was only the USA that asked for it. Cotton used to be popular, but it has almost gone now. Fabric is improving all the time, there’s more choice of colours, it’s non-iron and great for golf, especially if you get hot when playing in the sun!

What are the long-term challenges for Daily Sports?

The company’s mission is to be one of the most successful sports brands in the world, so therefore we would like to grow and sell higher volumes. Of course, this is a big ask, but you need to have goals and a mission should almost be untouchable! We have around 600 accounts in the USA, but we’d love to be sold in some of the bigger chains. Short-term, our website and social media is another area that we would like to develop.

Do you play golf?

I began playing golf four years ago. Daily Sports has two female designers and they also play. If you make golf clothing it’s important to know the golf world and how people live the game. I’m not a good player, but I play because it’s fun, I want to spend time with my friends and enjoy lunch afterwards. I believe our customers are very much like that.

What are your favourite pieces?

The Miracle pants are a key product for us, but the next big thing is the Magic trousers that are stretchy (like jeggings) and without any seams. I’m now a Magic person rather than Miracle! I’m not afraid of colours, but I prefer the clean pieces rather than the big prints.

Photograph: Bjorn Andersson, Swedish Golf Federation