KIBO Wear is a grass roots company with a new line of casual golf shirts that launched May 1st. 2010.

The concept behind the company is to create a line of golf shirts with the idea of blending golf  elements with that of organic natural designs.

Speaking with KIBO Wear president Clive Tollman, he had this to say about the company..

“I had a vision of creating designer golf shirts that would represent ones love for the game in no other way that anyone had ever seen before.  The goal was to create something edgy yet tasteful. I wanted to create a sense of meaning behind the line and a representation of the golf game itself and the components of which it is made up of.

Golf trends have obviously changed substantially over the years and consumers have been begging for something different, yet still in line with their tastes.  KIBO Wear is a happy medium between what was and what others have done on the more extreme side with regards to golf apparel and design elements.

The word KIBO which derives from the Japanese language has some inspiring translations such as hope, dream, and wish.  The message is carried on through the names and stories behind each design as seen on our website.  It’s also carried on through the choice of materials which we’ve chosen to use such as bamboo and organic cottons.”

The artwork is great, some of the best I’ve seen coming from the non-traditional golf apparel market. All the concepts behind the shirts come from Clive and the creatives were done by a team of world class designers and artists.

Now I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that while some of the artwork is amazing, there’s a few that could use some rework. But, to each their own, some of the creatives that I think are awesome, others might think otherwise.

The golf shirt designs are pretty interesting, they cover a range of … topics? Not sure how to describe it, but on one end of the spectrum you have the industrial looking clubhouse shirt and on the other end of the spectrum, there’s the peaceful meditative Tree Bag shirt.

The shirts come in two fabrics; 100% cotton (not yet organic, but that’s the direction they’re heading) and 70% bamboo (30% organic cotton).

I LOVE the fact that KIBO Wear is producing bamboo golf shirts. There’s so many benefits to bamboo over cotton, that I’m surprised the clothing industry in general hasn’t made the switch. Bamboo is antibacterial, hypoallergenic, odorless, breathable, absorbent and is softer than cotton. Not to mention, bamboo grows a lot faster and can grow in much harsher climates than cotton, requires significantly less chemicals and pesticides than cotton, etc..

The ink used in printing is a combination of water based and plastisol inks. KIBO tries to use water based as much as possible because it’s a much softer touch because it becomes one with the material and it’s much more environmentally friendly. It’s applied using a process called soft hand which gives the print a much softer feel and worn-in look.

KIBO Wear sent me two golf shirts, the Tree Bag Bamboo golf shirt, the Out of Bounds 100% cotton golf shirt and a pair of prototype bamboo socks to review.

KIBO Tree Bag Golf Shirt

This is my favorite design and it’s available in 100% cotton, long sleeve and short sleeve bamboo. It lives up to it’s reputation as being very soft and comfortable. I wore the shirt over the weekend to a local festival and it was a very hot, humid day.

It wasn’t as breathable as I had expected it to be, found myself doing the shirt fan (wish I could illustrate it to you) when standing still. It was very absorbent and never did I feel the sweat on my body.

The shirt was thicker than I had expected it to be, it’s not a good or bad thing, just an observation. I have to give the company credit, after wearing the shirt for five hours in the sun, the shirt didn’t have any of the odors one might expect..

KIBO Out of Bounds Golf Shirt

This is another really neat design and I found myself questioning whether or not the ball was ACTUALLY out of bounds.. The ball is hovering over a water hazard but it’s resting on some vegetation that’s connected to land, which could mean that the ball is still in play… 🙂

The shirt is comfortable and thin, although, not as comfortable as the bamboo. Rubbing your fingertips the shirt, it’s hard to feel a difference between the fabric and the artwork, which I thought was a very cool thing.  One thing I didn’t like is the KIBO logo on both the front and back of the shirt, thought that was a bit of overkill.

Regarding the Bamboo socks, I’ve worn them once and they’re very soft, comfortable and do a good job of removing the moisture from your feet. I’d like to see a KIBO logo added somewhere on the production version of the socks. I’m putting the anti-bacterial odorless feature to the test as I’m going to wear them multiple times before washing (gross I know, but hey.. I’m curious!). I’ll keep you posted on the results! 🙂

KIBO Wear is planning on adding country club approved collared golf shirts to their line, there’s a prototype in the works and hopefully I’ll be able to get a hold of one as soon as they’re released.

Below is the latest KIBO promo video.