The Malbon x New Balance 997G
ShareX
The sneaker reseller StockX has entered into a long-term partnership with Malbon Golf from Los Angeles. The deal will include a series of exclusive product releases with the streetwear brand, starting with the release of a Malbon collaboration with New Balance, which will be released today.
The Malbon x New Balance 997G is an all-white golf shoe with soft spikes and green trim, which borrows its color palette from the Masters’ caddy uniforms. It will be limited to just 250 pairs and a subsequent small batch will be posted on Malbon’s website on August 26th.
“Golf went through this evolution, which started before Covid-19 but was really amplified by Covid-19, where a lot of younger people participated,” said Tom Woodger, vice president of cultural marketing at StockX.
“For us, Malbon is the first brand with young energy that brings skate and streetwear-inspired fashion into the golf world.
StockX, valued at $ 3.8 billion based on its latest funding round, was originally marketed as the “Exchange of Sneakers”. The e-commerce player with a bid-and-ask trading platform model alongside the traditional buy-it-now functionality has since expanded its niche to include handbags, watches, and collectibles ranging from art prints by Daniel Arsham and Takashi Murakami to tiered comic books. Books are enough for trading cards. The fast growing company sees itself today as a supplier and curator of current culture and believes that the popularity of golf is firmly targeting the goods of the sport. The term “golf” was searched 12,000 times on the website in July and golf shoe sales increased 270% year over year.
“This is our first golf brand partnership. We have golf shoes on the platform that exploded and we used all of that insight and data to educate ourselves about what to do in the room, ”explains Woodger.
Historically, Jordan and Nike branded golf shoes have sold very well on StockX, but Malbon is the first golf brand outside of these sneakerhead favorites to launch on the platform. While Malbon may not have a level of awareness comparable to the Goliaths mentioned above, Woodger is very confident that the first drop will be a success.
“If you search the Malbon website on any day, 90% of these products are sold out. We have great confidence in their knowledge of the consumer and the quality of the products they make, so we have great confidence in a very quick sale, ”he adds.
The publication of small, one-off collaborations that sell out quickly serves to maintain brand value while increasing demand in the aftermarket. The practice has become a central part of streetwear sales and StockX, which calls these product launch events “DropX’s”, has been doing it for a year now.
There will be about five more Malbon Limited Edition releases on StockX in the next twelve months. Also as part of their deal, there will be a series of special co-branded golf experiences across the country in 2022, building on invitations, golf days and competitions Malbon has hosted in the past.