Decades before teeing up a golf apparel brand with his brother, Chervò co-founder and creative director Peter Erlacher was an accomplished alpine ski racer in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He would go on to become a coach and athletic trainer for the Italian national team during a period when the Valanga Azzurra (Blue Avalanche) dominated the slopes.

The Italian team, at that time, was probably the greatest team in the world with racers like Gustav Thöni, Piero Gros, Erwin Stricker, Fausto Radici, Helmuth Schmalzl, and many more, Erlacher says.

While coaching was a calling, the profession didnt exactly pay big bucks. To supplement his income Erlacher took on a second job importing and distributing sporting goods from the United States and Switzerland. The side hustle inspired him to band together with his brother Manfred and create their own sportswear brand. Chervò, a play on the word for deer in Italian, was born in 1982. The brand initially sold socks, gloves, and apparel aimed at skiers looking to carve powder in style.

Golf entered the picture after Erlacher was introduced to the game during a four-day vacation at a resort in Sardinia. At first he was reticent to give golf a go, buying into the then prevalent stereotype that it was a game meant for retirees, not athletes.

Thirty to 40 years ago, most active sportsmen considered golf as a leisurely game rather than an athletic sport and I was no exception, he admits. I immediately understood that I was totally wrong. Nowadays, everybody can see that golf has become a power sport. To be successful you have to be a real athlete, both physically and mentally.

Once Erlacher acquired a taste for the game, Chervò plowed head-over-skis into golf apparel in 1991. They began with rainwear designed to mute the annoying crinkling sound made by waterproof fabrics of the period.

We introduced Aqua Block which was lighter, softer, and less noisy, while still being perfectly waterproof and breathable, Erlacher says.

Today, the luxe brand no longer makes ski wear and is all-in on golf fashion. Chervò does brisk direct-to-consumer business and is also carried in 800 shops around the world including a 4,000 square-foot showroom in North Palm Beach, Florida which doubles as the brands U.S. headquarters.

Andrea Cerù who is in charge of Chervòs busines development in international markets sees the U.S. as a major growth driver for the brand going forward.

America is our big dream and is our new frontier. We expect it to become, in a number of years, as big as in Europe, Cerù says. He adds that the Asia Pacific region has grown to represent 25% of their business with China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam driving demand.

This year Chervò added a pair of European Tour players who both played their college golf at Texas A&M to their roster of endorsed athletes. Dressing Andrea Pavan, an Italian pro with two wins under his belt, the 2018 D+D Real Czech Masters and the 2019 BMW International Open, is a no-brainer. Meanwhile, Johannes Veerman covers all of Chervòs transcontinental ambitions in one swoop. Hes an American born to an Indonesian mother and Dutch father who grew up in the U.S., Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, China, and England.

The long-term strategy is definitely to add PGA Tour professionals, Layne Dempsey, managing partner of Chervò USA, says.

Utilizing ambassadors to promote the brand has become much more of a focus for Chervò in the past year. They already have LPGA and Ladies European Tour players in their stable and if the right person were to come along that was a fit the brands image, they would be open to explore partnering with a player on golfs top Mens tour.

The trend in style in golf is changing to where its more fitted now and you see guys that are in a lot better shape. We are trying to attract a younger demographic to our market and our branding. Youthful players who are rising stars are who we are interested in right now, Dempsey adds.

Speaking of better shape, as with many European brands, Chervò fits snugger than most domestic mass market brands which may necessitate the need to size up.

American brands generally do vanity sizing so that we feel much better about ourselves. You may be one-size up from traditional U.S. sizing. I like to say that is actually real-sizing, Dempsey says.

Brand collaborations are another avenue Chervò has been pursuing to reach new customers. They recently partnered with Movitra on a pair of limited-edition Chervò sunglasses aimed at golfers.

Having the Ryder Cup land in Italy for the first time in 2023 is another opportunity to showcase the brand. While Loro Piana will provide the European squads on and off-course looks, Chervò is a licensee for the tournament and will release a clothing line timed to coincide with the biennial team competition. They expect their logo to be well represented among the throngs of fans in attendance.

We are the largest golf sportswear brand in Italy and in many countries in Europe. Being that this event will attract travelers from all over Europe, I expect to see a crowd filled with very well-dressed spectators, Dempsey says.