Johnnie-O

Founded 2005 · Los Angeles, California, USA

Apparel & Footwear

#172

Global Rank

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Johnnie-O is the West Coast prep brand built by John O’Donnell, a former NCAA golfer at UCLA and U.S. Senior Open Championship qualifier who founded the company in 2005 selling polos out of the trunk of his car. Born in St. Louis, raised in Chicago, and a brother of actor Chris O’Donnell, John brought a Midwest-and-East-Coast preppy sensibility to Los Angeles and merged it with Southern California surf culture. The result is the surfer-in-thought logo and a full apparel line that sits in the same fairway as Peter Millar, Vineyard Vines, and B. Draddy, with a slightly more relaxed posture and a stronger California pull. The brand is headquartered in Los Angeles with a substantial operating footprint in Raleigh, North Carolina. The growth curve has been steep. Johnnie-O grew sales and EBITDA more than 80 percent in 2021, and in 2022 took a $108 million minority investment from Wasatch Global Investors and Ares Management, leaving founder ownership intact. Revenue is reported in the $100-to-$250 million range. The brand operates 15 branded retail stores in golf-centric markets including Newport, Rhode Island; Fort Worth; Scottsdale; Charlotte; and Miramar Beach, and distributes through nearly 2,000 green-grass pro shops. CEO transitioned in 2024 from longtime leader Dave Gatto, a former Reef and VF Outdoor president, to John Collins, a Patagonia veteran of more than two decades. The product line is built around the original polo and has expanded into PREP-FORMANCE technical pieces, button-downs, bottoms, swim, outerwear, and a women’s capsule launched in 2024 that PEOPLE flagged as one of the year’s hottest fashion launches. The patented Tweener Button is a small but signature design detail. Chris Knott, the founder of Peter Millar, joined as Chief Merchandising Officer and shaped the brand’s product DNA. Recent activity includes a SWAG Golf headcover collaboration, partnerships with golf creators including St. Andre Golf, Peter Finch, and Danny Maude, and an Augusta-adjacent Azalea Collection that’s part of a wider trend of brands building around the Masters without infringing on its trademarks. Johnnie-O has, quietly, become one of the more durable American golf-lifestyle brands of the last twenty years.