Day in the life: Galvin Green's Mats Lundqvist

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With no education of the textile business before joining Galvin Green at the age of 18, I had to learn things pretty quickly through the trade.

Ever since, I have lived and breathed the brand and it has been amazing to chart our rapid rise, witnessing us grow from a small baby as a teenager to where we are today as one of the leaders in golf apparel technology.

As many GolfMagic readers will no doubt be aware, we are the official team supplier of weather wear to the European Ryder Cup team in 2016 and 2018, and we now supply golfers in more than 20 countries worldwide. 

Just being at this year's PGA Show shows me how far Galvin Green has come of late. I have been attending the show a good 15 years now, but it was only last year that we even had a stand or any real presence.

This year, we doubled the size of our stand, and we hope to go even bigger and better next year. Feedback and interest in the brand has been fantastic too. I think a lot of people now get what we are all about, particularly when it comes to our multi-layer concept. 

The great thing about working at Galvin Green is that there are always so many things happening, and that keeps it fun. You could say the constant renewal of products is what gets me up and raring to go in the mornings.

As a team - based at our headquarters in Växjö, Sweden - we are constantly discussing new colour designs, developing new fabrics and coming up with new innovations. We also usually chat about mutual projects that we are working on with our suppliers and partners. 

Right now, we are working on the final moments of our Spring 17 collection. Most of it is already decided in terms of the designs. We have placed all the orders and are just tweaking the finer details now, but we are very pleased with how things are shaping up. 

Once that finishes, work immediately starts on our Autumn/Winter 17 range, so it really is a never-ending process. There is rarely a moment for us to sit back and relax because of the constant change.

To give you a brief description of our current Autumn/Winter 2016 range, we have a total multi-layer concept that dresses you from the inside out, helping you maintain performance regardless of climatic conditions.

We have a first layer with baselayers and skintight thermals to keep you warm and dry, all the way through to our popular Ventil8 shirts, thermal layers and Insula mid-range garments when it's really cold. Then we have got our Windstopper range to tackle the breeze and our popular Gore-Tex range to beat the rain. 

The beauty of our multi-layer concept is that our fabrics are developed to work alongside and compliment each other. It also avoids any moisture getting stuck in any of the layers. 

Over the years we've had several high-profile players representing us on Tour, but we have taken a slightly new approach this season.

We have opted for players who are rising young stars, such as John Huh, John Parry, Ricardo Gouveia, Carlos Pigem and Morten Orum Madsen, and those that have a little more social media presence. We have 22 players across worldwide tours in total. 

Tour staff are very important to us in terms of feedback. Before we release anything new to the market, we will always obtain feedback from them.

Given the majority of our players will be playing around five to six times a week - when you throw in practice rounds and Pro-Ams on top of actual tournaments - they will be going through a strict procedure of washing, wearing, washing and wearing our fabrics. It provides us with the ultimate test to see how our garments are stacking up. 

For example, many years ago we were launching a new pair of trousers that we wanted to be as breathable as possible. We sent some prototypes to Joakim Haeggman ahead of a tournament in Malaysia where it was very humid at some 40 degrees. The trousers came out good, Joakim was happy, we were happy, and so went to market shortly afterwards. 

As lead designer of Galvin Green, I take great pleasure in us being named official weather wear supplier to the European Ryder Cup team in 2016 and 2018. As you can imagine, we are all starting to feel the 'Ryder Cup buzz' with little more than six months to go until the clash at Hazeltine National. 

It has been a honourable challenge for us to design waterproofs for the European side both ahead of Hazeltine this year and also when the Ryder Cup returns to Continental Europe for the first time in 21 years at Le Golf National, Paris, in 2018.

There was a long process with the design drafts of around six months to make sure everything was just right, but we received final confirmation from the Ryder Cup team at the start of January and the wheels are now in motion. We are very pleased with how the range is shaping up.

While we have no say over the weather that is going to greet the players in Minnesota, we can assure you Europe will be 1up on the United States if the heavens do open. We have made sure these rainsuits are going to be extremely lightweight, flexible, breathable and very stylish in their design. 

If you like what you see the players wearing on the course, you will be able to purchase the products shortly after the Ryder Cup. I am confident Darren and the team will do a fantastic job and continue this current European dominance.

Let's just hope for a bit of rain!

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