Scots student taps into Gen Z golf aesthetic with Vinted-style clothing platform

Malcolm Weir founded his e-commerce resale platform Generation Mulligan two years ago to supplement his income while working towards a degree in geography. After graduating last summer, the 22-year-old entrepreneur pivoted from his intended pathway in urban planning towards developing his fledgling brand as a full-time venture.

The platform specialises in sourcing, restoring and selling premium vintage golf apparel, focusing on items from the 1980s to the early 2000s and aiming to make sustainable, high-quality “retro” fashion accessible to golfers.

Weir said he was creating interest in a vintage golf aesthetic made famous by iconic players such as Tiger Woods, John Daly and Fred Couples, while utilising a selling model that has become popular among younger consumers thanks to general and sports fashion platforms such as Vinted and Depop.

Weir has been building sales alongside an engaged social media audience of 20,000-plus followers, established a network of suppliers on three continents and has recently opened an operations unit in his home city of Edinburgh.

The brand name borrows from the phrase given to the informal convention of allowing a player to take another shot - a Mulligan - reflecting the brand’s mission of giving a new generation a fresh take on past styles.

“I needed to make a little bit of extra cash alongside my studies, because the cost of living is so much for students, and I didn’t want to work at a pub or a cafe,” said Weir. “I always had a bit of an entrepreneurial spirit, and I had been into golf from a very young age.

“I really wanted to start something and initially began Generation Mulligan as a blog. But I was finding it hard to engage the audience I needed through long-form articles, so I turned to social media and set up the platform.

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“I got really into my fashion and my vintage clothing at university, and I could see how big the vintage football shirt market was. I used to collect football shirts myself, and it started me thinking is there a vintage market for golf?

“I began picking up items for myself, polos that Tiger Woods used to wear and pieces from the 1990s. And I’d wear them on the course, and my friends would tell me they looked really good.”

Weir turned to the university for advice and support when he was setting up his platform, enrolling on a summer company programme sponsored by Santander and receiving financial support.

The student and graduate enterprise team at the University of Glasgow supports students through mentoring, start-up programmes, funding opportunities, skills workshops, networking events and access to incubation and growth support.

Marion Anderson, student and graduate enterprise manager at the University of Glasgow, said: “Generation Mulligan’s success is a fantastic example of what our students can achieve with the right support, ambition and creativity. At the University of Glasgow, we’re proud to provide the mentoring, programmes and networks that help student entrepreneurs turn ideas into thriving ventures.”