With Super Mex Golf, Lee Trevino Gets in Touch With His Fashion Side
Lee Trevino has been called a lot of things in his incredible career—which went from growing up on dirt floors as a Dallas caddie to transcending the professional golf world, with multiple major championships—but "fashion icon" has never been one of them.
Yet going into his 85th year, that’s exactly what he and his talented son Daniel are planning on doing with the introduction of the Super Mex Golf clothing line, which uses his trademark Sombrero with a golf club to sell shirts, pants, hats, outerwear and other items.
“I copyrighted the Sombrero (logo) in 1967 and have kept paying for it ever since,” said Trevino, whose World Golf Hall of Fame career included 92 professional wins. “I kept wearing it while I was playing. People would always ask me when I was going to have it on a shirt and sweater and shorts.”
The question was answered in 2020 when Daniel, who graduated from the University of Southern California, begin to produce items and initially stored them in his dad’s garage before finally getting a warehouse for the growing inventory.
Lee Trevino (right) and son Daniel have made Super Mex Golf a family business.
Courtesy Super Mex Golf
“The retro style is incredibly popular, that’s what people want to see,” Daniel Trevino said.
The pair had a booth for the first time at the recent PGA Merchandise Show and the results were hugely successful.
“We have a lot of fans and the secret is to get in here and serve them,” the elder Trevino said after two days of swapping golf stories like only he can, gaining buyers for his new brand. “We wanted to expose Super Mex to our PGA contacts and we certainly did that nationally and internationally at the show.”
Trevino said another reason his new clothing line will be successful is the iconic logo.
“I’m the last of the Mohicans when it comes to logos. Jack had the golden bear and Arnie had the umbrella, but nobody else has a logo you can recognize.”
Known as the Merry Mex or Super Mex for his Hispanic heritage, Trevino said he was always proud of his humble upbringings and being one of the first of his heritage to dominate the sport he grew up caddying with his uncle Lupe, who was the caddiemaster at Dallas Athletic Club.
“I’ve always been proud of being a Mexican, that’s what I am, but I’m American by choice," Trevino said. "I’ve been in the golf business even since I got out of the Marines in 1961 and I love to see Daniel get into the clothes business, selling the same shirts I wore in the 1960 and '70s.”
One thing father and son decided early on was to not have partners in their new clothing line or have some large company manufacture and sell the shirts for them.
“You don’t make any money that way. Daniel went to a meeting in St. Louis and decided we’re going to do it ourselves. He is the brains of the operation, I’m just the help,” Trevino said with his familiar laugh.
Daniel Trevino said it was important to his dad to remain loyal to his golf background, which included the golf professionals where he started his career as an assistant pro in El Paso.
“It’s important to help to sell to the green grass shops because that’s his background," Daniel said. "We are working on getting more of these and that’s one of the reasons we’re here.”
Lee Trevino said he wanted a shirt that didn’t swallow you when you put it on but had more of a custom fit, which he took as an inspiration from his PGA Tour playing days.
“I remember Tommy Bolt, that guy was smooth and clean when he played," Trevino said. "One time I asked him what did you do with your old clothes, he said he gave them to (Doug) Sanders.
A noted flashy dresser, Trevino said his fellow Texan Sanders served as another inspiration: “Doug took such pride in the way he looked, everything was coordinated with color just right.”
One of the biggest differences between today’s pros and when he played is the amount of fitness in the game.
“Today, the guys are not overweight, they look like a Greek god,” Trevino said. “We had a bunch of healthy guys on the Tour. We didn’t have water on every hole, we would sneak in a beer or two. You certainly don’t want me to model shirts—I’m not sure we would sell any.”
But sales at www.supermexgolf.com, various shops in Texas and elsewhere are going just fine and Trevino, who still has a golf club in his hand almost every day, said it's part of the appeal to the game he loves.
“I just love people, I love being around them, and I love this game,” Trevino said, briefly turning serious for a change. “Nothing would make my happier than to see Daniel get into this business and make it a success.”
