Jason Cater on 25 Years of Style, Innovation & Growth

“It’s been a fantastic journey.”

That’s how Jason Cater, chief creative officer of Peter Millar, describes the transformation that he has spearheaded since joining the company more than a decade ago.

Cater, who worked for Zegna for eight years prior, said that when he first came on board at Peter Millar, the company was already offering both golf and lifestyle merchandise, “but over the last decade, we’ve continued to lean further and further into lifestyle.”

He attributed that move to customer demand. “We have this great relationship with our customer who is asking for more lifestyle products and we’ve learned through our boutiques and our website what our customers are looking for next, or what they want more of.”

Today, the offering is broken down into three pillars in men’s as well as a women’s division, Cater explained. The oldest is Crown, which he described as “unapologetically American in nature. Quality is certainly at the root of all of our products, but with Crown, I utilize the four Cs: colorful, casual, comfortable and classic.”

The second pillar is Crown Sport, which he said is “really the quintessential golf component to Peter Millar. It’s a very important business to us. It’s outfitting our golfer head to toe, whether it’s shorts, pants, first layer, second layer. Obviously, we have a robust outerwear business as well and we do true rainwear. So when I think about Crown Sport, I think about garment construction, fabric innovation. Everything is rooted in performance and has to perform for the avid golfer.” And in terms of design, it also has a classic sensibility, he said.

The third, and youngest pillar, is Crown Crafted. This is the fastest-growing category at Peter Millar, Cater said, and is inspired by a blending of the best of American and European design. “Those worlds really come together for us,” he said. “We think of it as a true international product. In terms of design, it’s a little more sophisticated. In terms of the color palette, it’s much more subtle and refined compared to Crown, which is definitely more colorful. These are soft, muted shades that blend with neutral tones.”

He said the fit in Crown Crafted is also “more tailored — there’s a little more attention to waist suppression and cleaner lines throughout the pants and jackets. There’s certainly an approach to craftsmanship.”

He said that since Day One when Peter Millar just created cashmere sweaters, the brand has always worked to procure the finest fabrics and yarns from Italy. And Crafted, the most elevated offering, makes nearly all of its products in Europe.

In terms of price, Crown and Crown Sport are very similar and Crafted is the most expensive price point.

Cater said the crown logo and name trace their histories to a lawn ball with a crown insignia that was important to the founders and ultimately made its way into the branding.

But the crown has actually changed a number of times over the years. First it was a crown by itself, then it was a crown in a crest. Now it’s in a circle and is referred to as a crown seal. “So the evolution of the crown logo has changed probably six or seven times throughout the 25 years,” he said.

Although Peter Millar has a team of 22 designers, the buck ultimately stops with Cater as the top creative executive. He was quick to point out that 85 percent of the team is actually from Raleigh, N.C., where the brand is based, most graduating from the school of textiles at North Carolina State. “We’re pretty proud of that fact — there’s definitely an authentic story to that.”

For spring, Cater said the brand is leaning more heavily into what he described as “modern tailoring.”

“We’re expanding into some more suitings,” he added. “We’re actually getting back to dress shirts and ties, a pocket square line, a true sartorial dress shoe, whether it’s a lace up or a slip on. We’re seeing our customer get back to some more formal moments in their lives and we feel it’d be great to be a part of that.”

Another key launch for spring is the Sportsman, which falls under the Crown Crafted umbrella. “We’re so rooted in the world of golf and performance fabrics, we thought it could be really interesting to change the narrative and dig into the inspiration of the 1940s- and ’50s-era of golf attire, which was very different from today. So we developed this capsule, which is entirely comprised of natural fibers.”

Double mercerized cotton shirts, tropical wool trousers, cotton-cashmere sweaters, “everything is about a different sensibility of style, and really inspired by that era of dressing. That’s going to be a very interesting debut for Peter Millar.”

The Pursuit capsule of performance lifestyle apparel will also be expanded, he said. “We wanted to think about performance fabrics utilized with a different aesthetic that would not be in a golf environment,” he explained. “So the Pursuit series is really taking a much more modern, edgy, urban approach. All the fabrics are matte finish, so there’s this very quiet, subtle finish, but everything is four-way stretch, water-resistant, wind-resistant. It’s built for you to wear to the office and then go for cocktails or a great dinner afterward. There’s a much more formal aesthetic to it than Crown Sport.”

NFL star Christian McCaffrey was signed to be the face, another departure for the brand, whose ambassadors are heavily in the golf arena.

Womenswear, albeit a small category, is also seen as a growth vehicle. “We have a very significant business in sport and performance, and then we also offer lifestyle in a smaller way,” he said. “We’re very proud of our womenswear, and it continues to yield very consistent and solid growth.”

Then there’s the anniversary capsule.

Cater said the planning started by going back to the single cashmere sweater that the company began with and brainstorming on “how to honor that.” The result is a reimagined cashmere quarter-zip in 16 colors, four of which were originals from the very first season. The sweaters sport the first label as well, which says Peter Millar Cashmere in purple. Each sweater is embellished with XXV in tonal thread created by artisans to signify the 25th anniversary.

The sweaters were produced in a limited run and will be available in the company’s boutiques and on its website as well as at select wholesale accounts.

Beyond that, Cater and his team pulled out all the stops to create a special anniversary capsule, called Levels of Luxury. It will feature 100 percent cashmere sport shirts, five-pocket pants, a double-face cashmere city coat and a soft jacket. The capsule also includes a “first fleece cashmere” sweater that is made from the first combing of an infant goat and is much finer and softer than regular cashmere, and two over-the-top vicuna pieces: a soft jacket and an English rib full-zip sweater. Both of those vicuna pieces are limited to 25 and numbered. They’ll be sold only at the Peter Millar boutiques. The sweater will retail for $5,000 and the soft jacket is $7,000.

Once the 25th anniversary is in the rearview mirror, Cater sees a bright future ahead. “I think the opportunities are endless for Peter Millar,” he said. “We’re really excited about starting to grow in Europe. Footwear is a big opportunity for the brand, and we continue to grow with womenswear. We have four domestic boutique openings this year, and there’s a big opportunity for more boutiques throughout the U.S.”