John O’Donnell was 7 years old when he took his first step on Los Angeles sand in 1973. He had only resided in Southern California for two short years before moving to Illinois, but about 10 years later, O’Donnell was headed back to the West Coast to attend UCLA.
“It was in the cards,” O’Donnell said. “I had got my acceptance letter, and I was going back.”
Twenty years after college, O’Donnell was inspired by the Southern California lifestyle to create Johnnie-O, a Santa Monica-based clothing line. Johnnie-O runs anywhere from $50 to $130 per article, and features the signature four-button Johnnie-O polo, T-shirts, swim trunks and button-downs, all donned with an outline of a man at the beach, his right hand on his longboard, and his left hand shading his eyes from the sun. However, when O’Donnell came to UCLA, he was surprised by the Southern California surf culture and style.
“As a general rule, the Southern California surf culture is not a polo-wearing culture,” said Dottie Henkle, manager and buyer for Bentons Sports Shop, which carries Johnnie-O. “But Johnnie-O is a cross between golf wear and California-lifestyle beachwear.”
O’Donnell said that for him, flip-flops, T-shirts and surfboards seemed intriguingly cool and casual, especially coming from Illinois, where his mother indoctrinated him to always bring his blue blazer when traveling. O’Donnell fused California surf and East Coast prep to create the Johnnie-O West Coast prep style.
“It was more of a ‘Why isn’t there this?’ kind of idea,” O’Donnell said. “There should be something that speaks to the Southern California surf culture, but isn’t necessarily a surf brand.”
O’Donnell said back in his UCLA days, he had no idea he would start his own clothing line. He graduated in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in history and a minor in business. He was a member of Sigma Nu and the golf team. In O’Donnell’s fourth year, he was able to take part in the UCLA golf invitational, where he putted alongside PGA touree Scott McCarron.
Now, Johnnie-O is sponsoring the green room at the Northern Trust Open on Saturday, following the day of golf with an acoustic concert by rock band O.A.R.
Before starting his company, O’Donnell worked as an advertisement salesman for Fox Sports and the Golf Channel. In 2005, O’Donnell began his clothing line as a side project to fulfill a stylistic demand he perceived in the market. After two years as a salesman and entrepreneur, Johnnie-O took off enough that O’Donnell said it could become his full-time job.
“You never know,” O’Donnell said. “You always have to keep your eyes and options open. There is a lot of great opportunity out there and you never know when it’s going to hit you over the head.”
Johnnie-O is sold in more than 500 stores across the United States, including sporting goods stores, resort clothing stores, and a series of specialty shops, last year making more than $10 million in sales. Ashton Kutcher, Brian Urlacher and Bradley Cooper all have worn Johnnie-O.
O’Donnell’s brother, Chris O’Donnell, Golden Globe nominee and star of “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “Batman Forever” and “Scent of a Woman,” said his brother has always been a hardworking salesman.
“He is one of the most likable guys I have ever met,” Chris O’Donnell said. “People walk up to me and say; ‘Your brother is Johnnie-O?’ It’s kind of cool. It’s like we are trading places.”
Johnnie-O’s world headquarters and his new Love Shack store are located in Santa Monica. As for the future of Johnnie-O, O’Donnell said he’s hopeful for his company’s continuing growth.
“You can go to some places, and we are actually pretty popular,” John O’Donnell said. “Still, you can go to many other places and people will say ‘Johnnie who?’ We are working on changing that.”