J Michael Prince On Polo In India And His Absolute Fashion Essentials

J Michael Prince, president and CEO of USPA Global, is a true believer of sport—but also good fashion.

Ahead of a recent exhibition polo match in New Delhi—which featured some global heavyweights like Nicolas Corti Maderna, Jaisal Singh, Lance Watson and Juancle Marambio, along with renowned Indian players Simran Shergill, Siddhant Sharma, Shamsher Ali and Sawai Padmanabh Singh—Prince said he foresees more demand for the sport in India.

In Delhi to mark 135 years of the United States Polo Association, Prince spoke about the rich heritage of the sport of polo along with the brand’s design philosophy, the latest spring summer 2025 collection from US Polo Assn, and their association with Sawai Padmanabh Singh.

Edited excerpts from an interview with Esquire India:

Esquire India: How would you best describe the link between sports and fashion especially from USPA's point of view?

J Michael Price: US Polo in the past was one of the great untold stories of sports and fashion. But now the story is being told and it's a beautiful story.

The last time I was in India, which was 2023, you landed on the moon. We launched the legends campaign with our friends at Arvind (Lifestyle). Now we get to share our 135th celebration of sport. 

The United States Polo Association was founded in 1890. It's one of the oldest governing bodies of sport in America. So, it's been 135 years of sports inspiration. We're doing these beautiful events all over the world, with a new tagline: born to play. Born meaning birth right. Our birth right is the sport of polo. Play, inspired on the field.

The events will be from Delhi and then in April we have the US Open, which is our largest tournament in the United States.

In June, we go to Florence for Pitti, which is the largest men's fashion event in the world. Then we do polo in the park in England and then we go to Istanbul, Shanghai and then finish back in the States. It's really 135 years of celebration and we're really excited about it.

ESQ: Where do you think polo stands today in the world of sports? What makes it unique?

JMP: It's one of the oldest, if not the oldest, sport in the world. It started in Persian 600 BC So think about that. It's been around for around 2,600 years. Not many sports have done that. lt has evolved. It's played all over the world by young people to more mature people, men and women people of all races. It's really finding its way from a visibility perspective to the world and becoming part of the vernacular when people think of sports.

Two great examples of that are we now showcase the sport on ESPN, the largest sports platform in the world. We also showcase the sport in India.

The other thing we did with India is we signed Sawai Padmanabh Singh to be our global ambassador. He's a great polo player. He's a professional. He represents the sport the brand the country of India extremely well.

We've also signed other ambassadors like Hope Arellano from the United States. She's 20. We signed her when she was 14. She's the number one-rated polo female polo player in the world.

We also support polo events all over the world whether it's the British Open in England, the US Open in the United States, the Argentine Open in Argentina. The most prestigious tournaments to small tournaments, we support the sport everywhere.

ESQ: How will you describe polo's rise and prominence in India right now?

JMP: I see a great rise between what we're doing with the brand globally, what our partners at Arvind are doing with the brands, our collaboration with Sawai Padmanabh Singh and relaunching the Jaipur polo team. For the first time, in many years, his exposure playing not only in India and around the world, has given the sport and the brand a lot more exposure. It's only going to build. I think there's a going to be a real demand for the sport in India.

ESQ: How would how would you say a brand ambassador's role has evolved down the years?

JMP: We're a large brand. It's always about the sport first. They have to be authentic about the sport and no one's more authentic about the sport than Sawai Padmanabh Singh.

He loves the game. He loves the tradition. He loves the horses, the equine partners. That's always important. The fashion comes after that. Can they represent the brand well on and off the field? When you have someone like him, he's just the perfect brand ambassador on the field as well as off the field.

ESQ: What can we expect from the spring summer collection this time out?

JMP: What you look for in spring summer is that we always do our basics. There's always the core colours and polo shirts, T-shirts, Oxford shirts. I was looking at the spring collection here in India, it's beautiful pops of colour: pink, baby blue, turquoise, maybe some graphics.

We are bright, fun, cheerful, active, healthy and happy as a brand. That's what I saw with the spring line for India when I walked the stores. It's a positive feeling.

ESQ: USPA launched a sustainability initiative in 2021. Can you tell me more about what the brand is doing today to make sure its global footprint is reduced?

JMP: Our global sustainability initiative is called USPA Life. The tagline is 'play your part'. Our global ecosystem involves people, product and planet. People mean our employees, our consumers around the world, and giving them the opportunity to engage in sustainability. Product is making one more button on a shirt more sustainable, one less wash of denim, saving millions and millions of gallons of water, protecting cotton - how it's raised, harvested and serviced into product.

The last thing is planet: which involves working with world-class organisations like 4Ocean. I think they pulled 40 million pounds of plastic out of the waterways all over the world. Or, Canopy, which protects the forest all over the world as well. That's part of our global ecosystem. I would say it's a journey not a sprint. Each day, each week, each month, each year, we continue to make progress.

ESQ: Final question. What are your top three fashion dos and don'ts?

JMP: On a weekend, at a polo game, you'll see me in slippers, no socks, pair of jeans or white pants, an Oxford shirt and a blazer. Those are always my dos. In terms of don'ts: I don't wear socks. I don't like heavy layered pieces. I like light layer pieces.

But I always say, you have to do what's comfortable for you, even when it comes to fashion.