Polo → Lando’s backstory | La Martina®

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You’ve probably heard of La Martina, the renowned polo equipment and apparel brand founded in Argentina in 1985. Listen to host André Brathwaite share the backstory of its co-founder, Lando Simonetti, who turned his passion into a lasting brand—so that you could enjoy polo as a hobby.

Listening to this backstory is just one of the many ways we at Forms of Recreation help you find or reconnect with the hobbies you love.

The opinions expressed are solely those of Forms of Recreation and do not necessarily reflect the views of any brand mentioned. We encourage you to check their corresponding websites for further information.

• Transcript

  Episode 28

  Polo → Lando’s backstory | La Martina®

  Picture a wide grass field
  one that you very well know is not for decorative use.
  At a distance, you can hear horses, restless, ready to play.

  You mount your horse, pull on your boots.
  Adjust your grip on the reins.
  The mallet feels familiar — not light, not heavy — just right.

  Polo requires all senses, all at once.
  your horse beneath you,
  your teammates beside you,
  the pace of the ball moving past you.

  There’s no pause button.

  Polo teaches you to be present.
  It sharpens instinct.
  It dislikes hesitation.

  And yet, beyond the sport,
  there’s something quieter happening.

  A relationship forms —
  between rider and horse,
  between action and reaction,
  between tradition and lifestyle.

  That feeling. That balance between control and surrender,
  became the foundation of a brand
  built by someone who understood the game long before the world desired it:

  La Martina.

  Lando Simonetti immigrated to Argentina from Italy at the age of six.
  His family was leaving behind a country strained by war
  and limited opportunity.

  Growing up, polo wasn’t something he saw on magazine covers.
  It lived nearby. He knew friends in his neighborhood who rode, practiced, treated the sport as part of daily life.

  As he got older, Lando’s path pulled him far from those fields.

  He built a career in clothing,
  working in a jeans factory in Nicaragua, then rising to an executive role in Boston for the same brand. Later, he joined the shoe and clothing brand Timberland, learning how global brands scale and operate.

  From the outside, it looked like success.

  But two truths became impossible to ignore.

  One, he was done building someone else’s vision.
  And two, he wanted to be beside the love of his life, whom he met on a work trip—
  Gachi Ferrari, a beloved Argentine television host and actress
  who made thousands of children laugh and sing every day.

  So, Lando left.

  He returned to Argentina, stayed with Gachi, and entered one of the most uncertain periods of his life.

  They were both unemployed.
  Money was tight.
  The future was unclear.

  But Lando knew one thing:
  if he was going to begin again,
  it would be on his own terms.

  He chose sports,
  but not just any sport.

  It had to be a sports brand.
  And it couldn’t be popular.

  Popularity attracts giants,
  the big brands would arrive and wipe him out.

  Then he looked at Argentine polo.

  And what he saw was a contradiction.

  Argentina was the heart of the polo world, yet there were no brands serving the players.

  No visual identity.
  No equipment made for their reality.
  No respect.

  Polo players were treated as country folk. Overlooked. Invisible.

  To Lando, that wasn’t a problem.

  It was the opportunity.

  He didn’t start with clothing.
  He started with a need.

  Boots.
  Saddles.
  Helmets.

  The things players relied on,
  the things fashion ignored.

  For ten years, La Martina didn’t sell clothing at all.

  It built trust.

  Gachi worked alongside him, handling accounting, structure, and consistency, keeping the business grounded as it grew slowly and deliberately.

  Lando believed the business wasn’t about selling.
  It was creating a real relationship with the people who used his products.

  Empathy meant understanding the player
  before they ever asked.

  Manufacturing as if they were going to play that match themselves.

  La Martina began expanding beyond Argentina. To California,
  then across Europe.

  Over time, it became an international reference.

  From Ivy League campuses
  to European royalty,
  La Martina came to stand for one thing:

  This brand is polo.

  Not because it studied the sport,
  but because it became the sport.

  Think about it.

  Because Lando chose empathy over speed,
  and credibility over visibility,
  polo players today don’t just wear La Martina.

  They wear understanding.

  Every stitched boot,
  every reinforced saddle,
  every piece of clothing that came later
  carries the logic of the sport inside it.

  La Martina wasn’t built to impress outsiders. It was built to serve insiders.

  People who wake early.
  Who train quietly.
  Who practice staying present.

  So the next time you step onto a field, pause for a moment.

  Notice the discipline beneath the elegance.
  The work beneath the heritage.
  The relationship beneath the performance.

  Have the courage to keep returning to your hobby.
  And make a small promise to yourself,
  one that involves play.

  Because someone loved polo enough
  to build a brand around it,
  so that you,
  could get to love it too.

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