New Era marks 59FIFTY Day with a meditation on the game of life

New Era Cap Co. is celebrating the upcoming 59FIFTY Day on May 9—honoring its iconic cap, designed in 1954 by Harold Koch—with special new releases as well as a film directed by Set Free Richardson that’s an ode to teamwork in all walks of life. Koch’s innovative design included a 22-step production process that injected more style into the cap, including strengthening the visor stitching and creating stiffer crowns suited for more defined logos. The design was eventually embraced well beyond Major League Baseball, becoming a streetwear icon. Today it’s the official cap not just of MLB but the NFL and NBA, too. Richardson, the founder of Compound, has been working with New Era for several years, but this is his first video for the brand. He brought the concept that everyone plays for a team, whether they realize it or not. The scene is a graduation of sorts, with the Philadelphia rapper Khemist presiding. “Khemist is a student of like the Roots, and Lauren Hill loves his work,” Richardson told Ad Age. “My concept was for him to take the words of some sports teams and connect it to a motivating type speech.” He cast in New York City, “trying to pick different people of different cultures and show how everybody lives different walks of life when they’re on a team. There's different styles, nationalities, races, cultures, male and female.” The caps in the 59FIFTY Day collection include five new New Era branded designs with special pins and clips available in stores and online. New Era will also launch new MLB, NFL and NFL collections for 59FIFTY Day. The MLB and NFL caps feature historic logos of teams from the 1954 season—the year the 59FIFTY was born. The NBA collection features select current NBA logos on classic-colored caps. A special MLB headwear collection delivers a 100 percent genuine leather cap design using MLB Cooperstown logos from select teams of the 1954 season.

New Era marks 59FIFTY Day with a meditation on the game of life

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