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The 59FIFTY is a model of baseball cap made by the New Era Cap Company, a headwear company based in Buffalo, New York. Harold Koch, son of New Era founder
Ehrhardt Koch Ehrhardt Koch (1886–1954) was a German American businessman and founder of the New Era Cap Company. Koch was born in Germany and immigrated to the East side of Buffalo, New York with his parents in the late 19th century. Koch worked for the Mi ...
, created the 59FIFTY to make hats more uniform within the MLB. Sources vary on the meaning of its name: it might be the cap's original catalogue number, 5950; its model number; or the roll of fabric Koch used while producing the original design. By the 1970s, the 59FIFTY was being worn by 20 of the 24 MLB teams and became available to the public in the mid-1980s. The
Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
became the first team to receive memorial caps following their
1990 World Series The 1990 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1990 season. The 87th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the defending champions and heavily favored American League (AL) ...
win. Hats from the losing team are taken apart and recycled following the game. The 59FIFTY became the official on-field cap in 1993.


Early popularity

During the 1980s, Tom Selleck popularized the 59FIFTY when he wore a
Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
cap in ''
Magnum P.I. ''Magnum, P.I.'' is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980 to May 8, 1988 during its first-run broadcast on th ...
''. Its first major craze came in 1996, when film director Spike Lee requested a custom red New York Yankees cap to wear to the third game of the World Series. New Era's contract with the team stipulated that only blue caps could be produced, but the owner worked with the MLB to make an exception. Lee was photographed at the game and requests for custom orders increased substantially. Several years later, Fred Durst repopularized the red Yankees hat.


Design

The first 59FIFTY design had a flat visor, with eight rows of stitching, ventilating eyelet holes, and a high rise crown. Koch added a buckram on the inside of the cap to keep the logo centered and pointed forward. This design only underwent minor tweaks until the 1980s, when lighter wool, sweats, and beading were used to make the logos look cleaner, and the stitching was raised. Teams could also choose different colored fabrics for the under-visor rather than the traditional green, which was used "because it was believed the color helped the reflection of the sun off the turf, meaning there was less stress on a player’s eyes." It wasn't until 1990 that a team made this change, with the Cincinnati Reds changing their under-visor color to gray. The team wound up popularizing the gray under-visor because they won the World Series the same season they made the change. By 1995, all MLB teams were using gray fabric on their under-visors. Beginning in the late 1990s, teams began to experiment with black fabric under the visors to help with the sun's glare, and black sweatbands to make them appear less sweat-stained and by 2007, black under-visor fabric became the norm along with black sweatbands. In 2016, the New Era flag logo was added to the bottom left side of the cap. There are two styles of the 59FIFTY: the original, which has a flat visor and a tall profile, and the low-profile, which has a pre-curved visor and a rounded profile. Earlier versions of the 59FIFTY were made with 100% wool but eventually switched to polyester, which includes sweat-wicking fabric and sun protection. 59FIFTYs are fitted and do not have an adjustment strap like many other designs, such as the snapback. In 1992, the MLB logo was added to the back of every cap and in 1996, the World Series logo was added to the right side of the hat. Commemorative and special edition side patches appear on some caps and are also sold separately As of 2017, the caps were still being made partially by hand.


Cultural impact

Collaborators include BTS, Fear of God, Takashi Murakami,
Marc Jacobs Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was d ...
,
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
, and
Chance the Rapper Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Chicago, Bennett released his debut mixtape '' 10 Day'' in 2012. He ...
. New Era recognizes May 9 as 59FIFTY day.


Fashion

In the 1980s and 1990s, the hip-hop community began wearing the 59FIFTY as a fashion statement.
Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...
,
Eazy-E Eric Lynn Wright (September 7, 1964 – March 26, 1995), known professionally as Eazy-E, was an American rapper who propelled West Coast rap and gangsta rap by leading the group N.W.A and its label, Ruthless Records. He is often referred t ...
,
Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...
,
Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...
, and
Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...
were among those who popularized it. New Era's CEO credits Spike Lee with bringing the 59FIFTY into the fashion world, which later fed into
streetwear Streetwear is a style of casual clothing which became global in the 1990s. It grew from New York hip hop fashion and Californian surf culture to encompass elements of sportswear, punk, skateboarding and Japanese street fashion. Eventually hau ...
. Part of why the cap became a fashion icon is because it represented pride in one's city. The cap is also called Brooklyn style due to New Era's connection to New York and the borough's hip-hop scene. Leaving the gold size sticker on the visor became a fashion trend, enough that New Era added that they do not offer replacement stickers to the FAQ on their website. In 2017, Paola Antonelli included a replica of Spike Lee's red Yankees cap in her "Items: Is Fashion Modern?" exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The exhibit featured 111 cultural icons that majorly impacted the world of fashion.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:59fifty Caps New Era Cap Company Hip hop fashion