Starting this September is New Era’s 2nd annual Concept 59Fifty contest. We figured what better way to lead into this years contest by interviewing last years Concept 59Fifty grand prize winner, Anthony Lewis! Bellow we asked Anthony a few questions to better help everyone understand whats involved and even what it takes to be #1 for this years contest. A heads up that this years Concept 59Fifty contest is anticipated to start Monday September 13th, 2010, so get your thinking caps on!

1. How hard was it to get started on this design?

Well I don’t know how hard it was actually. I think I saw the herringbone  pattern and then got an idea and went from there and started designing the cap. I was listening to Chris Brown’s “I can transform ya” song at the time and that’s how I came up with the robot influence.

1. Do you have a background in design and how long have you been doing this for?

1. Any Closing Words?

Yes. Good luck to all of this years entries. I want to thank again New Era for creating this opportunity for artists and designers to express themselves for the best caps made. Thanks to the great guys at new era, Brian especially. Thanks Francesco and neweracaptalk.com. And I hope my cap actually made you guys some money lol.

We recently caught up with Christine & Sarah from New Era to talk about their Accessories Line. We asked them a series of questions to help everyone better understand New Era Accessories and how much value they add to anyone’s collection. They also gave us a sneak on some up and coming belts they will be releasing. Continue reading for details.

• Nectalk: For those who aren’t familiar with New Era accessories please tell us a bit about what type of accessories New Era deals with and offers to their clients:

Within our Accessory category, we target two areas: Cap Care & Cap Storage. Our Cap Care products include the Recap Cleaning Kit which contains an inflatable head form, Cleaner, Shaper, and a brush. It allows you to clean and block your cap any time you want. Or you can just grab the Cleaner and Shaper to keep your cap clean. Then there’s our Cap Brush, which is a small rectangular brush designed to remove hair/lint/dust from your cap to restore it back to new. This is our best selling item in this category. It’s small and easy to use, and does the trick! Within our Cap Storage products, we offer 3 cap carriers: a 2Pack, a 6Pack, and a 24Pack (the number distinguishing exactly how many Fitteds you can put inside the carrier). We also carry the Cap Storage System, which is a hanging shelf unit that you attach to the bar in your closet and it contains 4 open shelves to store caps.

Our Accessory category began in 2006 with the 6Pack Cap Carrier. In 2008, we extended the cap carrier line to include the 2PK Carrier and introduced the Cap Care products. By June of 2009 we launched the Cap Storage System and 24PK Cap Carrier.

We’re constantly striving to understand our customer better. We know our customers value the quality of our products so we try to keep giving them better ways of taking care of their Fitteds. Like any new product, we identify a need and then do research to determine the specific elements that are most important to our customer. Our Innovation team creates concept specifications, detailing every measurement and proportion for the product, then we go through several rounds of prototyping to get the product exactly the way we want it. Next comes packaging and branding, and finally, we launch the product to our sales reps.

Ideas for Accessories can come from basically anywhere. We tend to work a lot with our other global offices to find out what kind of feedback they’re hearing in their markets. This helps us to establish a need, or a new trend, and allows us to react quicker to initiate the product development stage. Typically, new product development takes about 8 months to a year from concept to launch, and at times can take longer.

Our Accessory products are a little different than our headwear in that we don’t design specifically for a season; we tend to design for a need. We roll out products at different times of the year, not in conjunction with our seasonal headwear lines.

Our 3 best selling products are the Cap Brush, the Cap Storage System and the 6Pack Cap Carrier. The Cap Brush has quickly become the #1 Accessory item since we launched it because it gives customers a quick and easy way to freshen up a cap before putting it on. The Cap Storage System proves to be successful because customers are always looking for a place to store their caps at home, while keeping them visible alongside their apparel and sneakers. And, the 6Pack Cap Carrier is great for storage as well as travel, with its crush-proof neoprene shell. I think these three products have been successful because they fulfill 3 needs we positioned this category for: cleaning, storing, and traveling.

All of our Flagship locations have Blocking machines, which is where a sales associate will place your fitted cap on the metal blocking form and pump steam through it at precisely the correct size it was first constructed at. The steam helps to add the crispness back into the cap, while the blocking form restores the correct shape and structure.

Well, I can tell you that we’ve added a new category to New Era – Belts. We’ve recently launched a line of solid canvas belts with enamel-filled New Era flag buckles in our core 59Fifty colors. These new belts will hit our US Flagships and the Web on June 14 2010.

Everyone knows that if your on Fairfax street in L.A, and you’re shopping for a fitted, that Hall of Fame  is always the first stop. Here’s an interview with Arsen at Hall of Fame and Order Empire with some great insight on the brand and new projects coming up.

The LockerBlogger.com is running a new promotion with a limited edition (1 of 500) New Era hat designed by OU star and #1 draft pick, Blake Griffin.  OU held Blake Griffin Night on February 9th 2010 and gave away 100 of the hats to lucky fans.  The remaining hats will be sold through LockerBlogger.  Bellow you will see a video of Blake Griffin designing the hat.  The hat is in OU’s official colors- Crimson&Cream, and contains a personal quote from Blake. Get over and check out LockerBlogger.com for yours and more!

This upcoming 2010 Electric release is nothing but straight fire! Releasing in a 59Fifty mesh back New Era Cap, this one is titled the “Volt Trucker”. The combination of great quality and vibrant colors is definitely going to make this release a sought after piece! Wait till you see whatelse Electric has in store, a tight new logo perhaps?! Keep Glued!

Leaders 1354 has always put out fresh gear, especially when it comes to their infamous New Era Cap Collaborations. The demand for their 59Fifty New Era pieces usually results in 24 to 48 hour sellouts! From the Chicago Leaders, LDRS and the new L-Wing New Era Cap releases, in total these three series of caps have translated to 146 fitteds which is over 4000 hats that they’ve released to the world over a span of three years.

We can only advise you, be smart and stay on point, snag their Fitteds before they sellout!!!! You don’t want to be that guy that said “I’ll check back tomorrow” it just won’t be there! Unless you pick it on ebay for $320 (True Story “Rebel Leader.“) TALK ABOUT IT HERE!

We are blessed to be working with some of the greatest independent New Era Authorized Stockists across the globe. Supporting us from day one, we recently had the opportunity to Interview one of our main sponsors, and one of your favorite shops, Rock-N-Jocks. Get to know your supplier up-close and personal. More interviews to come!

1. NewEraCapTalk.com: Rock n Jocks, What is the story behind the name?

• Rock-N-Jocks: pretty simple Rock-N-Jocks. you rock one of our custom New Era fitteds people are going to jock it.

NewEraCapTalk.com: How long has RockNJocks been around?

• Rock-N-Jocks: Rock-N-Jocks store has been around for five years out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame city Canton, Ohio.

NewEraCapTalk.com: How did your account with New Era come about and what pulled you to the brand?

• Rock-N-Jocks: Our account came about with a hefty initial order. What pulled us to the New Era brand is the best fit around for the hottest hats in the land. The brand of New Era can’t be touched. It just works.

NewEraCapTalk.com:Right now, out of all the New Era caps you have in stock which one is the most popular item?

• Rock-N-Jocks: The most popular one at the moment of the New Era Customs we have in stock would have to be the N.W.A. inspired Los Angeles Kings custom Fitted. It is just a must have for hat lovers, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays is also killing it.

NewEraCapTalk.com: Do you feel as though the New Era Cap game is becoming more and more saturated?

• Rock-N-Jocks: The New Era game of the world is getting more out there of course. Rock-N-Jocks unlike major chain hat stores keeps our colorways and logos combinations vibrant and live also with keeping our exclusive customs limited which we think makes them one of a kind must haves.

NewEraCapTalk.com:How do you guys stay current with fresh new colorways and designs, how can you anticipate what the customer wants?

• Rock-N-Jocks: Our colorway ideas come from a team of three mad scientists that bounce off ideas from one to the other until a perfect concoction is perfected. Since we are huge hats fans, sports fans, and fashion fans we feel like we can anticipate what is going to bring the customer to rocknjocks.com

NewEraCapTalk.com: What is your competitive advantage in the marketplace?

• Rock-N-Jocks: Our competitive advantage over other hat stores is I believe that we are doing color and logo combinations that you are not going to find anywhere in the world. You could go to China to California to your local mall and the only place you are going to find one of our limited custom fitteds is on rocknjocks.com

NewEraCapTalk.com: Have you guys been feeling the pinch from the recession? If so how are you over coming it?

• Rock-N-Jocks: Pinch from the recession. I feel that everyone, everywhere, is somehow feeling the recession. With the Recession going on however, sales are pretty steady with last years sales which is encouraging.

NewEraCapTalk.com: What new up-and coming products are you most excited about?

• Rock-N-Jocks: We are excited about alot of the custom fitteds we have arriving. We have alot new fresheness that has just arrived and many more that are on order and will be arriving soon.

NewEraCapTalk.com: Any closing words?

• Rock-N-Jocks: We would like to thank our loyal customers that make Rocknjocks.com what it is and we will continue to work hard to bring you the best in the New Era Custom Fitted world.

Here is a lookback into the life of Cabbie All-Star interviews with Chris Bosh, Mats Sundin, and Vernon Wells at The New Era Cap Toronto Flagship Store! Bellow is the full interview!

That hat’s saying a lot about you. Is the visor curled or flat? Does it sit straight on, backward or is it cocked to the side? Does it bear a classic team logo or something less traditional, maybe a skull with wings? You can bet they’re paying attention at New Era Cap Co., the company that may have made that hat. And with a glance at your lid, they can tell who you are — including what you’ll be wearing next. The designers at New Era keep a hawk eye on the fashion trends from their little corner of New York. (No, not that corner. Further west, in Buffalo.)There are 30 designers at New Era Cap Co.’s headquarters who are in constant touch with 15 colleagues in London and five in Irvine, Calif., to come up with new ways to keep the ubiquitous baseball cap fresh and in demand. Yes, New Era supplies all the official on-field caps for Major League Baseball. But that’s only part of the 35 million caps sold by this family-owned, 88-year-old company last year. The huge design team launches some 500 new products each year over five fashion seasons: two for spring, two for fall and one for the holidays. That means countless colour and pattern combinations, with fabrics including silk, cashmere, chiffon, denim and snakeskin. By far, the most popular style of cap is the 59Fifty, the fitted on-field cap worn by everyone from big leaguers to Spike Lee. Last year, 77 per cent of New Era Cap sold were 59Fiftys — which is a product number that dates to the 1930s.

The 59Fifty, which retails for US$32, tends to be easy to spot. A lot of wearers leave the product sticker on the uncurled brim. In more urban, fashion-forward circles, it’s just not cool to remove it. A more traditional guy might go for a stretch fit, peel the stickers off and get right to work curling the visor. (Spritz it with water, put a rubber band on it and stick it in a coffee cup.) According to Gina Goss, New Era’s women’s product development manager, your choice in cap is a dead giveaway for the rest of your wardrobe. “You can tell where they shop, what kind of car they drive, what kind of sneakers they wear,” she said. Try this: If you’re wearing the 59Fifty, visor flat but backward, you may be an aspiring or pro skateboarder. Hot pink and glittery? You’re probably a Texas girl. If your cap is made from what looks like a comfy grey T-shirt, you’re probably home in the Northeast. Does the pattern play to your Gucci handbag or Pucci scarf? You’re probably a New York City or Toronto trendsetter who will be looking for something simpler next season. Prefer bright colours, maybe floral or Hawaiian-style, or crisp white? You’re in Florida. If it’s a plaid “trucker” you don, where the back half of the crown is mesh, or a super distressed cap, you’re probably in California, maybe just in from surfing. There’s a science to getting that “I’ve had it for 20 years“ look, by the way. “We bleach them, we have oil rubbed into them,” Goss said. Workers in the shops cut the visors with a knife and hold them to a grinder. Some are washed with stones or golf balls to achieve one of six set levels of distress.

As for team logos, the Yankees outsell all others by three to one, but Boston’s up-and-coming. “Yankees is a brand. You can sell a Yankees cap anywhere in the world,” Goss said. The designers not only need to keep up on what’s hot and what’s not, they have to anticipate it. If bright colours and busy patterns are on the runways in Paris or Milan, watch for the same on the ball caps. If it’s clean lines and muted colours, there will be caps to accessorize that style, too. The designers are online sometimes minutes after a fashion show ends anywhere around the world, taking notes on colours, fabrics and style trends, while groups of specialty designers fan out on trendspotting missions around the world. Some designers go to baseball and football games to see what people are wearing, while others focus on the “street/urban” look, “action sports” trends seen on skateboarders and snowboarders, and women’s and children’s fashions. The company recently added a line of old-school gatsbies and fedoras and knit toques. “People are always amazed. They think it’s a baseball cap — you just plop a logo on it,” said Goss. “We spend a lot of time doing research, an incredible amount of time.”

On this rendition of the FILES X REPPIN’ 101, we bring to you this interview from Bounce magazine feat. Chris Paul directly from his house in New Orleans. Chris Paul rocks some ill 5950′s, and has a FLY New Era Cap Collection. His collection consists of many different styles of New Era 5950′s but the highlight of his collection are all the Capture the Flag fitteds. Watch out for his dope Shoe collection, as a gift, Bounce Mag gave Chris a pair of special addition Nikes designed by yours truly Andre Trenier.