New Era

New Era is a company with over 100 years of tradition in the hat industry. The brand's designs encourage customers to be themselves. The brand team admires innovation and the rebels in life.

New Era has always been at the forefront of innovation and progressive thinking. The innovative attitude and form breaking philosophy inspire the brand today and in the past.

Here's how it all began:

THE 1920S - BUILDING THE FOUNDATION

German immigrant Ehrhardt Koch, 37 and a skilled craftsman, saw an opportunity to redesign the process used and the quality of “fashion” headwear. In 1920, his dream came true when he borrowed money from his sister, Rose, to start New Era Cap Co. His expertise and open-mindedness led to the company producing 60,000 Gatsby-style caps in the first year.

 

 

THE 1930S - A SHIFT IN STYLE

In 1932, Ehrhardt’s son, Harold, joined him in the business. Harold noticed the demand for the fashion cap fading, while professional baseball was growing in popularity. It was then when New Era took its first calculated business venture by bringing a new item in the marketplace – the baseball cap. The first New Era professional baseball cap was produced in 1934 for the Cleveland Indians’ uniforms.

 

 

THE 1940S - RESILIENT

World War II was a time of hardship and New Era was no exception. Fabric was scarce, but the Koch’s were resourceful, obtaining surplus, plain fabric by going to the garment district in New York City. In fact, the fabric used to produce the caps during this time was dyed at the family’s home in washing machine to match the colors of local teams.

 

 

THE 1950S - THE BIRTH OF AN ICON

By 1950, New Era was the only independent cap maker supplying caps to big league baseball teams. Its impressive roster of clients included many of the 16 teams at the time like the Brooklyn Dodgers®, Cincinnati Reds®, Cleveland Indians® and Detroit Tigers®. In 1954, Harold designed New Era’s fitted 59FIFTY style cap, giving it a more contemporary look.

 

 

THE 1960S - PAVING THE WAY

To better accommodate the growing company, Harold, now leading the charge, opened a manufacturing facility in Derby, New York, close to the family’s home. The location would become the exclusive producer of the iconic 59FIFTY® cap. Having proven itself, New Era was invited by MLB to sell directly to every team at its annual Winter Meetings. This was a pivotal step to the brand’s path to exclusivity with the league.

 

 

THE 1970S - THE NEXT GENERATION

In 1972, Harold’s son, David, was named president - 14 years after he began working for the company. A few years later, Chris Koch, David’s son, continued the tradition and began working in the Derby manufacturing plant for his grandfather and father.

 

 

THE 1980S - ONWARD AND UPWARD

Guided by David Koch’s vision, the 1980s became a decade of consistent growth. The company was producing headwear for college sports, AAA and International Baseball leagues and started selling caps to sports fans.

 

 

THE 1990S - THE ONE, TWO PUNCH

Being named the exclusive supplier of on-field caps for Major League Baseball in 1993 and experiencing its first brush with custom, fashion headwear in 1996 with Spike Lee, New Era was shaping a future of creativity and collaboration.

 

 

THE 2000S - GO GLOBAL OR GO HOME

The vision that marked New Era’s growth in the 1920s and 1930s proved to be alive and well in the early part of the new millennium. The company’s globalization efforts continued with offices opening up in Europe, Japan and Australia within a two-year period.

Started to see our position as the number one headwear brand in the world and one that spans the worlds of sport, fashion, music and entertainment.

In 2001, Chris Koch, who had been the company’s president since 1993, was named CEO.

In 2006 the company moved its corporate offices from Derby back to downtown Buffalo where it all started 86 years earlier.

THE 2010S - ON FIELD

After decades as the official on-field cap of MLB, New Era set its sights on rounding out its exclusivity with the nation’s largest sports leagues. In 2012, New Era became the official sideline cap of the NFL, and, in 2016, became the official on court cap of the NBA; making New Era the only brand in sports history to have exclusive on-field, sideline and on court headwear rights for all three major U.S. leagues at the same time.

 

 

THE 2020S - FIT FOR GLORY

Looking back at our first 100 years, we recognize one thing, and that is we are just getting started. We have weathered highs and lows, always focused on quality and great storytelling. In 2020 we renewed our commitment to making great products, building strong relationships and changing the game in the worlds sport and culture. With the Iconic 59FIFTY as our base, we will bring exciting new product and experiences to life globally and as always authentically.

 

The collection for Spring-Summer'23 is available on Fusion stores as well in our online store: www.globalbrandsstore.com

 

 

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