Red New Era cap by Spike Lee

November 27 2017

Listening to the name "Spike Lee" inevitably transports us to the world of cinema thanks to his brilliant career as a director and producer, however, he has not only left his mark in the seventh art and television; in 1996 this famous New Yorker also shook the world of sports and especially the street style.

Until then, no one could imagine that the New York Yankees' iconic New Era cap could be modified, but in 1996 Spike Montgomery Biscuits Hat Lee broke with the established. The director of the film Malcolm X asked New Era something hitherto unimaginable: a red cap of the Yankees!

Crazy? Maybe. Was it against the team's traditional colors? Yes. But we love the innovative, the daring, so we accept.

Thus, Lee appeared at Yankee Stadium during a World Series game in '96 in which The Bronx Bombers received the Atlanta Braves. The original Montgomery Biscuits Hat and irreverent cap shocked the fans to such a degree that soon after the demand from them was overwhelming and this marked the beginning of a new stage for New Era hats.

Towards the end of the 90's and the beginning of the 2000's the red hat of the Yankees grew even more in popularity and demand to be used by Fred Durst, vocalist of the rap-rock band Limp Bizkit. In fact, this cap was so characteristic of Durst's clothing that many attribute his creation.

This cap marked a before and after in the history of the brand. In the words of Christopher Koch, CEO of New Era, from this event "a baseball Washington Nationals Low Profile Hat cap would never be just a baseball cap". So since then New Era offers endless designs, textures and colors in their caps no matter what equipment, license or brand it is.

In 2014, 18 years after Lee first appeared with this cap, New Era launched The 1996 Collection, one more installment of The Heritage Series, a collection that recreated the historic moment by making a red 59FIFTY from The Walls of Manhattan .

Made of wool, material of the official MLB hats at that time, and also in leather, this special edition cap was added with two details fanatics.com that made it unique and unmatched: the 1996 World Series patch embroidered on one side and an impression of the signature of Spike Lee and the phrase 'A Spike Lee Joint' in the sweat band of the cap.

No doubt the history of New Era has had many chapters worthy of framing, however, the creation of this cap is one of the most emblematic.