If it wasn’t for Spike Lee, you would have been stuck with the traditional blue & white Yankee fitted forever. Find out how he changed the game.

Word to Cube, today was a really good day. Earlier I sat in the Sunshine Theater lobby as I awaited a Lifestyle discussion presented by New Era & Spike Lee. Being a lifestyle writer, this was right up my alley, & I was especially excited to finally meet my favorite filmmaker. As I networked with the rest of the event-goers, after a few minutes the room seemed to quite down- when I turned around a few seconds later, I realized why the chatter had turned down a few notches. There he was, Spike Lee, sitting silently in the cut, waiting for the show to begin himself.

Moderator Marcus Troy– founder of Marcus Troy Inc.– fiddled with his mic as we made our way into the auditorium, & shortly after the panel members appeared on stage. Along with Spike Lee, Professor Elena Romero, Advertiser Stephen Malbon & New Era CEO Chris Koch were also there to to speak on fashion & culture, & the audience couldn’t have been more thrilled.

As the panel joked around about their dislike for snapbacks & how most kids are into the “billionaire hobo look” these days, Lee let us in on what jumpstarted his latest collaboration with New Era. Before 1996 the company only created hats that matched the colors of official sports teams- but Spike Lee had a red down Yankee jacket & needed a hat to match, which is when New Era stepped in & created the first ever non-traditional colored fitted, exclusively for Mr. Do the Right Thing. Now 18 years later, three caps are being made available to the public, coming in the classic cap, a lined leather one, & one made of wool, all in red.

As the discussion began to come to an end, Spike Lee began to tell us about his younger days. Back in his day, “everyone had on Cons [Converses]“ that only cost an unbelievably low $5 at the time, & they “had four options: Black, White, Hi-Top & Low-Top.” He also joked about his son asking him to buy “a motherf*ckin’ $500 dollar belt” for him recently, & ended the discussion with a short Q&A about the latest fashion trends with the rest of the panelists.

Both Spike Lee & New Era have passed huge milestones, so it’s only right that they would come together once again to produce something great. Lee recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of his Oscar-nominated flick Do the Right Thing, & today I learned that family business New Era has held down the hat game for almost 100 years come 2020 with no signs of slowing up. See more info about the Heritage Series on the New Era site.

 

Kairi was from Chicago in her past life. Catch her @_findingforever.