KITH's collaboration with the New York Yankees and New Era was unrelieved over the holiday weekend, but it has apparently been a long time coming for the brand's founder Ronnie Fieg. Fieg spoke with Hypebeast about how the collaboration came about, why he chose to make a fitted hat, his favorite Yankee, and the magnitude of working with New York's most legendary team.
The collaboration has been in the works for over a year while Fieg hammered out the details with New Era, the team, and the MLB. However, the idea has been there for Fieg forever. "I’ve always wanted to work on a Yankees program because the longest living staple in my closet is a Yankees fitted," he told Hypebeast. This is also the reason only one item was included in the entire collab. "When thinking about what the first New Era fitted would be for a KITH collaboration, it’s the only idea that really made sense to me."
Fieg is a native New Yorker who grew up watching the Yankees, making this collaboration that much more meaningful to him. "To the city, the Yankees logo is so iconic, and it means a lot more than just a team," he said. "It represents where we’re from, which is the greatest city in the world." Fieg also added via a recent tweet that this collaboration will "mark one of the biggest moments on [KITH's] timeline."
KITH went all out for this collaboration. Every customer who purchased the limited-edition hat received tickets to a Yankees game, access to a KITH pop-up shop at Yankee stadium, and a pack of baseball cards starring New York style icons.
Fieg also discusses the meaning of the 1996 patch and reveals that his favorite player is Derek Jeter 'hands down" in the full interview, which you can read here.
