"" wondermomo: UNDEFEATED x NEW ERA Collaboration - 'Army vs. Navy' 59Fifty Cap (Unisex)

Monday, December 14, 2009

UNDEFEATED x NEW ERA Collaboration - 'Army vs. Navy' 59Fifty Cap (Unisex)

Undefeated x New Era “Army vs. Navy” 59Fifty Cap (Unisex)

Good things come to those with a good name. Need proof? Just ask Eddie Cruz & James Bond (real name!).
Back in 2001, self-proclaimed sports nerds (& art/music/fashion enthusiasts) Cruz & Bond decided that Los Angeles was missing something. The
city was full of sneaker junkies, but there were no good sneaker boutiques to give them their fix. During a backyard barbecue, Cruz & Bond agreed they would fill the void by opening up a small sneaker shop. They would call the store Undefeated, often abbreviated UNDFTD (instead of the initial choice of 'Under Feet') -- just like the Lakers had been in the 80s. Presumptuous? A bit. But it worked. Heavyweight Nike even designed a sneaker with the Undefeated logo for the store’s 11 September, 2002 opening.
By 2007, Undefeated had spread to Santa Monica, Las Vegas, Silver Lake (California), & Japan. The boutiques were considered by many as the most well-edited sneaker stores in the world. In the meantime, Undefeated has also grown into a sports culture-based brand. Starting off with T-shirts, they now present an increasingly complete line every year & are especially a strong force in Japan. (Even with branches in Tokyo & Shizuoka, buses packed with Japanese tourists still regularly make stops at the L.A. flagship.)
Collaborations with major players (Nike, Adidas, Puma, Vans, Chucks, Stussy, Visvim -- the list goes on) have also produced some of the best ever special releases in the sportwear & streetwear scene.

One such collab is with New Era Cap Company (or just 'New Era'). Founded in 1920 by German immigrant Ehrhardt Koch, New Era is today the largest headwear manufacturer in the USA & the official on-field cap of US’s Major League Baseball. The company also supplies caps to hundreds of licensed entities including NHL, NBA, colleges & universities. Although New Era is rooted in sports heritage, throughout the years it has evolved into a brand that can be seen on the runways & in countless MTVs.



The New Era 59fifty fitted cap, made with a nice deep fit which sits very comfortable on your head & rests just slightly above the ears, is today by far the No.1 staple hat style for many musicians, entertainers & athletes in the USA. It is also the cap of choice when it comes to collaborations between New Era & other parties.

The limited edition Undefeated x New Era “Army vs.
Navy” 59Fifty unisex cap was obviously inspired by the epicly popular Army vs. Navy football game, a long-standing & treasured annual event in the world of American sports.
As worn by singer-songwriter/rapper/record producer Kevin Rudolph while performing at the NBA All-Star Weekend basketball skills competition in Phoenix this year.



Undefeated is taking over the world slowly, one sneaker boutique at a time.


If you guys watched HBO’s hit show Entourage, you might have caught glimpses of Undefeated.
In the episode titled ‘What About Bob’ (Season 3), Turtle & Vince tried to get some limited-edition Nike Air Force 1s from Undefeated & Vince winds up dropping US$20k to get his friend some custom-made jumps from the mysterious "Fukijama", who, as far as we know, is a fictitious character. The "Fukijamas" were in actuality the result of a collaboration between Undefeated & Mark Smith (one of Nike’s best designers), made exclusively for the TV show.
Watch the clip:-



While Eddie Cruz is the Undefeated partner more often in the spotlight, James Bond, who usually stays in the background, recently teamed up with David Beckham on a Fall-Winter men’s collection for Adidas Originals by Originals. Apparently Beckham frequents Undefeated in L.A. & someone at Adidas, aware of their mutual admiration, proposed the two collaborate.

1 comment:

Emma Tanner said...

It would be great to buy a new 59fifty. cap.