The material offers a distinctive, easy-to-care for texture —the advantages of Solotex® that New Era® adopted—as well as the company’s perspective as the material of the future

New Era^® is not only a supplier of official baseball caps for Major League Baseball (MLB) teams but also a brand offering a variety of headwear and apparel, including the iconic baseball cap 59FIFTY^®, which is best known as the streetwear standard.

Having established a solid position as an indispensable casual street clothing brand, New Era^® rolled out New Era^® Outdoor in 2019 as a collection for outdoor settings. Its lineup includes many items that use Solotex^®.

We interviewed the representative in charge of the New Era^® Outdoor project to hear the reason for adopting Solotex^® and their perspective on the future as well as the brand concept for New Era^® Outdoor.

We know New Era^® has already attracted firm support in the cap market. Please tell us why you expanded into the outdoor apparel field, as well as the concept.

For New Era^® Outdoor, which started in earnest in 2019, we developed functional, easy-to-use items that fit the outdoor activities of camping and hiking. We also offer the Angler Collection, which focuses on fishing.

When planning caps for outdoor activities, what do you consider for the development?

Caps for MLB are not washable because they use paper for the interlining, thus we adopt washable interlining and antibacterial sweatbands for caps for outdoor use.

In designing the New Era^® Outdoor items, we take into consideration the ease of use and handling for outdoor activities as well as the properties of materials. In addition to standard baseball caps, we also offer caps in a variety of different shapes, such as five-panel caps and bucket hats.

Please tell us what made you adopt Solotex^® and which aspects did you find attractive?

I had habitually used items made of Solotex^®, and I realized that this material was less prone to degradation even after long usage and was easy to take care of, so we began to use Solotex^® from the spring-summer season of 2021.

Solotex^® has a texture with a distinctive feel, is wrinkle-resistant even if the caps are folded, and stretches appropriately to fit your head. Furthermore, it is washable and dries relatively quickly. We think these properties are good for use in outdoor settings.

Please let us know which products now use Solotex^®.

First, these are the pieces of the model [9THIRTY^™] released for the spring-summer season of 2023. They have an embroidered square logo inspired by outdoor settings and are offered in three colors—black, moss, and navy.

These items are made of a sustainable material combining Solotex®, which partially uses a plant-derived substance, with Ecopet^®, which uses fibers made of recycled plastic bottles as the raw material, so they are characterized by a soft, sleek texture and light stretchiness. The sweatbands inside the caps are made of antibacterial Microera^™.

These are the Adventure Light Adjuster Cord and Bike Cap Adjuster Cord. The adjuster cord allows you to adjust the size, and the light, moderately stretchy Solotex^® make them very comfortable to wear.

In August, items for the fall-winter season will be rolled out, too.

These three packable models can fold up small. Since the jet cap and sports bucket hat have a detachable chin cord, they are convenient for hanging around the neck when the weather is hot. The bucket hat is lined with mesh and can also fold small by being turned inside out.

All models use eco-friendly material combining Solotex^® x Ecopet^®, so they are very easy to use outdoors because of the soft, wrinkle-resistant material even when folded, and they are hand-washable when they get dirty.

These black watch check caps with a triangle logo use Solotex^®, which will add an accent to the fashion coordinates for the fall-winter season.

New Era^® has continued the use of Solotex^® since 2021. What are the responses from users?

Since Solotex^® has been adopted by a variety of manufacturers and select shops, we think it has become popular among users as a distinct brand. We have received customer comments that they bought a New Era^® item because it was made of Solotex^® even through e-commerce sites where customers are not able to see physical items, so it seems that this material is a factor in buying our products with confidence.

Do you have any thoughts on Solotex^®, such as, for example, products you would like to create using Solotex^® in the future?

We would like to plan products using Solotex^® in the field of apparel other than headwear, such as outerwear for the fall-winter season.