fitted baseball cap hat strictly fitteds elm company

It’s been a long time coming. Many have asked “Where are the hats?”. At last we have a concrete reply and a story to tell. To date, Strictly Fitteds has logged in over 5,000 posts and 14,573 images covering over 50 international brands. You might say we like fitted baseball caps a bit. WIth great support from our Sponsors, Staff, brand partners and blog alliances we have reached a new milestone: The first Strictly Fitteds fitted baseball cap.

We are proud to have completed this project with the production of ELM COMPANY, who showed and proved their dedication to craftmanship, punctuality and client satisfaction. After the jump, is a post-production wrap up with Alex Karayan of Elm Company.

SF: It was a great experiencing working with ELM. What was the most interesting part of the this collaboration for you?

ELM: For us, a lot of it was about who it was for, as much as it was about the end product. Strictly Fitteds has become a staple go-to site for the public at large, let alone just designers and other people in our industry. It was just dope connecting with Strictly to come out with their first fitted baseball cap.

SF: After three years of covering other brands we’ve been anticipating having our own. The response to the fit and finish has been excellent. It’s a proud moment.

ELM: We’ve definitely put in more time and effort than you can imagine into what we really consider our canvas.

SF: You turned this order around in amazing time. The process was painless.

ELM: Pshh – painless for you maybe! Just playing, it was definitely our pleasure. Honestly, we never promise unless we’re certain we will make it happen.

SF: From a manufactuering standpoint, name the top three elements that go into fitted baseball cap production.

ELM: In no particular order:

1. Blocking. A true fitted baseball cap has no shape without the block. The block is custom made to fit the specific shape of the panels. Our took many months to fine tune; proto after proto after proto. Trust me, it’s not easy making 6 panels come together properly.

2. Sewing. You can’t block a cap properly if it isn’t sewn together properly. You’ll get a lot of blemishes on the crown and around the bottom of the cap if it isn’t done right. The pattern, blocking and sewing also come together to make a cap that will last properly, without losing it’s shape, like getting that weird caving in on the front of the crown that a lot of other caps get.

3. Components. You can’t create a great product with crappy parts, ya know? We use the finest embroidery machines, fabrics, sewing machines and plastic lined sweatbands. We don’t take pictures of our factories for a reason. That’s all you get – trade secrets.

SF: Out of the two Strictly Fitteds caps being released, which is your favorite?

ELM: These days, I’m all about classic wool blend fitteds. We spent a couple years experimenting with all types of different fabric applications from seersuckers, to suedes, to leathers, to prints, to patterns, etc. As a brand, we’re bringing things back to the basics – or classics rather. For me, the Black wool blend will be daily wear for some time to come, but you can’t hate on the 100% natural suede on Red canvas piece.

SF: Yea, that texture is amazing. We won’t be scoring any points with PETA for those, but its defnitely a great look.

ELM: The vegetarian here at the office would probably disagree though! yeah it really is. We used a real nice plush suede on this piece. There’s something about that suede smell…

SF: Suede Sniffer! HA!

SF: Speaking a bit on the design process. The original logo had many elements we eventually shaved down. In the end we sacrficed a bit of detail and ended up with a sharper piece. Choosing to go from 3D to flat embroidery was a big debate. We wanted a classic look to match the Antique SF lock-up logo.

ELM: You will hear around our office about 10 times a week, “…not everything can be embroidered. It’s just not as precise as screen printing…” 3D embroidery wasn’t around until decades after the first baseball caps hit. I think this execution was on point for concept. I think fans will definitely get that.

SF: What’s next for ELM in 2010?

ELM: I honestly can’t believe its almost 2010 already. The few years we’ve been doing this have just flown by. We got a lot in store for 2010. Of course, as the brand is growing it’s not all fitted related. We just launched our full cut and sew collection for Fall ’09. Just like our caps, we’re continuing the “its all in the details” philosophy. We’re staying true to our roots when it comes to the apparel. For many of the pieces the aesthetic is really born from the cap design.
It’s about bringing it back to classic silhouettes with our spin.

SF: We’re looking forward to see the new line-up.

ELM: There’s a lot more in store, but can’t let everything out quite yet.

SF: Stay tuned for more information about the official release date.