Ty Cobb, Detroit, and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, Cleveland, 1913

I first heard about Ebbets Field Flannels by reading the interview of Jerry Cohen, the founder of the brand, by Laurent Laporte. My first impression was that it was just another  ”made in USA”  sportswear brand, that respected tradition, heritage, blah blah blah. All those features that we hear about each time a brand of this type is presented to us. Don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t stop me from being really into these brands, it’s just that we hear about it so much, after a while it just becomes a bit too common.

Sacramento Solons 1942 Home Jersey, at Jacket Required

What first got my attention in this interview had to do with the repro that the brand did of the baseball cap of the Moultrie Colt 22s. Interesting detail, on the original cap the 22 had two different shaped numbers that Ebbets chose to keep as per the original, I was actually surprised the brand had noticed this detail at all. I’m not going to lie, I don’t know much about American sports appart from the names of a few teams such as the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox when it comes to baseball and a few American football teams for having watched the Superbowl for the first time ever this year. So when I saw the names of the teams on the Ebbets Field catalogue, I had no clue who they were or what they were about, and I would be surprised if any one of you knew half of them. That’s actually what Ebbets Field is all about and why it stands out: it doesn’t care much about actual major teams from MLB, NHL, AFL, NFL and such, but focuses on small teams from obscure leagues that probably don’t exist anymore and that only a few have heard of. Most of the teams are American but you can also find some from Japan, Ireland or the Soviet Union.

Tour of Japan 1934 Authentic Jacket, at Jacket Required

I had the opportunity to meet Jerry Cohen in person at the Jacket Required trade show in London and have a closer look at the collection. The quality is amazing, you can really feel that every detail has received special attention and that this is no mass production. The most surprising is maybe the price that is surprisingly reasonable for the product, at least on the American side; we’ll have to check out the price tags once it reaches shops on this side of the Atlantic.

San Francisco Seals 1940 Jacket, at Jacket Required. Attention to detail: knitted wool between the back and the sleeves.

What I really appreciate in Ebbets Field Flannel’s approach is that it adds a new dimension to reproductions. We come to care less about the ranking of the team since most of them don’t exist anymore, and start paying more attention to the story behind them. Questions concerning the origins of the name and the logo, who the players were and why the team disappeared seem to be more important. Also, if you were around when those teams were still playing, or if you feel really attached to your home city, the most interesting aspect of the jerseys is mostly aesthetic rather than a sign of supporting a team in particular. It is not impossible either that you learn a thing or two when browsing the catalogue, which is not often the case when talking about other brands. Did you know for example that the Real Madrid had a baseball team? I certainly didn’t.

Ebbets Field Flannels offers mostly flannel jerseys, they didn’t choose that name for nothing, but also baseball caps, jerseys from other sports, jackets and t-shirts. The sports available are baseball, American football, hockey  and football (soccer for them, hum). Jerry also told me about looking into rugby jerseys, which didn’t fall on deaf ears.

www.ebbets.com

A small sample of the huge choice of baseball caps offered by Ebbets Field Flannels at Jacket Required.

Real Madrid ca. 1939 Home Jersey

Sing Sing Prison 1935 “Home” Jersey

Soviet Union 1972 Olympic Team Hockey Jersey

Hiroshima Carp 1953, Road Jersey

Indianapolis Clowns Clubhouse jacket

Hawaii Islanders T-Shirt - 1961

Staten Island Stapletons Football Jersey – 1929

Articles similaires :

---