Public School designers Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne have a unique way of showing their allegiance to their favorite baseball teams.
For the first time in the history of Major League Baseball, the league has allowed a designer to alter and update the logos of two of its teams. As a result, Chow and Osborne have added their trademark WNL lettering to the teams’ interlocking NY logos on the front of the New Era caps.
WNL has become a signature of the Public School collection. Last year, the brand created a limited-edition New Era snapback with WNL on the front and PSNY on the back that was a strong seller, so this year, they incorporated that into the logos of the two New York baseball teams.
“WNL was the first graphic we did for Public School,” said Chow and Osborne. “It was an early acronym that stands for We Need Leaders and When Nobody’s Looking — sayings that represent our approach to our label and life in general. It’s a constant reminder to always do the right thing, staying true to our brand and never following, no matter what the trends are. For this collaboration we adopted the new acronym Where New York Lives because New York basically gave us the foundation to be able to create everything we do. And obviously the Yankees and Mets logos represent New York in the biggest way possible.”
They continued, “We grew up diehard Yanks and Mets fans respectively. We idolized the players, the teams, but more than anything, the logos were unwavering symbols for the city we loved. Everything we do is so heavily influenced by New York City, so when this opportunity came up — to collaborate on a new hat that symbolized past, present and future — it was a dream come true.”
They added that their own WNL cap “has quickly become an iconic staple of Public School. It represents our approach to everything we do, so to be able to combine it with the two most iconic logos in sports and New York culture is just unbelievable.”
Two hats are offered in the original Fit 9Fifty snapback silhouette and two are adjustable 9Twenty dad caps.
The Public School x New Era collection will be sold exclusively from Sept. 29-30 at a pop-up shop at 231 Bowery in New York City. The hats, which retail for $75, will also be available on the Public School web site.