New Era Cap Co., Inc. has collaborated with Sweat Equity Enterprises (SEE) to create a line of caps and t-shirts that will launch in April 2009. Founded by designer/entrepreneur Marc Ecko, SEE is a nonprofit organization where teens develop professional-quality designs for corporate partners.
Since January 2008, New Era's team of designers has been working with the students of SEE to fashion their own unique designs from scratch.
SEE is a project-based learning program where high school students participate during the school day.
“New Era is proud to align itself with such a rewarding program for teens like SEE,” said Gerry Matos, SVP of Marketing at New Era. “The opportunity to work with these innovative, bright young minds has not only helped to spark a new wave of fashion for New Era, but it will also inspire the youth of the nation to continue to pursue their dreams and realize that anything is possible.”
“By demystifying the products that they love, SEE students find an entry point that makes learning cool. We are empowering young people with skills that they can actually take to the bank and at the same time showing companies that this is what corporate responsibility can be about,” said Marc Ecko, SEE's Founder. Proceeds of the sale of the
SEE-designed caps and t-shirts will benefit SEE's global expansion.
SEE teen designer, Raymond Bargallo, 16, explained the process. “I started by doing research and finding inspiration, then I put the elements together by sketching on paper and using Photoshop and Illustrator. I had to think about who I wanted to sell to and why they would buy this cap. You have to think about your audience: the consumer. It is different from a regular art class where you are just making a project for your portfolio; this is real.”
The New Era project is the sixteenth project for SEE since the organization was founded in 2005. Over the years, students have designed cars for Nissan, outerwear for Ecko Unlimited, marketing and electronics for RadioShack, shoes for Sketchers, graphics for Saks Fifth Avenue, skateboards for Zoo York, marketing for Best Buy, graphic design for New York Cares and watches for Callanen.
The caps will hit New Era stores in mid-April 2009.
Finish Line will also have the collection of SEE product in its stores. The approximately retail cost for the caps will be $34 and between $28 and $30 for the t-shirts.
