New Era has ambitious plans to morph into a lifestyle brand. The US brand has specialised in headwear for American sport teams — first baseball, then basketball and American football — since it was founded in 1920. It is now keen to broaden its range, and has tapped Dao-Yi Chow, an experienced New York-born designer with a 20-year-plus career in fashion and sportswear.

Chow has been appointed vice-president and creative director for the brand by New Era Cap LLC, as the company stated in a press release, indicating that “Chow will oversee the creation and development of the brand’s first namesake apparel line called Brand New Era.” Chow’s mission will be to “serve as a catalyst for the legacy brand’s next chapter into apparel, headwear, and accessories through a culture-led lens.”
 
Besides design, Chow will also be in charge of marketing and merchandising, “with a view to introducing the Brand New Era collections on the global market.” New Era already commercialises sportswear essentials like T-shirts, shorts, sweatshirts and leggings, and did not provide further details on the products included in the new apparel line, simply stating that it will be launched at the end of this year.

“Dao-Yi’s unparalleled creativity and passion for sportswear makes him the perfect fit to lead our brand to the next level of product evolution. With his vision and leadership, we are ensuring our commitment to remain squarely at the intersection of sport, fashion and culture, while staying true to our rich heritage,” said Jim Grundtisch, president of New Era.
 
Chow is the co-founder of designer streetwear label Public School, which he launched in 2008 with Maxwell Osborne. He is a sportswear aficionado and has worked for several other brands. He was creative director in charge also of marketing at Sean John, the label by US rapper Sean Combs, and later the creative director of Donna Karan’s DKNY line, and the global creative director of Sergio Tacchini. More recently, he was in charge of Brady Brand, the label set up by American football icon Tom Brady.

“New Era is a cultural icon and categorically the holy grail of headwear. We have an unbelievable archive of innovation and products that has yet to be fully explored. To sit at the helm in a new direction for the brand that will complement its 100-year history in caps, is an exciting task,” said Chow, adding that New Era “was also the foundation of the headwear partnership for Public School at the time we launched our ‘We Need Leaders’ campaign.”