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From: Danny Spyra Sep 23, 2010 |
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Photo: Flat Fitty
Elizabeth Miller, Promotions / Athlete Coordinator
for Flat Fitty
Flat Fitty is a one-stop shop for brands or athletes needing custom caps, offering a suite of services paralleled by few. Established in 2004, Flat Fitty relies on their quality, service and attention to detail to ensure your headwear needs are provided, and provided on time. Perhaps the coolest thing is that all elements of Flat Fitty caps are 100% customizable.
Recently, I met Elizabeth Miller at a group Y event and the idea for a Street Beat was like the idea for their company name...it just stuck. Enjoy!
- Danny Spyra
Photo: Flat Fitty
A few key members of the Flat Fitty Carlsbad office
BNQT - FIRST OFF, WHAT DISTINGUISHES FLAT FITTY FROM OTHER HAT MANUFACTURERS?
Elizabeth - Quality is key for any brand trying to distinguish itself today. We explain how many headwear manufacturers blindly trust factories to attempt quality levels with no oversight or on-sight quality control methods. Flat Fitty allows established and upcoming brands alike to stand out, quality wise, in a very crowded and competitive marketplace. Flat Fitty has two offices in two continents; both American staffed and managed, one in Asia and the other in Carlsbad, California. The Asia office acts as the directional hub, the watchdog that makes sure clients get their design achieved to their exact vision the first time. Our Cali offices acts as the sales and marketing hub, with our primary focus being meeting clients and showing them how high our quality is compared to other manufacturers out there. 
Photo: Flat Fitty
During the US Open, Flat Fitty gave out over 1,000
free hats!
BNQT - THE US OPEN RECENTLY WRAPPED UP AND I SAW FLAT FITTY x JACKS HATS EVERYWHERE! CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE EVENT YOU THREW?
Elizabeth - The US Open event was insane! The Jacks crew worked closely with our Sales and Marketing team to identify a grassroots way that we could get involved in the event. Having attended the US Open since it was the OP Pro, our team recognized that Jacks was the key partner and approached them. We knew that almost 1 million people walk Main St. in Huntington Beach during the event, so why not give away swag, real swag, QUALITY SWAG CAPS to the people on the street. The kids that lined up for the autograph signing were stoked to see Jacks surf team and they were pretty stoked to walk away with a $30 retail cap along with Dane Gudauskas and the rest of the team's signatures. In the end we gave away something like 1,000 caps for free and hope we made some surf fans really happy while exposing them to the Flat Fitty and Jacks brands.
Photo: Flat Fitty
Pro snowboarder Anton Gunnarsson's custom cap
BNQT - HOW MANY BRANDS AND ATHLETES HAS FLAT FITTY PARTNERED WITH IN THE 6 YEARS YOU'VE BEEN AROUND?
Elizabeth - Flat Fitty works with 700+ brands right now in 70+ countries. It has been awesome working with large, small and emerging brands get their headwear quality to the highest level possible. I would have to say we have colabbed with at least 50+ Athletes, Artists, Charities, Events, Foundations, Musicians, etc. The number continues to grow and innovative ideas are brought to us every day. With Flat Fitty's production capabilities at the upper echelon and continuing to evolve, we are pumped to be able to showcase our experience of that with the most talented minds out there.
Photo: Flat Fitty
The image on the Anton Gunnarsson cap spills onto
the brim
BNQT - I'M REALLY FEELING THE ANTON GUNNARSSON SNAP-BACK AND LOVE HOW THE LOGO OVERFLOWS ONTO THE BRIM. WAS THIS DIFFICULT TO DO?
Elizabeth - Yeah, Anton Gun (Gunnarsson) is simply Awesome. This guy not only kills it as a Snowboarder, he has an artistic expression and a personality that keeps people talkin'. When I first saw his 80's-inspired monster-man with old-school headband barfing I was like WTF - haha! The method used on this graphic (logo) was simply a flat embroidery. The challenge with any graphics overflowing to the top brim is that each portion of the hat (panels and brim) is custom manufactured separately. With this much detail it has to be ensured that it is matched up and joined just right, too much or too little and you'll loose the detail that Anton worked so hard to achieve. Attention to detail, quality and a solidly designed piece is what makes this design so successful. Gotta love the mystery behind what inspired this one!
Photo: Flat Fitty
The Drew Brophy cap is one of Flat Fitty's most
innovative collabs
BNQT - WHICH FLAT FITTY HAT HAS PUSHED THE LIMITS OF WHAT YOU CAN DO? WHY?
Elizabeth - When I saw Drew Brophy's design come through we were pumped on how unique it was. Drew has truly made a mark for himself as an artist and expressed his talent thru various mediums. Our developers felt the best method for the front panels of the main artwork was sublimation a technique that applies the actual dye into the fabric rather than on top like a screen-print, making it POP. The satin lining was also different in the sense that it wasn't just a repeat pattern cut in a triangle. It had to be laid out so that the overall design worked from the outside in, meeting to form a pattern at the center of the 6 panels. The overall colors of the hat were on point. The blues, browns, and greens all flowed so well without becoming over bearing. To be able to allow Drew a blank canvas to explore with we knew would be sweet and that it was! 
Photo: Flat Fitty
The TJ Ellis cap has incredible detailing
BNQT - WITH FLAT FITTY, ATHLETES HAVE 100% CREATIVE CONTROL ON THEIR CAPS. CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE DETAILING AND EMBROIDERY OF THE TJ ELLIS CAP?
Elizabeth - TJ Ellis is an insanely talented BMXer. So cool to work with and so passionate about what he does. For some Athletes it really is an outlet to show their creative side. A lot of times they are closed in to what their sponsors require them to wear it's all part of the biz and we get that. TJ really surprised me. He came to the table with an idea in mind and didn't hold back
Photo: Flat Fitty
The inside of TJ Ellis' cap features his catchphrase
and a sprocket underneath the billThe detail on the dollar bills was a variation of stitch counts of embroidery which can be difficult to manipulate at times. Custom taping was done on the interior with the repeat phrase "SEND IT." I would say my favorite part about TJ's hat is the embroidered sprocket underneath the brim - again all his ideas 100%, we just delivered, he designed. TJ was also careful when deciding on the colors throughout and in my opinion nailed it. I'm stoked we were able to bring his ideas to life can't wait for the next design by him - I would have to say one of the most fun Collabs!!!
Photo: Flat Fitty
The GFL cap by Flat Fitty
Elizabeth - I met Chris Conway, CEO of Grind For Life a couple years back in San Diego. Mike Rogers' (Founder of GFL) story really inspired me, so I brought it to the rest of the Flat Fitty team. We decided to produce a Premium hat custom designed by GFL that could be sold on their site and at select events, with all proceeds going back to the foundation. We worked with Chris and Paul Wisniewski and came up with a pretty sick piece! This Snapback style features custom taping, a flip color bill, GFL flat embroidered front logo, Skate & Destroy Cancer flat embroidered back logo, and overall comfort. Paul really wanted this to be a simple design - something the athletes could rock in support of the foundation, one size fits all for everybody involved and the people purchasing. With a lot of major players in the skate industry like Andy MacDonald and Bucky Lasek promoting the hats, GFL has received a huge response, it's so awesome, in the end it s all about the cancer patients getting support from GFL, Flat Fitty is just honored to be a part of it. Kudos to all involved to make this happen!
Street Beat Archive:
Anna Sherwood with Quiksilver Women
Bob Carlson with Arbor Collective
Whitney Morris with O'Neill Girls
Dustin & Dylan Odbert with ambsn
John Harbin with West Wetsuits
Nicole Hanriot with TAVIK Swimwear
Matt Gleason with Liquid Force
Jonathan Paskowitz with Lightning Bolt
the gfl collab looks clean, where can i cop it?!