Sacramento, Calif. – Today, the Sacramento Kings launched two limited edition hats designed by Kings Sophomore Willie Cauley-Stein. Through a collaboration with New Era, as well as the Kings Creative and Merchandise teams, Willie infused his personal style into two custom hats available online and at team stores. This release is his second fashion project with the team – following up on a series of custom watches from last season.
In a behind the scenes video, the team showcased the design and development process, as well as Willie’s first look at the hats during a recent photoshoot. He explains his inspiration behind the project and his passion for design and fashion. To support and grow the creative futures of young adults interested in art and fashion, up to $5,000 of the hats sales will be donated to Sacramento’s Art Beast Studio “Willie Cauley-Stein Scholarship,” including a contribution from the Kings Foundation.
“Basketball is everything, but I love fashion too! I am grateful the Sacramento Kings gave me the opportunity to honor this city and team with something memorable,” said Willie Cauley-Stein. “I have a tattoo on my arm that says, ‘the greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.’ It feels great to have my team’s support in designing something I love and having a chance to contribute to the community.”
The first hat is a salute to the new, modern design of the Kings home uniforms. During the unveiling of the team’s new on-court identity, Willie was enamored with the home white uniforms – saying “you gotta have the Crispy Whites … because everyone looks good in Crispy Whites.” He wanted to keep the design of the hat clean and pure, while adding a bit a visual interest to the front two panels with the use of a pebbled leather texture.
As a fan of the Kings baby blue uniforms, he wanted to create a unique take on the team’s heritage look. Inspired by the retro-Sacramento Kings uniforms, the second hat also features a bold red leather texture for the front two panels. The brim is a reflective granite material, with Kings baby blue as an accent color. The unique granite brim is a nod to the use of the color in the new Sacramento Kings brand.
“Our organization has always been bigger than basketball, and that’s why we’re always working to give our players new opportunities beyond the court,” says Kings President Chris Granger, “Willie brought his love of art, design, fashion to the team and our fans are passionate and supportive of player project, especially those that have a tremendous impact on Sacramento.”
A limited run of two hundred hats will go on sale today at the team’s merchandise stores in Golden 1 Center and through the team’s online store at KingsTeamStore.com.