The Godfather & Legend of the Baggy Green
The legend & deep tradition of the Australian Baggy Green is widely known about all over the world & the aura & respect it commands has been rightfully guarded by Cricket Australia for the national treasure & icon that it is.
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As bespoke cap makers, when we made our first & very own baggies in the late 1990s for us it was all about learning the very traditional trade of hand crafting sports headwear. Of course the 'Aussie Baggy Green' is famously iconic but the very first sports baggy ever made was in fact actually for baseball in the US in the mid 1800s. This fascinating history saw us research & discover the 8 panel design was originally styled & made by a Boston tailor named Irving Snyder. Please visit our History section for more about this.
** Please see below for an important December 2016 update & commendation for Kookaburra & Cricket Australia
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Since Irving Snyder in 1850 to the many tailors & cappers over the next 170 years, there has been no more famous maker of any baggy cap anywhere in the world then one Clemente Izurieta ... a humble & wonderful man known as the 'Godfather' of the Australian Baggy Green given that Clemente was in charge of making this iconic cap for over 25 years.
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Hearing about Clemente and his story many years ago it became our dream to one day meet him given his incredible knowledge, skill & fascinating background ... and it became our absolute pleasure to do so in Sydney a few years later.
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Meeting for the first time, it must have been slightly odd for the retired Clemente to meet some cap makers from Perth WA but within minutes Clemente recalls he could immediately see our passion & love of cap making the moment he met us. From that day onwards we were honoured to call Clemente & his wonderful wife Georgina our dear friends. It was also our pleasure to bring Clemente & Georgina to our Perth Baggy Caps factory where everything about cap making was discussed ... as well as showing our guests around Perth & Fremantle too. Many fantastic stories & laughs were shared & much music was also sung & played (Clemente is a musician as well)
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Knowing Clemente as we do now he truly is the Godfather of the Baggy Green & as you can see in the videos below still has passion for the trade. Given his background we plan to officially document & chronicle Clemente's knowledge, skills, tradecraft & many wonderful stories over 25 years of making sports most iconic cap.
December 2016 Update
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News for the Iconic 'Australian Baggy Green'
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Kookaburra & Cricket Australia - Important Note & Commendations
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​Australia has a long history of hand crafted cap making & long may that continue because once these skills and trades are lost to mass overseas production they are unlikely to ever come back to our shores.
For this Cricket Australia must absolutely be applauded having recently mandated their famous Baggy Green to always be 100% hand crafted in Australia helping to ensure this trade and skill is never lost. Partnering with the iconic Kookaburra company (the globally famous Australian cricket brand established in 1890) CA & Kookaburra will ensure the 'Baggy Green' & the art of making it is never lost and always remains in Australia.
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CA & 'Kooka' should also be thoroughly commended for recognising Australian farmers & our world class merino wool industry which produces the worlds absolute finest & best merino wool. The Kookaburra 'Baggy Green' cap uses 100% Australian WoolMark approved wool paying homage to our incredible sheep farmers leading the global merino wool industry Australia leads. We should all never forget just how much hard work and the dawn till dusk hours our farmers go through to produce the merino wool for the worlds finest wool flannel.
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