Fabbri-designed New Era hat line available now

ST. LOUIS - Blues forward Robby Fabbri can now add designer to his resume.
Over the summer, Fabbri sat down with designers from New Era Cap Company to bring his personal style and preferences into a line of hats for Blues fans and St. Louis lovers alike.
As an ode to the classic menswear and accessory dealers known as haberdasheries, the line was given the name "Fabbridashery."

Two hats from the Fabbridashery line will be released exclusively at the True Blues Authentic Team Store located at Scottrade Center on Dec. 20. The store is open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Additional hats will be released each month - nine limited edition hats in total - exclusively at the True Blues store through March.
For Fabbri, designing the Fabbridashery line with fans and the city of St. Louis in mind was a key focus.
"We know how much the city backs us and backs the (St. Louis) Cardinals, so I wanted to make sure I incorporated everything for them," he said.
Fabbri and New Era designer Charles Beasley were able to design hats that show what St. Louis is all about. Styles include various elements like the Blue Note, the city's skyline and even an ode to the Cardinals.
For Beasley, working on a project with a professional athlete was a fun change of pace, and helping people bring their own style into a line is the best part of the job for him.

"We met with Robby and designed a couple hats for him," Beasley said. "He did pretty well with it. It's always cool to help an athlete express themselves and design a hat that they want to wear."
The design process was a familiar one for Beasley and New Era sales team member Mike Schnell, one they were happy to bring Fabbri into.
"We always start with a blank white cap," Beasley said. "Then we can look at other samples or fabric swatches, and apply them to the blank slate. From there it kind of blossoms into a full cap."
For Schnell, helping Fabbri make design choices was important during the design lab.
"We tried to help guide him as he was looking at different things like reflective material or sparkle for the women's cap," Schnell said. "(We wanted to) help give him some ideas that would fill out the cap."
While the line includes hats with various design elements, it also includes a variety of hat styles from fitted, to knit to snapbacks.
However, there are a couple of styles that Fabbri is especially excited about.
"I'm big on snapbacks now, and I've had a few fitted," Fabbri said. "So it was cool coming in and designing my own and having hats that are the way I like them."
Designing the hats was a fun first for Fabbri, but he most looks forward to their release.
"It's going to be cool to see what people think of them and if people enjoy wearing them," Fabbri said.