New Era Cap Announces Winners of Its 'CONCEPT 59FIFTY' Nationwide Design Contest --Anthony Lewis of Lanham, Maryland Is Selected Grand Prize Winner for his 59FIFTY cap

BUFFALO, N.Y., Nov 16, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- New Era Cap, the leading headwear designer and manufacturer, announced today that Anthony Lewis of Lanham, Maryland has won the "CONCEPT 59FIFTY" nationwide contest for his original cap design entitled Tweed. Lewis' design was selected from 8 finalists narrowed down from nearly 20,000 submissions to the online contest since its launch in August.

As the declared winner, Lewis' cap will be produced and sold at New Era US Flagship stores, as well as online at www.neweracap.com. He will receive 10 caps for personal use and a $1,000 gift card courtesy of New Era. The Tweed cap is now in its production stages and will be available at retail in early 2010.

"I didn't enter with the sole purpose of winning the competition; I was doing it out of fun," said Lewis. "I wanted my design to be more of a fashion statement, that's why I used the herringbone tweed fabric and the salt & pepper print for the panels." First place runners up Joe Pasket of Houston, Texas and David Bywater of Olathe, Kansas will receive a $500 New Era gift card and a New Era accessories pack.

"We congratulate Anthony and all the contestants who made this competition so successful. Over 200 submissions were received each day and we couldn't be more thrilled," said Kelli Coppola, Director of Marketing at New Era. "It was a breath of fresh air to see all the creative submissions from designers across the country. We hope to continue to grow the contest each year." About "CONCEPT 59FIFTY" Contest Designs for the New Era CONCEPT 59FIFTY were submitted electronically on www.concept59fifty.com. Individuals throughout the country who entered were asked to create and submit an original design that may be displayed on a New Era 59FIFTY cap following strict guidelines and required information to New Era.

Winning designs were chosen based on a combination of fan votes worth 25% and a judge's panel that accounted for 75% of the final decision. Submissions were evaluated based on originality, creativity, overall style of design, production possibilities, timeliness, and anticipated popularity. Fans were able to vote on the designs using a star scale of 1-5. Each individual vote was deemed as a "Fan Vote". Fans had the opportunity to vote for multiple designs, however may only vote for one per day per design. Each design received a final ranking based on the combination of the number of fan votes cast for a design and the designs aggregate 1-5 score. The voting period for the designs ran from the date the design was submitted throughout the entire Contest Period.

New Era Cap Founded in 1920, New Era Cap Company, Inc., the leading headwear manufacturer and creator of New Era Apparel, brings to market products that transcend time, culture, sport and fashion. Producing more than 35 million caps per year, New Era is the exclusive manufacturer and marketer of the official on-field cap worn by every Major League Baseball team and their Minor League affiliates and maintaining agreements with other licensed entities. On the street, New Era is known as the Originator of the True Fitted for its signature cap style, the 59FIFTY. The Company is headquartered in Buffalo, New York and operates facilities in Alabama, Canada, Europe, Japan and Hong Kong. New Era Cap is a Participating Company (PC) of the Fair Labor Association.

Contacts: Megan Farry, New Era Cap Co.

[phone] x1463

[e-mail]

Philip Crimaldi, DKC

[phone]

[e-mail] SOURCE New Era Cap URL: http://neweracap.com www.prnewswire.com Copyright (C) 2009 PR Newswire. All rights reserved -0- KEYWORD: New York INDUSTRY KEYWORD: FAS

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