The eternal return of the New York Yankees' style

“You know why Yankees always win, Frank?”
“Because they have Mickey Mantle?”
“No, It's cause the other teams can't stop staring at those damn pinstripes"

This is how Christopher Walken explains the appeal of the New York Yankees to Leonardo Di Caprio, his son in the film ‘Try and catch me’, and who knows if the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Yankees' opponents in the 2024 World Series, won't be able to take their eyes off that pinstripe handing the 28th ring to the Yankees.

In 1877 Tiffany & Co. designed a medal of valour to be given to the wife of John McDowell, the first New York policeman killed in the line of duty. What they would not have expected is that that particular interlocking N and Y would become one of the most recognisable logos in the history of sport, and fashion. The package that packs a baseball player is quite eye-catching indeed. Pinstriped suit, leather gloves and belt, and then, the oldest of symbols of elegance: a hat, or rather - a baseball cap - that casts a light shadow over the eyes, like the most mysterious knights.

The successes of the NY Yankees (27 championships in their trophy cabinet, 16 more than the second-placed St.Louis Cardinals) have undoubtedly fuelled the fascination around the team, as have the parades around New York with leather Bomber jackets, the parterre of celebrities following the team and the inclusion of the famous logo in pop culture products such as films, commercials and red carpets. First Gucci, more recently Ralph Laurent, AC Milan and Aimé Leon Dore, fashion brands are increasingly drawn to that intersection with America's iconic sports franchise, and the return to success could raise the Yankees' aura even higher. 

Baseball in Italy has an insignificant visibility and following, the slow pace and traditional national passion for more action sports may be the cause. Absurdly enough, however, in many cities one encounters many people wearing MLB merchandise, and the spread is perhaps due to Foot Locker, which for many years now has been regularly selling garments of the major teams of the American baseball league, such as the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox. The uninterrupted distribution in a shop like Foot Locker, which is present in a large part of the territory, has led to the N and Y being unknowingly regarded only as a clothing brand, obscuring the considerable sporting merits.

On the other side of the pond, the NYY identity is far more defined, so much so that not only fashion but an entire city like New York has chosen to identify with and make use of the team's appeal. Two figures have projected the Bronx team's symbol into the fashion world: Jay-Z and Spike Lee. Two big names in music and film culture. Even before Jay-Z, the hat has been a symbol for many artists, Grandmaster Flash's coppola and Run Dmc's Fedoras taken from the jazz tradition, the New York Yankees did not, however, fit into those codes. The dark navy blue background of N and Y would come to the fore from the 1990s as a sign of pride and belonging to the East Coast, as well as an added virtue of New York chic. 

The tail end of the streetwear comet and the rediscovery of a more formal style now coincides with a very definite New York chic, and expressed to its fullest potential by Aimé Leon Dore. Teddy Santis, who rooted his project in the aesthetic traditions of the city, could not help but recover the codes and logos of the ‘Bronx Bombers’ in many of his drops. Another storyteller of New York style like Ralph Lauren was seduced by the possibility of tying more than one collection to the team, and in particular to that autumnal baseball aesthetic in which the players begin to cover up just as the playoffs get underway.

Indeed, some of the most legendary Yankees-related photos are from the many World Series, which played out between late October and early November and made immortal items not typically found in a baseball player's wardrobe such as the turtleneck longsleeve and varsity jacket, also worn by Giancarlo Stanton as he picked up the MVP award in the last American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians.

Ralph Lauren was joined by Gucci's collections at the time of Alessandro Michele, Supreme's and lastly Milan ‘s in collaboration with the Yankees. American ownership has grasped the potential of linking up with a universally recognised symbol for a collaboration that aims to cover a market other than the Italian one, while remaining recognisable to the Italian public that already buys New Era. The recognisability and fashionisation of the New York Yankees is an important theme, also thanks to their connection with the world of fashion the team has a unique expressive power in the world of sport.

Bigger than the New York Mets, bigger than the Giants and Jets of NFL, the Rangers of Hockey, the Knicks and the Nets in the NBA. Bigger even than MoMA. The Museum of Modern Art, in fact, has chosen to sell the Yankees' hat among its merchandising. The white lettering on a dark blue background is an intrinsic part of the Big Apple and, as Chay Costello, the director of merchandising at the MoMA store, said, ‘Having that connection [to New York City] was important to them’.

Elegance, chic, the Yankees are pure sports aristocracy. The rule imposed on all players to cut their hair and beards is a court etiquette, preening noble knights for battle. The most elegant of these knights has been, for the past 20 years, Derek Jeter. A former captain, a victorious symbol, one of those who, remaining within the knightly metaphor, holds the reins of the strongest horse, now passed to Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole and Juan Soto. It is, of course, Michael Jordan who signs Jeter's clothing line, one of the few greater than the Yankees themselves in the history of the sport, but who in an old commercial takes his hat off to Derek, symbol of New York and New Yorkers. Among ‘goats’ one recognises oneself. Someone has called baseball ‘the noble discipline for well-dressed gentlemen’, and if the playing field is called the diamond, it is no accident.