Meet Grey Bottoms, a Member of Lids’ Fitted Class

What are you known for in the fitted hat community? Just that guy that collects and creates Dodger hats. You see my pages, all Dodger hats. I grew up just loving Dodger hats. All my cousins, my uncles wore Dodger hats. If I even thought about repping another team, I’ll get clowned on.

How did you get into fitted hats? I was wearing fitteds since I was a kid. Growing up, I had a bunch of fitteds. Then in Covid time, I was like, I’m just gonna make a profile, an Instagram page. Started posting whatever I recently copped. Based off that, I started posting twice a week. Started getting followers, this and that. And then I guess other stores saw that, and they wanted to work with me, design hats. And that’s where we’re at right now.

What makes a great fitted hat? I like simplicity. Sometimes a lot be going on, but to me, a great hat is a simple hat that has a great patch that stands out and a gray bottom.

What’s the most valuable hat you have? That's a tough one. I guess the hats that I’ve made myself. I hold those close to my heart. Each hat that I made has a story.

Why are fitted hats important to fashion and personal style? It’s a staple fashion. Fitted hats, hip-hop, sports, it’s all synonymous. And when I think about hip-hop growing up, I think about fitted hats, wearing backwards, you know, tilted this and that. It was just part of the style. It completes the outfits. So, I think fitted hats are forever.

How have fitteds played a role in hip-hop culture? Style represents your region. Growing up liking hip-hop, I would see artists like Snoop Dogg, you know, Ice Cube, Dodger hats. Eazy-E, Raider hats. I’m not a Raider fan. I mean, just any rapper that I saw really was always wearing a fitted hat. And I was like, dude, I wanna look like that. I wanna wear stuff like that. And it just became a thing. It’s individuality. When I think about fitteds, too, I think about Jay-Z, The Black Album. It’s pretty iconic.