Local shop takes Houston cap culture to another level with custom designs inspired by the Bayou City

HOUSTON - Fitted caps have become a big deal in Houston largely thanks to the sports culture. In fact, the MLB players were wearing fitted hats in the All-Star Game Tuesday evening.

Eight One is a local shop where H-Town inspired custom fitted hats have people waiting for hours to score one for themselves. The Owner, Carlos De Los Santos Jr., said 'cap culture' really began taking off during the pandemic.

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"So, you had a huge demand, but we couldn't get the hats with the supply chain issues during the pandemic," stated De Los Santos Jr. "So, it just created that perfect, like everyone wants them, but you can't get them. So, they were harder to get, which made people more interested in them."

Now, Eight One has people lining up outside the store at 10696 Haddington Drive Suite 104 when they know a 'drop' is happening. Many will even camp outside all night just to get their hands on the New Era hat with a custom logo on it.

"I would say the majority of what we put out, sells out," stated De Los Santos Jr.

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De Los Santos Jr. started Eight One in 2011. But it wasn't until the last few years when the fitted hats became the majority of his business. He partnered with a Cap Creator from New Jersey who had reached out about designing some Houston inspired logos.

"I bought a shirt from Eight One and put in the notes, 'hey I have a few local ideas you might want to see. ‘He said ‘hey, 'I'll always listen.'

The rest is history. The two began coming up with ideas, submitting them for approval with Eight One, the teams and leagues, and now the designs are in high demand among hat enthusiasts, cap collectors, and Houston fans.

"The people in Houston, within regards to the Astros in general, but fitted hats, it's like no other city. It's not even close to any other city," stated Steve who's known as OC Ospreys on Instagram. "Fitted hats in general have always been huge down there (in Houston), it's the best city to design for no question and the Astros logos are awesome on top of that."  

De Los Santos Jr. grew up in Houston and many of his ideas for the designs come from his upbringing in the Bayou city. You'll find some that are made to look like the old scoreboard in the Astrodome and others that look like a ride in an old amusement park that no longer exists.

"I grew up you know going to the dome with my dad, with my family, and you know nobody else had done it."

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Social media has helped to grow the custom fitted caps in popularity.

"Because it's so different than everything else," stated Cap Creator Steve. "It's competitive, there are people getting their ideas taken, there’s a rush to be first with everything, there are really talented people always coming up with ideas."

The two don't plan on stopping any time soon. They submit new designs every other week for approval. Once the design gets the "go" from New Era, the teams and leagues, it takes about three months to produce.

"So, sometimes we do a drop in person or here at the store, and sometimes we will have a line out the door. People might camp out," said  De Los Santos Jr. "And sometimes we do what the community calls a shot drop. So we will release them online, and we will post them on our social media page, and we will release them online right then and there without any notification, so customers are rushing on their phone or laptop to try and secure their hat."

De Los Santos Jr. and Steve both said there are many more custom designs to be made with inspiration taken from all over the Bayou City.