Throwbacks in the here and now: old-time jerseys are all the rage, thanks to the loving work of the Mitchell & Ness Nostalgia Co

Football Digest, Oct, 2004 by Rudy Vorkapic

SIXTY-YEAR-OLD PETER CAPOLINO HAS A BIG night planned, and he's like a giddy little kid. In a few hours, the man dubbed "P. Chatty," and later "P City" by E Diddy, will see nearly 40 NFL stars, including Marvin Harrison, Donovan McNabb, Eddie George, and Jerome Bettis--and their moms--sporting his creations for a summer charity fashion show in Philadelphia

"It's a stitch, isn't it?" Capolino says--without an apology for the pun--of walking into a room of pro athletes and being one of the stars himself. "Since 1999, it's been serendipity the whole time."

The man chooses his words well. Serendipity is defined in Webster's New World

Dictionary as, "Lack, or good fortune, in finding something good accidentally." Capolino doesn't make suits. He doesn't make shoes. He doesn't make neckties He makes jerseys. The ones athletes, rappers, and hip-hop stars crave. The ones worn in the latest music videos. The ones athletes see and have to have. "Sean Combs, or P. Diddy, has to have the latest ones. He's calling here all the time," says Capolino, owner of Philadelphia-based Mitchell & Ness Nostalgia Co. Just five years ago, the word throwback to an NFL fan would have conjured up the faces of tough guys like Dick Butkus or "Mean" Joe Greene. Ten years ago, fans might have thought it was a lateral play. Today, throwback means jerseys. Old jerseys. Well, replicas of old jerseys. Exact replicas of old jerseys, to be precise. And throwback jerseys are all about precision. They've become what many kids in the city and suburbs would like on their backs despite prices more in the wallet range of rappers and pro athletes.

Basketball throwbacks are most popular, then football and then baseball, according to industry experts. Maybe the jerseys are just the natural progression of urban style after athletic shorts that went from high and fight to big and baggy, shoes that had to have "Air" and the swoosh on them, and caps that had to be worn just right Then again, maybe not.

"I don't think I'm selling fashion here--I really look at it as I'm selling history," Capolino says. "The only concession I make to history is that I make jerseys baggy because that's what everybody likes." That might sound like a marketing catchphrase, but Capolino's history tends to bear him out.

Capolino was hiding from his creditors in 1986. His father had bought a small sporting goods store in 1952 in what's now a 100-year-old building in Philadelphia's Center City. Capolino says he's worked there "ever since I can remember." In that building, above Mitchell & Ness, a shop held the largest collection of periodicals in the country. Capelino would hide there from his collectors, poring over vintage sperm magazines, struck by the look of old woolen baseball uniforms.

About that same time, he happened upon a 12,000-yard cache of wool flannel. Inspiration struck, and he decided to create a few jerseys that he loved as a kid. He created a Richie Ashburn, a Hank Aaron, a Stan Musial, and others. "I was selling them to 35- to 75-year-old suburban, conservative white men, like me, who liked old baseball" Capolino says

He was selling more jerseys when Major League Baseball came calling, making him a deal he couldn't refuse. "They gave me a Godfather proposition," Capolino says. "Either you go into business for us, or you go out of business." Baseball gave Mitchell & Ness exclusive rights to produce vintage uniforms, and Capolino's business began picking up.

In 1998, the rap group Outkast performed in a video wearing a Mitchell & Ness Nolan Ryan Houston Astros jersey. More serendipity. Rappers and hip-hoppers began calling. He rattles off the names: "Fabolous, Jay-Z, Bow Wow, who was Little Bow Wow then, Big Boi from Outkast, and, of course, P. Diddy." In 1999, the NBA came calling, and that year sales for Mitchell & Ness hit $2.2 million.

In 2000, the NFL knocked on Capelino's door, and in 2001 serendipity knocked down Capolino's door. That's when 27-year-old Reuben "Big Rubo" Harley, who had been buying throwbacks from Mitchell & Ness for 10 years, charged into Capolino's office promising to "blow up" the business. Once Capolino realized that was a good thing, he gave Harley a small salary and a car. Harley took off and elbowed his way deep into the rap and hip-hop industry.

In 2002, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs hosted the American Music Awards, and Big Rube outfitted Combs in 11 Mitchell & Ness throwbacks during the show--everything from a 1973 George McGinnis Indiana Pacers to a 1994 Drew Bledsoe New England Patriots. The next day, pro athletes, including Shaquille O'Neal, started calling, and a craze was born.

In 2002 Mitchell & Ness sales hit more than $25 million, and sales were upward of $40 million last year. Capolino's jerseys range from $175 to $500, with an average price of about $275. They cost so much because they are so expensive to reproduce. There are other authentic jersey makers--Bangor, Pa.,-based Majestic Athletics and Seattie-based Stall & Dean--but they primarily create newer (Majestic) and defunct leagues and teams (Stall & Dean). M&N has exclusive agreements with the major sports to create their throwbacks.