FRANKSVILLE — The Milwaukee Brewers next t-shirt Tuesday giveaway is about to be one of the team's most unique.
The shirt given away on July 8th won't say the words 'Brewers' or 'Milwaukee'. It shows a barn, people playing baseball, cows, and American Family Field in the background. The Brew Crew collaborated with the Racine County clothing company Lost Files for the giveaway.
"More of a Wisconsin Brewers shirt than a Milwaukee Brewers shirt, you know what I mean. Feels like it connects to a larger portion, or just Wisconsin in general rather than just Milwaukee," Estevan Longoria, the founder of Lost Files said.
This will be one of Longoria's biggest ever collaborations. The feeling of seeing thousands of people with his shirt all in one place is still sinking in.
“So to get 10,000 people like that to have a piece from us is crazy," he said.
Longoria started Lost Files in 2020. He liked clothes but didn’t have any fashion industry experience. That didn't stop him from starting the brand, though.
“Just wanted to try my hand at it, so I kind of took a year to learn as much as I could because I had no background in this, knew nobody," he said.
So to get his start, he did something bold. Without having one physical product, he reached out to major brands looking to collaborate.
“Yeah, I was literally sending emails at 1, 2 in the morning. They probably looked really sketchy coming in, but it ended up working out," he said.
Luck was on his side. Longoria landed his first big deal with Corduroy, the childrens book. That helped him partner with the I Spy and Dum Dums brands next. He has an upcoming collaboration with The Magic School Bus too.
Along with big brand deals, pro athletes and rappers have also worn Longoria's clothes. Popular rapper Lil Yachty wore his clothes in a commercial. He gave former Bucks star Khris Middleton a collection of hats. Other former Bucks players to wear his clothes include Jordan Nwora and MarJon Beauchamp. Milwaukee native and WNBA star on the Dallas Wings Arike Ogunbowale wears Lost Files.
Many streetwear brands focus on jackets, graphic tees, or even pants. Lost Files specializes in shorts. They’re designed to look like your old middle school or high school gym shorts.
Beyond nostalgia, Lost Files focuses on its Midwest roots. Shorts that kind of look like a fishing vest, state park-inspired shorts, hunter orange hats, and of course, plaid. Find more clothes at the Lost Files website.
“sStreetwear brands that are from the Midwest, but that dig into the roots of, you know, being from the Midwest and releasing pieces around that. There’s not too many, or any at all," Longoria said.
Watch the story to see more of Lost File's designs...
Ironically, most of his customers aren’t even in the Midwest.
“General majority of people who buy from us are from the East Coast, so that’s pretty crazy," he said.
But soon, thousands of Wisconsinites will have his shirt. The first 10,000 fans at the Brewers game on July 8th will get this unique t-shirt.
The Brewers have collaborated with a variety of Wisconsin artists for shirt giveaways. On 414 day, the team partnered with the Milwaukee fashion company Unfinished Legacy. In June, the Brew Crew gave away a shirt by Glendale artist Whitney Nettles. Later in the summer, a shirt will be handed out by the Madison artist Emily Balsley.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
