Inspiration comes when you least expect it.
And sometimes, even when we are in different countries, this wide world can make us feel incredibly close to one another. This is especially true in the world surrounding bicycles.
To celebrate the milestone of Circles reaching our 10th anniversary last December, many friends from all over the world cooperated with us, but there was actually one more thing I wanted to bring to life. Simply put: making a cap. Not a cycling cap, but a baseball cap. I wanted something I could wear comfortably even when I wasn't riding. As I was thinking about this, Garrett from Strawfoot introduced me to some people.
Their name is FairEnds.
They are based in a city called Missoula, Montana, and they make caps.
Of course, I had known their name for a long time, and many of you likely know that The Athletic and Ringtail also make caps with them. Thanks to Garrett’s introduction, we were able to connect, and we carefully explained who we are and what we wanted to do. Once they happily agreed to the project, the gears began to turn, and their momentum increased all at once.
As it happened, this coincided with my trip to the United States. I had a reason to travel—to reunite with a man named Adam Sklar in Bozeman, Montana—but I had also firmly decided to stop by Missoula where they are based.
After a nine-hour drive from Portland, I arrived at a coffee shop in Missoula. Their office shares a space in the backyard of this shop.
Caps of various materials and styles were lined up tightly inside.
FairEnds was started in 2011 by owner Ben, who previously worked in design in Brooklyn, New York, together with Martin, who still lives in Brooklyn today. Since their founding, they have maintained their production base in Los Angeles, California, while keeping their office and studio here in Missoula. Why Missoula? A big reason is that it’s a place Ben grew up with since his student days, and where he met his wife. But another major factor seems to be that as soon as you step outside, vast, magnificent nature spreads out before you.
Yes, he is also a pure-bred cyclist.
If you ride your bike for about 20 minutes from their office, you’ll reach a trailhead in no time, from where you can ride countless miles of singletrack. As we talked during our ride, we discovered so many mutual friends—people I had known since my previous job, shared favorite bike builders, and so much more. The more we talked, the more connections we found. We were left wondering why we hadn't connected sooner. But perhaps it was always fated that FairEnds and Circles would eventually become strongly linked.
Nowadays, Ben runs a farm in the suburbs of Missoula with his wife. They grow all sorts of vegetables and grains, and FairEnds even sells homemade hot sauce made on the farm.
Of course, they are a cap shop, but they don't just make caps; they make them while imagining what kind of view lies beyond. Because the two of them come from completely different environments—Ben in the vast nature of Montana and Martin in the big city of New York—they aim to make caps that anyone can wear anywhere. They focus on extreme simplicity and accessibility, making sure they are never too expensive, which lies at the core of their craftsmanship.
They use a truly wide variety of materials, from cotton to wool, flannel, twill, and nylon. For their basic cotton bodies, they offer casual custom orders with felt lettering, which are pressed one by one at their studio in Missoula.
What we asked of them was to refine the legendary patch we made for the Circles 3rd anniversary, and create a cap using hickory denim—a fabric they don't usually carry—in a limited quantity. Actually, in the opening photo, Ben’s beloved daughter is wearing a cap made from the same fabric.
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Material: Cotton
Color: Hickory
6,800 JPY (excl. tax)
The process of completion and the materials used are certainly one-of-a-kind, but as per the FairEnds concept, this is by no means an exclusive item. It remains something that the wearer can use without hesitation every day, and continue wearing even as it gets worn down.
That is exactly the same as how we believe in using bicycles.
We hope you enjoy it as a companion in your daily life.
