Carpet Company sells all MLB-licensed Baltimore Orioles equipment

What do skateboarding and baseball have in common? You may not think much, but that didn’t stop local clothing brand Carpet Company from selling officially licensed Orioles baseball gear.

Founders and brothers Ayman, 31, and Osama Abdeldayem, 33, pursued careers in engineering and previously worked at NASA and BGE, respectively, before deciding to follow their true passion: skateboarding and designing clothing. Their Carpet Company, the popular skate and streetwear brand, has reached the bodies of popular figures like Travis Barker and Chase B, and they have previously collaborated with companies like Nike for a pair of exclusively designed SB Dunk High shoes.

“We had our first launch, which consisted of two t-shirts and a skateboard, in 2016, so that’s when we officially started,” Ayman Abdeldayem said. “No one bought anything back then, so it’s surprising that anyone would buy anything now.”

It’s safe to say Ayman was surprised again this past weekend when Carpet Company sold out of its Orioles-oriented inventory. The brand hosted a pop-up Saturday at Charles North where customers lined up outside waiting for the chance to choose from five T-shirts, two New Era fitted hats, two Louisville Slugger baseball bats and a Rawlings baseball. Items were also available for purchase the next day at your websitebut everything was taken away in three minutes.

“As an organization, we love to see Baltimore-based brands get this type of exposure and we’re always looking for ways to help amplify it,” the Orioles said in a statement.

While the launch may have been an instant success, the collaboration was anything but quick. Although the Abdeldayem brothers approached MLB during the summer of 2022 with the idea of ​​collaborating, approval came months later. From there, they discussed using items from New Era, Louisville Slugger, Rawlings, and even Mitchell and Nesswhich specializes in retro clothing.

“We’re supposed to make Mitchell & Ness sports jackets and T-shirts. Just to show how long things have been going on, they are still waiting for approval,” Ayman said. “It’s been over a year and we just didn’t want to wait any longer to release something.”

Carpet Company also had plans to market the collection to the Orioles organization, but it wasn’t meant to be. “They just didn’t want to work with us because they lumped us in with companies like Xfinity and MedStar, but we’re not like selling internet services,” he said with a laugh. “They just didn’t understand or see the need to do something interesting.”

Even without the promotion of the royal team, the local connection that Carpet Company has with the city was strong enough to ensure the launch was a success. Although the brand has its roots in Maryland, Ayman says it is even more notable outside the United States, with its “largest regions” in Asia and Australia.

“I feel like you have to have local support first and you have to support the local scene before you can diversify and get out of that,” he said. “I feel like we definitely did it, which is amazing.”

From simply dropping two jerseys and a skateboard to selling licensed MLB gear in eight years, Carpet Company continues to soar. Next month, they will collaborate with Vans to release four shoes.