How Farmingdale brand Baseball Lifestyle 101 became this year's hottest back-to-school purchase

When 8-year-old Michael Furino starts third grade at Glenwood Landing School in Glen Head this September, there will be no debating what he’ll wear on his first day. He already knows.

His ensemble will include shorts printed with colorful sprinkled doughnuts in hot pink, yellow and blue; a pastel, cotton candy-inspired backpack; wavy smiley-face socks in neon shades; a Mets logo charm on a chain; and a beaded sparkly necklace for an added “drippy look,” he says.

It’s all mostly from the born-on-Long Island brand Baseball Lifestyle 101, which has ignited a wild frenzy among boys and tweens. Says his mom, Jackie Furino, 40, “He uses the word ‘drippy’ for cool. If it’s not ‘drippy’ he doesn’t want to wear it.” And according to Michael, Baseball Lifestyle is drippy.

Furino adds, “He never really cared about fashion. Now, I’ve given up on him with clothes. I’ve just given into him."

A new fashion phase for young guys

Children’s fashion stylist and content creator Christina Miller (@yourmostexpensivefriend) is feeling the power of both the brand and boys' desire to break out of the mold, noting that boys just want to have fun, too. “Boys are becoming more daring with the stuff they’re willing to wear,” she says. “They’re definitely becoming more adventurous and playful. I think that Baseball Lifestyle put all the colors on the map. If you’re a kid 6 to 12, the bolder, the brighter, the better.”

As for boys coveting kooky designs and blasts of color, it comes as no surprise to Bill Rom, 40, a lifelong Long Islander from Huntington, and the co-owner of Baseball Lifestyle 101, which is headquartered in Farmingdale. He explains, “You go back in time and baseball was very stuffy — always tan and black. We offered a way to say you can do more than that. It’s loud, flashy and anybody can get involved. Gen Alpha is more interested in being individual and just being able to be themselves.”

As for the company's roots, it all began as an Instagram account of the same name started by baseball-loving 15-year-old Josh Shapiro (now 28 and co-owner of the brand), who lives in Bethpage. He went to Rom, then his strength-and-conditioning trainer, to help grow his account.

It exploded into what is now a powerhouse brand that Rom estimates has sales in the $200 million range, serving boys predominantly in the 7-to-12-year-old age bracket. Recently, Inc. Magazine named the brand as No. 42 on its annual 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. This year, “in terms of gross revenue, will be our biggest year yet,” says Rom. What started as an e-commerce site now has eight retail stores across the country.

On Long Island, they’re located at Roosevelt Field, Tanger Outlets in Riverhead and in a warehouse store in Farmingdale. The company also took over the pro shop at Lasorda Legacy Park in Yaphank and is stocked at major chains such as Dick’s Sporting Goods and Denny’s.

A new look each week

Fresh designs in cheerful motifs such as lemonade, cotton candy, ice cream, PB&J and smiley faces are dropped on a weekly basis via social media. These are meant to entice the boys and conjure aspects of the sport that go beyond the game. “It’s about … going to summer baseball and hanging out with your friends, the pool party after, having pizza with your team, getting ice cream after you hit your first home run. … All that stuff is the baseball lifestyle … and we bring that to life,” Rom says.

But do you have to play baseball to wear the clothes? While the brand is rooted in baseball culture, Rom says absolutely not. “One of our biggest retailers says about 30% of the people who shop us, at least on their digital presence, end up choosing us over Nike, Adidas and everybody else.” Kids, he says, “like the prints, they like the stye. We’ve gotten photos from ... basketball teams where everybody’s wearing the clothes.”

Moms’ take

The passion for the line has made getting dressed for school easier, says Dana Casil, 40, of Franklin Square, who has three sons, Ryan, 11, Joseph, 9, and Leo, 6. “I’m not begging them to get dressed in the morning anymore. They pick out what they want to wear. My kids never cared about what they wore before.”

And now, Casil says, “instead of toys, they’re asking for clothes. This wasn’t a thing when I was young, everybody was just wearing sweats.” Her kids play a different sport every season, and while the younger two are BL101 fans, her older child seems to be aging out: “Ryan isn’t as into it now. He’s wearing GOAT USA and pro jerseys from the Knicks and soccer teams.”

That brand has a distinct market, too.

"GOAT USA is on the pulse of pop culture, leveraging on-trend designs that resonate," Kate Sciortino, vice president of product development and production, said in an emailed statement.

But Leo and Joseph are, again, “obsessed” with the baseball brand, Casil says: “It’s not like when they were younger and we just went to JCPenney.” That said, she does hunt for sales on the products, which she says are good quality, but pricier than those at big box stores. Youth T-shirts here start at $24.99, shorts, $49.99, and sweatshirts, $79.99.

Likewise, Denise Ramirez, 40, who has two sons, Andrew, 9, and Alex, 7, also of Franklin Square, says, “Gone of the days of buying clothes at Target.” Alex will wear a Baseball Lifestyle cotton-candy-emblazoned ensemble on his first day. “It reminds me of cotton candy,” he says. His mom says he might say, “Oh I have extra drip” in this BL101 outfit, meaning he looks good. Andrew says he’s going for a graffiti-printed number because “it’s comfy, it looks cool and a lot of people wear [the brand]. It still looks cool even if you don’t play baseball.”

Long Island strong

While the brand is popular just about everywhere in the United States, Rom says Long Island is special. “Long Island is our home. It’s where we try to do the most. Long Island is our No. 1 spot. This is the most saturated place we are,” he says, noting major buys at Denny’s and Dick’s. “Long Island definitely stands up for BL more so than the rest of the country, even though the fervor continues to grow every day.”