OCEANSIDE (KGTV) — A beautiful millinery business in Oceanside has seen a huge increase in foot traffic lately, and the owner says it’s all thanks to the Padres.
Austin Zito handcrafts each hat from start to finish, but his favorite part of the process isn’t the end result…
“…the people aspect. Every hat is made for someone,” Zito said, adding, “Even the hats on the rack, I imagine someone will be wearing this one day.”
Including Padres players?
“That was actually a surprise to me, including the Padres.”
Yes, this niche talent is what brought Zito into contact with the Padres. In July, he was asked to make hats for the players who qualified for the All-Star Game.
“The Padres are very big on supporting local businesses and I’m really proud that they chose me because I grew up here.”
Zito was at bat and the pressure was on. He spent a week making five custom hats.
“I ended up coming to work with my door locked and working 18-hour days, focusing solely on Padres hats.”
He filmed the entire intricate process and posted the final result on Instagram.
“It says ASG 2024 on the inside, it has their names on it, and all the jersey numbers were hand-cut from brass and attached to the side.”
The Padres also acknowledged that Zito knocked him out of play. None other than Fernando Tatis Jr. posted a video of himself wearing the hat, and Zito says business has taken off since then.
“I’d love the opportunity to continue building them. I’d love to work with the Padres and see how we can make that available to everyone.”
