Introduction: In the sports fashion world, retro is, or at least has been, king. Who was the king-maker? Potential candidates would include Big Boi, and Dre. But it wasn't until Puff Daddy wore throwbacks at the 2002 American Music Awards the craze really took off.

Of course that wasn't the first anyone had heard of throwbacks, celebrities such as Spike Lee were wearing Mitchell & Ness throwbacks back in 1990. However it was the late 1990s, before anyone really noticed. Early favorites were Hank Aaron's 1974 Atlanta Braves jersey and the Houston Astros' 1988 rainbow design.

The reigning king maker however is none of the men we've mentioned. The King Maker was Peter Capolino, owner of Mitchell & Ness. As a company, Mitchell & Ness has been around since 1904. They haven't always been in the business of throwbacks .

M&N began it's life as a sports manufacturer, primarily golf clubs. By 1925, however, the company got out of the golf business and ventured into athletic uniforms for the first time. But it also went into ski equipment, and a host of other directions. It's lack of direction cost them dearly and in the early 1980s it almost went bankrupt. They had diversified into too many areas.

Scaling back his business, Capolino moved into a smaller storefront. In the storeroom of the new location he found what would go on to change the focus of his company, and his own life for good. Stored away in the new shop, and left behind by it's previous tennants were crates of old magazines, many with pictures of old sports uniforms.