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

Founders and brothers Ayman, 31, and Osama Abdeldayem, 33, pursued careers in engineering, formerly working at NASA and BGE, respectively, before deciding to follow their true passion — skateboarding and designing clothes. Their Carpet Company, the popular skateboarding and streetwear brand, has found its way onto the bodies of popular figures like Travis Barker and Chase B, and they’ve previously collaborated with the likes of Nike for a uniquely designed pair of SB Dunk High shoes.

“We had our very first release, which was two shirts and a skateboard, in 2016, so that was when we officially started,” said Ayman Abdeldayem. “No one bought anything back then, so it’s surprising anybody buys anything now.”

It’s safe to say Ayman was surprised again this past weekend when Carpet Company sold out all of their Orioles-oriented inventory. The brand hosted a pop-up Saturday in Charles North where customers lined up outside awaiting the chance to choose from five shirts, two New Era fitted caps, two Louisville Slugger baseball bats and a Rawlings baseball. The items were also available for purchase the following day on their website, but everything was snatched up in three minutes.

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

While the release may have been an instant success, the collaboration was anything but quick. Though the Abdeldayem brothers reached out to MLB during the summer of 2022 with the idea of collaborating, the approval came months later. From there, they discussed using items from New Era, Louisville Slugger, Rawlings and even Mitchell & Ness, which specializes in throwback apparel.

“We’re supposed to do Mitchell & Ness coach jackets and T-shirts. Just to show how long things take, they’re still waiting to get approved,” Ayman said. “So it’s been over a year, and we just didn’t want to wait any longer to put something out.”

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

Even without promotion from the actual team, the local connection that Carpet Company has with the city was strong enough to ensure that the release was a hit. Although the brand is rooted in Maryland, Ayman says the brand is even more notable outside of the United States, with its “biggest regions” in Asia and Australia.

“I feel like you got to have local support first and you have to support the local scene before you can really branch out and go outside of that,” he said. “I feel like we definitely accomplished that, which is awesome.”

From simply dropping two shirts and a skateboard to selling licensed MLB gear within eight years, Carpet Company continues to elevate. Next month, they are collaborating with Vans to release four shoes.