About
Who doesn’t know KITH nowadays? Most of the streetwear enthusiast has talked about them. Let’s start it! Kith NYC is a retail company that founded by Ronnie Fieg in November 2011. Now, it’s been 6 years after he came up to established Kith NYC. Kith is a multi-functional lifestyle brand for men and woman. Kith itself offering an array of premium product and it starts from top to bottom including footwear.
Ronnie Fieg is a prominent figure in the footwear industry, who has over twenty years of hands-on experience. He also a sneakerhead. Born and raised in Queens, Fieg has been involved with footwear since becoming a stock boy at New York-based franchise David Z. at age 12. With steadfast perseverance, he methodically rose through the ranks from floor salesman to assistant manager to eventually becoming a head buyer. Conceptualizing KITH as an extension of himself, Fieg seeks to shift the current landscape of fashion, while operating under a personal philosophy of giving the consumer more than what they pay for. And today, Fieg is also a streetwear designer according to Business of Fashion.
History
Fieg familiar with streetwear in 1983 when he was 13 and he worked as a stock boy for his second cousin footwear store, David Zaken. At the age 25, Fieg moved up to become Head Buyer on that retail store. Since he was a Head Buyer, Fieg began bringing a lot of athletic footwear brands to David Z store. After that, the part from Fieg that brought him to blew up is came from here. Asics, one of the athletic footwear brands, offered Fieg to release their old silhouette and Fieg itself wants to release that by his version. Fieg designed three pairs of Gel Lyte IIIs called “The 252 Pack”, due to each sneaker being produced in quantities of 252 and it was released in the following year. The result is unpredictable, Fieg successfully to sell out each pair of that shoes only in 24 hours. Fieg ended up on the cover of The Wall Street Journal. Fieg has gone on to collaborate with many other brands such as Adidas, Caminando, Chippewa, Clarks, Converse, Harris Tweed, Herschel Supply, New Balance, Polo Ralph Lauren, PUMA, Red Wings, Saucony, Sebago, Shades of Grey by Micah Cohen, and Timberland. His total number of collaborations is guessed at over 50 products, making him one of the most prolific sneaker designers/collaborators of all time.
November 2011, Fieg opened up his own retail store called Kith NYC. He officially opened his first stores in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Kith stocks familiar brand like Puma, Adidas, Timberland and New Balance to attract their customer which most of them are globally sneakerhead. In 2016, Kith finally made his first show at New York Fashion Week. In the same year, Kith expanded retail locations across the US, launched a new space at luxury retailer Bergdorf Goodman, and completed a $2 million renovation of the Brooklyn store.
Now, Kith is expanding his business to women streetwear. Kith also launched his first women boutique. For footwear, the store stocks brand like Buscemi, Vans, Converse, Nike, Adidas, New Balance, and Timberland.
In 2017, Fieg launches their first own women label called Kith Women by hiring Emily Oberg as Kith Women’s Creative Lead. Under the command from Emily, Kith grows as an aesthetic and sportswear brands. Besides that, Kith made new things, called Kith Rays, Los Angeles Kith Stores which has worked in Soccer Jersey. In Miami, there is Kith Flamingo which has the same path with Kith Rays and also Kith Cobras which located in New York. This year, 2017, is a year for Fieg. He expanding overseas and opened up his first cereal bar and café, it called Kith Treats and located in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Last but not least, there’s a Kidset, Kith for Kids and its available on Instagram and their sites.
Well, if you are completely interested with Kith NYC, head on over their sites or social media.
Written by: Chalif Rafi Prayogi
Saturday, November 4, 2017
