Kith, a brand synonymous with streetwear, fashion and so much more. From Looney Tunes and Marvel to Moncler and BMW, Ronnie Fieg the founder of Kith has constantly taken the brand to new heights, coming off the brand's 10 year anniversary back in 2021 it is only right we look back and delve into the story of Ronnie Fieg and Kith.

The Kith story starts with Ronnie in his early teens, at at the young age of just 12 years old.

Ronnie started working for his second uncle David Zaken who owned a number of shoe stores in New York named David Z. It would be at his uncle's store where Ronnie would receive his first start in the sneaker industry as a stockroom assistant. Ronnie’s adventures in the stockroom however were cut short after he fell from a ladder mainly escaping injury.

During Ronnie’s time at David Z he developed his product knowledge and already keen interest in sneakers and fashion further, working in such an environment allowed him to assess and identify market trends which would be useful in his later roles. By the time Ronnie was 25 he had worked his way from a sales associate to assistant manager and a turning point in his career and life was his promotion to head buyer for David Z.

As head buyer he was responsible for buying in all products being sold through David Z stores, this added responsibility was where Ronnie truly shined. A pivotal moment in Ronnie’s career was establishing an account for David Z with Asics, Ronnie had a love for Asics with the brand being one of his personal favourites, however as he once mentioned this wasn’t always the case. When Ronnie was younger he had wanted a pair of Reebok Pumps but instead his mum bought him a pair of Asics which he grew to love over time, this love for Asics played a large role in him bringing them onboard at David Z.

Through Ronnie’s business relationship with Michael McLaughlin who at the time was the Asics Account Manager, he/David Z were offered an official Asics collaboration, this inaugural collaboration between Ronnie Fieg and Asics would go on to span over a decade with well over 50 individual pairs being released to date.

Fieg and David Z’s initial collaboration is now known as the 252 Pack, the pack featured 3 colourways (pictured above) and was limited to 756 pairs with the quantities of each being split evenly at 252 a pair which is where the packs name comes from.

This collaboration really was a turning point for Ronnie, however it wasn't initially a runaway success and only sold a handful of pairs on launch day. This was however until an article was released in The Wall Street Journal, it turns out one of the pairs sold on release day was purchased by a writer for the publication working on a sneaker story.

Over the next year or two Ronnie stayed with David Z launching countless collaborative projects under both his name and the David Z banner, most notably his collaborations with Asics and a collaboration with Adidas spawned from meeting the president of Adidas, who visited David Z after reading The Wall Street Journal article with the intent of introducing himself to Ronnie.

The trio collaborated on the Adidas Superstar silhouette giving it a formal appearance and launching the extremely limited “Black Tie Project”. This collaborative effort was limited to 400 pairs and was initially launched at a friends and family black tie event which was a glimpse of the marketing genius to come.

After his collaborative efforts with David Z and a multitude of brands there was nothing left for Ronnie to accomplish within his uncles company, as such he ventured out on his own looking to make an even bigger impact than before.

Ronnie turned to a family friend Sam Ben-Avraham who was the owner of boutique clothing store Atrium. Ronnie initially wanted a stand-alone store under the name Kith (loosely meaning friends and family) however this idea was shot down by Sam. Instead Fieg was given the opportunity to open Kith footwear in collaboration with Atrium. The Atrium x Kith set up effectively allowed Ronnie to sell and manage his own sneaker boutique from within the Atrium business, this removed the up front store costs for himself directly and allowed him to build his Kith brand.

During his time with Atrium the Kith brand grew, becoming known for a brilliant selection of sneakers curated by Ronnie himself. Whilst working in collaboration with Atrium he released a limited set of cargo trousers which sold out on the first day. He released more runs of these trousers which continued to sell out, this changed everything for Ronnie and allowed him to seriously consider starting his own clothing brand.

Roll on 2012 and Kith released its first clothing collection the red and blue label featuring now dated camo designs in various cuts and colours. Although dated now at the time of release this was extremely on trend with the popularity of brands like Bape and Supreme at an all time high, further cementing Kith's influence.

By the time we get to 2015 Kith had become more than just a sneaker boutique and the brand had outgrown Ronnie’s shadow and his past work. Through collaborations with brands like Aisics, Adidas and New Balance the Kith brand had become synonymous with streetwear and the sneaker industry in general. It was at this point the Atrium store in Brooklyn was closing down and Ronnie seized the opportunity purchasing the building for his first standalone Kith boutique.

As we know by now, Ronnie’s vision for the brand was grand, from wanting his own standalone boutique to creating some of the most innovative collaborations of the time, when it came to opening his own store there wasn’t going to be any half measures.

Kith Brooklyn the brands first standalone store in place of the now defunct Atrium opened on August 24th 2015. The 3,000 square foot space was already a large improvement on the Kith x Atrium setup however Ronnie went one step further to truly redefine his brand.

The Kith Brooklyn store was redesigned from scratch in collaboration with Daniel Arsham a graphic artist who has collaborated with the likes of Dior and Porsche. Not only was the space visually appealing the pair added 2 other unique features which would go on to become staples of all Kith retail locations going forward.

Kith Brooklyn introduced both the Silhouette chandelier (a chandelier made from pure white shoe silhouettes) and the Kith Treats cereal bar. Kith treats would go on to be a success in its own right effectively becoming a spin off brand featuring their own collaborative efforts with cereal brands, however the launch of Kith treats was a dream for Ronnie as he loved cereal growing up and the idea had been conceptual for years, at last he was finally able to pull it off and where better than his very own retail location.

Over the coming years Kith would go on to expand at an exponential rate opening stores across the US in Miami, Los Angeles, Hawaii, Aspen and an additional Store in Soho. To this day kith has 12 retail locations with a new store opening on Rodeo Drive in 2023. Kith also expanded internationally in 2019 with a retail space in Selfridges.

Kith’s international expansion didn’t stop there, the brand later went on to open stores in Tokyo and a rather impressive flagship European location in the heart of Paris.

Over the last 10 years Ronnie Fieg and the team behind Kith have constantly released ever changing creative collections both with Kith mainline as a standalone release along with the iconic Monday Programme releases typically limited releases or collaborative efforts with some of the brands long time collaborators.

In Kith's short history they have collaborated with some of the most notable names, not just in fashion but the world. Versace, Moncler, Disney, BMW, Tommy Hilfiger and more, I’m sure there’s much more to come from Kith and Ronnie Fieg over the next 10 years and I personally can’t wait to see what the team have in store for us all.

Kith will be a brand I always love, it’s amazing to see the evolution of not only the brand but Ronnie himself, as he’s matured the collections and releases have become more refined more tasteful, recently Kith has really hit its stride I can’t wait to see what Ronnie does next in the story of Kith.

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