YouSaid · the spoken record

Ronnie Fieg

lines on the record: 94
first: 2024-12-03
most recent: 2024-12-03
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Honestly, I'd have to say it's my wife's understanding and loving me for the kind of person that I am in this world that I live in because I spend so much time on what I do. And I'm so invested in what I do that understanding how my time is split up and how I prioritize my time to want to be successful in the brand and the business, but also wanting to be the best husband and father. I think my wife has always been kind to me and understanding me in that way.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Then learn all of the different positions and inner workings on how a company works and what makes the engine run from all facets. Because before I became a creative, I really got to understand the business well. And I got to understand what people want and why they want it. So like I mentioned before, but I think for people that are trying to figure out their way, it's important not to skip the alphabet. You can't get from A to Z without the alphabet. And my biggest piece of advice would be to start at the bottom and work your way up.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Only done one kind of job my whole life. I've always been in this category of business and this world of product and retail. So it's really hard for me to apply that to anything but this category of business. But I will say that what has helped me. Has been finding my passion very early on in my life. And I think that gave me a leg up on starting really early and then also starting from the bottom.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And everybody needs to understand what it is that we're trying to do. We're trying to be the best at what we do. Also consistency is super key. Having the right people in the right roles, the consistency, I think, is what makes the biggest difference. Because when you look at the brand, the evolution has been easy to see and easy to transition for the consumer when they see that the vision has been consistent. So it's like walking people through a journey throughout the years. They've seen the growth through consistent eyes, which I think has been super critical to the brand.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The biggest part of that it's people that need to check their ego at the door and understand that if the work is not up to par, they need to go back to the drawing board until it is. And I think that with the team that I surround myself with and that I have, none of us have the egos and all of us understand that the brand is bigger than all of us when it comes to the work that we do. So right now, even though the brand and myself are synonymous, the decisions that I make are on behalf of the brand, not on behalf of myself, but I've been spending so much time on the brand that that now comes second nature. I'm able to make those decisions easily because now what's right for the brand is right for myself. That's been the biggest key is also the dynamic between the teammates on the staff. They all have to be like-minded in what we're trying to do and the goal.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And put people in place to have put together an incredible team and also an incredible atmosphere in MSG and how people feel when they come and they experience the games. Because I've gone to games across the country. There really is nothing like being an MSG. There's nothing like it. It really is the unicorn type of experience.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And the heart of the city more than many other brands do. As a New York brand and the Knicks really go hand in hand, and people love to see when those two come together. It's been a lot of fun. It's been very successful. And the relationships that I've gotten to build with the players and the staff has been great. And unlike... Lot of fans who think about it one-dimensionally, I think of the NIX as a conglomerate. It's more than just a team to me. I think that Jim Dolan has done a very good job putting people in place to bring that culture back to the city.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“York City is a different place. Unlike Rest of any team in any city, in my opinion. And it's not because I'm a Knicks fan, it's because I've witnessed it and I've lived it. And I want to be a part of it in any way I can. And I think for some of these creative moments that I've had with the Knicks and the ability to design their city edition uniforms and the ability also to release these collections within the garden kith night at the garden has become a big thing. The collections have gotten bigger and bigger. And finally, people are able to wear the team and the brand in a very elevated way because we apply some of our best garments to the collection and treat it really like a brand and not like a team. And I think that that's been a difference in that vision for the Knicks because I do think the Knicks are a team and then the Knicks are our brand. And when you look at the brand, I think it resembles the city.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“For me to describe how I feel about the Knicks and how much I love the team and what it means to the city. But basically, I feel like the Knicks are the most important team in New York personally, most important sports team in New York. When the Knicks are good,”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, first of all, Emma Leandore is similar to my baby and The amount of work that I put into what I do, Teddy will have his own stories, some similar to mine, some of his own that make that brand what it is. And I have a lot of respect for Teddy. Maybe it's something in the water in Queens. That breeds these creatives, but he's done an incredible job. It's a brand that has definitely impacted the culture in a very big way, in the way that people view product, the visuals have been top-notch. He's a visionary, his great vision, and great aesthetic. And he's one of my closest friends. I love”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It is, but every day I am thinking about. Am I going to be able to be what I am today, three to five years from now, and have the same impact? Because I can't continuously do what I'm doing today. It's going to have to get bigger and bigger in the sense of evolving. The storytelling needs to get better. The product needs to get better. Otherwise, I don't want to do it. I don't know what it's like to remain the same or want a steady business. Not what I want. It's not what I signed for. So I'm just trying to think of how much farther I can take it. So I'm constantly thinking about that. But that's what led to this.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Every day I have that moment. I think it's every day. When I think about the future, and I always think about the future, when I look at my daughter, I think about the future, I'm always concerned about the future. I actually am never able to fully enjoy the moment because I'm always thinking in another moment. It's kind of fucked up.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And just like we try to showcase the process of anything we do, it's important for people that are passionate, that want to get into this world to understand that it doesn't happen easily, you need to go through decades of experience to be able to then make all the right decisions that can help you evolve in anything. It's such an important part of it. I also don't think that I would be thinking in this way a few years ago. I've had some moments where I've had to like really reflect because as I think about the next three to five to ten years, you also need to think about whether or not you're capable.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I don't have any vices, which is crazy. I don't go out late. I don't drink. I don't smoke. Some people may consider that a really boring life, but if I need to be a great decision maker and make decisions that I won't regret, I need to be on my A game. And I've learned and have become very experienced in guiding this ship. You want to be a great business person and a great creative. Comes with a lot of sacrifice. So, yeah, I'm just trying to think of people that listen to this pod. They're going to be some industry people that listen to it that can relate. And then there'll be people that like want to understand how.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Even if there was, which I don't think there was a moment, it was part of the learning curve. I have never regretted any decision that I've ever made since I started the company. Not even one. And I think that also speaks to when people wonder how it's possible to manage and be the CEO and creative director of a company this big. It's because the decisions that need to be made, the split second decisions, and there's so many decisions to make every day, it's like when you have a really great free throw shooter, it becomes second nature. It's almost like thoughtless when you step up to a free throw line and you shoot those because it's routine through time making decisions becomes a sport. That's the way I look at it. And like my life revolves around that sport. So it's like getting enough sleep, eating healthy, working out, not going out.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I wouldn't even call it business. I would just say it's the intent on making sure that both ends of the spectrum are catered to with the same intent of making sure that they feel welcomed, that they feel special, and that they feel like there's a lot of creativity and purpose behind all of the product that we create. In the middle of that is everything else. That's where sport and music and everything else fits. Because when you think about what I'm doing with the NICs and that portion of it, and that's why maybe it's not even on a spectrum, maybe it's dimensional. Maybe it's just different categories and buckets of what we do because the magic of the brand is the ability to have Creative process and intent across all the categories.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The 35 to 55 year old man that will buy a Giorgio Armani suit from us for $6,000. And then thinking about the younger consumer who's coming in and buying a t-shirt from treats and an ice cream when they come into the store, those people are just as important to me. Both of them are just as important. So I think the business side.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's never done for business purposes. Nothing is done for business purposes in the sense of what we create. We don't create for the sake of business. We create for the sake of what people will love. And the most unique part about that is the ability to work with serial companies on $8 serial box or a seven and a half dollar ice cream and then sell a car for 130 grand and sell 120 of them in a matter of 11 minutes. The ability to think about both and give the same consideration to both. I think makes us a unicorn. Because when I think about Kith and its impact on the brand, It's as big of an impact as Georgie Armani has on the brand. And thinking about both ends of the spectrum.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Creatively as to how we evolve the brand and become the best version of ourselves, it's never been thinking about how we compete. It's never been about what other brands do. It's never been about that, which is why we've been able to be so successful in creating something so unique. Because the most unique part about our business, I don't like using that word, about our brand, I would say.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The growth and the company at the moment, not even at the moment, at any moment, has been the help and the execution of what I consider to be the greatest team in the game. And I think that when you speak about the business, it takes up so much less of my brain power. And I'm in the sense of how we execute, because I'm also very involved in the merchandising and the buying and the planning and where we allocate dollars and the leases and how we grow. Of course, but any free time that I have, I'm not thinking about that. That's when I'm forced to think about that. And I sit down and we have decisions to make. That's when critical thinking is applied and thinking about how we grow and what we think about the business. But my goal is to be in a position where I can continuously think.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Doing more and more of the things that I love has allowed me to do more and more of the things that I love. That's the best way I could put it because The business portion of what we do is done so that it can continue to be a universe for me that I can continue to feed with products that I love and projects that I love. Sustaining the business has been tough, let alone growing it, but we have an incredible team. And I think that that's the most important.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I got to work with the greatest tennis player in the world, Roger Federer, in helping him put out his first shoe, the Roger 1 with On, working on a few things right now, which is also on that level of the greatest in the world. Work on the Olympics, a team USA, and what we were able to do at the Olympics with Team USA basketball have that capsule. We shot Kevin Durant. And it's been honestly an unbelievable journey to think about the brand being associated with some of the greatest brands in the world and us striving to be the greatest brand for what we do specifically. So like there is the collaborative arm of what we do, which will always be a huge part of the DNA because that's where it started for me. And then there's us as a standalone brand that has been able to evolve tremendously throughout the years.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Experience. And then we work with the latest brand, a brand like Armani, similarly. It's the greatest fabrics and the greatest construction in the world. And we've worked with Montclair, greatest outerwear brand probably in the world, I would say. We've worked with Nike with the greatest basketball player of all time, got to design the LeBron 15 with that team with the Nike team. Our version of that, which was incredible that he wore in the All-Star game and won MVP with an iconic picture of him dunking the ball in our shoe. It's a great moment for us.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Craftsmanship and quality, just the best. You have the greatest suit makers in the world, all in one city, especially with Giorgio. I got to work with the best suitmaker in the world. That's the greatest suitmaker in the history of mankind. I'm working with the greatest suitmaker of all time. That's like you put on a Giorgio suit and there's nowhere to go from there. There's absolutely nowhere to go from there. It's not even possible to go up from there. So getting to work with the best, that's also, for me, what my goals are in life is to work with the best across categories. So I really think BMW makes the greatest car in the world. And I got to work with them side by side. And there'll be a third chapter of that happening this year. And I got to work across different categories and across some of the greatest icons for the brand. That's been incredible.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“My aesthetic and my style, which will never change but will continuously evolve. It now is fifty fifty, this tailored suiting out of Italy and the world that comes with that, not only suiting, has taken up, I would say, 50% of what I want in my wardrobe. And for Russ Hashanah last night, like I wore a suit to my sister's house and they're like, wow. We've been waiting for this version of you. I just came back from London and Milan, where I celebrated the release of the Armani collection and working with Giorgio and the team and their team has inspired me to want to address that way. And I think that Japan had the same exact influence on me and still does. And I think now it's split 50-50 between Japanese influence and Italian influence.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Viewed the process the same way I did and cared about the process the same way I did and care about the details the same way I do and everything is so purposeful there's nothing that happens there without a great reason for it to happen so it changed my life completely and what has happened over time and actually is happening currently like right now in the last couple years of my life is my European travel traveling to Italy and across Europe whether it's to Greece, Italy, London, Germany. I go to Germany a lot for BMW and Adidas, Amsterdam, the Italian portion of the trips that I've taken has influenced me now, I would say 50-50 with Japan.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, Japan changed my life completely. But also my relationship with Junya, who's the director of my business in Japan, that relationship changed the course of my life completely. The way I think about product, if you haven't been to Tokyo, It's the first place you need to go if you care about product style, culture, just about anything. I got there and I was like, wow, I can't believe I lived my whole life up until this point without knowing that this exists because it's so different. It's not like I didn't know Japan existed. It's that I didn't know that culture existed. It's a culture that cared about product on the same level that I did. And I got to meet with a lot of people who”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And then we told the story of that car, which is literally under me right now as I'm sitting above it in this mezzanine. And next to it downstairs is also the i4M50 to show the past and present. That is basically the purpose of what I do is to educate the consumer, but to build emotion through the DNA of the company, but also tell their story of their purpose, of why. The why is so important. And we've become professionals at the why.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The 50 year anniversary of the 1602, which was presented as Concept car as the pace car on a track during the Olympics in Munich. And the car was presented as the first electric car. That ran 27 miles, which was the length of a marathon, as the pace car in the Olympics on the track. So it was 50 years since that story. And I thought that was a forgotten story. And as BMW is releasing new electric cars today, I was like, let people know where it came from. Let people know how long ago BMW was thinking about. Electric cars and how long BMW has been working on this. So now the 1602 released as a combustion engine, same body, just not as an electric car back then. It was just a concept car for that one moment. So we took a 1602. BMW rebuilt it for me with specks of two i3 batteries and converted a 1602 vintage car.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So it's tough. I'm going to give you one example. The evolution of something like what I've done in chapter one with BMW to what we did chapter two, when we go and we start to work on chapter two, We sit down in a room and we're like, Why are we doing this? Why is there chapter two? Is there a story that is worth telling through our lens? Some stories shouldn't be told through our lens, but there are stories and moments that people need to know about and wouldn't happen unless we apply it through our filter, through our lens. For example, chapter two was The 50-year anniversary and as I was looking, I was trying to see the history of what BMW has done and moments that would definitely resonate with the consumer today and something that people can be curious about. And chapter two.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Because my love for the product that I work on, they can't doubt the passion that I have for it once we sit down and we figure out what the storytelling will be. It always comes from wanting to celebrate the brand I work with, not from wanting to put my version of it above their history and heritage on why that product is important to the world. So, with every collaboration, I feel the responsibility to need to educate people on the why. Here's what happened through time is the why becomes a lot more of a burden because of how we've been able to storytell. So these bigger storytelling moments now have set the bar and now have to compete against what I have done, either the last project or the last year working with the same brand.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Put both cars on the track to race each other in these two cars. And it was basically to showcase the E30M3 and the M4 and to explain and show people the visual and bridging the two together. Being able to do that on a high level. So you asked me a question about collaboration and how I work on some of these bigger moments with these bigger brands. When I have these type of ideas, For a brand like BMW. It's refreshing for them, for someone to want to come in and tell that story through their point of view. And I think that me describing that to you right now is how brands feel across the board on the projects that I work on.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Was a race car. They had a three series that was on the road, but then they created this M version of it to be a race car. And the car won multiple awards. And the driver, Johnny Chakoto, won multiple races. When I told the story about the E30 M3, which was a one-off car that BMW in Germany rebuilt for me alongside the M4, which I introduced to the world, M4 was introduced through us. We told the story, it was so important for us to tell a story about this cinnabar red M3, E30M3. That color was so iconic I wanted to do was to showcase the M4 is basically The newest version of the old M3. So I wanted to bridge the story for people to understand the DNA of where it came from. So we got Johnny Chicoto and his son to drive the E30M3, and that was Johnny Chicoto and his son to drive the M4. His son is also a race car driver.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So I'm going to bring you back to the first BMW project that we worked on, the E30M3 is probably the most culturally relevant car in my market ever. It's so, so, so, so iconic. And in trying to explain what the car meant to BMW, BMW produced the M3 without the intention of it becoming commercialized. Was a race car”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The product or seeing the product through the most passionate way for us to feel accomplished. Think that that's what makes it feel organic is people understanding that when I feel accomplished, it's so much better of a place to be than for it to feel forceful in the way that I tell a story or in the way that I present product. So now with understanding that we could do that on a very high level. The videos are insane now And I'm so proud of them. It was a struggle to get an easy. But now that we know we could do that, when we create product in its inception of creating product. We are already understanding that we can tell a story on the highest level so it expands the spectrum of the product that can work on and makes me feel a lot more comfortable working on some of the products that I do, especially Armani, for example.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“His name is Austin became my right hand and also through my relationship with him, he fell in love with film as well. And this happened recently, I would say in the last few years and started to research how we would take this to the next level because he's basically the head of content for me. And we started to take it a lot more seriously because I told him that I wanted this to be a major part of what we do, these films. He did his part by Doing some research and figuring out the talent that we needed to work with to bring these things to life, these mini films to life. And we did that. And it started to become a huge part of our DNA and how we storytell. And it really checks off a lot of these boxes for me in Austin with how we feel. People should experience”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Through the medium of film, I would say the real start for this was the New York love story, and there were two chapters of the New York love story. And that was my first attempt at showcasing product through the setting of New York City, but also through this short film that would be like Billy Crystal feel. When I think about when Harry met Sally, like through that kind of vibe, that was the first concept I had for showcasing a fall collection in New York City is this love story between these two people. And then we continued that and had this part too, which I didn't love as much. But that was my attempt. And it was good, not great. As time progressed, one of my employees who started off as an intern.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I'm a deist. The range was insane We fell in love with film back then and it became our obsession as kids. And throughout the years, I was always in the theater up until recently, up until COVID, I would say. I basically put my wife on, too. She didn't see any other movies. She probably saw like maybe 2% of the movies I've seen. So then it became putting her on in the same way. Making her watch all these movies that I got to relive. And then going to the theater twice a week and watching films. It was pretty incredible. So my passion for film was very important to me. And it became a part of my DNA and how I Would love to see the brand be able to communicate”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Not every movie was available on Laserdisc, but he literally had a library of a couple hundred movies on Laserdisc. And on the weekends, we would spend the entire weekend in his room watching movies and he'd make me watch crazy movies. He was making me watch Deer Hunter and”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“A very young age, I would say starting in sixth grade, maybe fifth grade actually, like 11, 12 years old, he was the first one that had a laser disc player. So his dad was well off. And he had bought the full catalog of laser discs that were available because not every movie”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Okay, so I've never really had to talk about this, so I'm trying to put my thoughts together, but I love film, probably my first love when I was younger, I had a very good friend of mine who, coming out of a yeshiva school in fourth grade, my parents couldn't afford to send me there anymore. So I went to my local public school in the middle of fourth grade and the kids were kind of standoffish and there was one kid who was the coolest kid in the group there who took me in and started to make me feel welcomed and introduced me to the other kids and made me feel like I belonged. And this kid, his name was Joey, he became my brother. I would spend more time in his house than in my house. And”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And that's one thing, but people wanted to wear apparel with the name of the store on it to represent the store. And what I realized was people were having the same type of experiences that I was having in different shops around the area. And they were sick of that. They wanted to feel like they belonged to something where they were welcomed and wanted. And that became the DNA of the kit space and the purpose and the reason as to why I started making other products.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And in this courtyard, not coming in to shop for product, which I loved, like-minded individuals would just talk about random shit and just chop it up in the back. And a lot of staff became really good friends with one another. The staff became like family. And then these people that would shop the store, they became close to the staff and it became this community of people that was just incredible for the neighborhood. Over time, the people that would hang out in the store, in the community that hung out there, they wanted to represent the multi-brand retail store as a brand. People were asking me to make product with the name of the store on it. Now, collaborative footwear, I was already doing that since 07, so the footwear would have the name of the store.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Footwear is number one in my life. It's always been number one, but I'm not a sneaker guy. I'm a footwear guy. I can make a shoe in front of you. I know how to make shoes. I spent a month in the Dominican Republic making my Sabago shoes on the line, knowing how to hand so. And that was a very important time in my life is learning how to make footwear because I loved footwear so much I needed to understand how they were made. Brown shoes were as important to me as athletic footwear and that's how he opened the store. And there were two different personalities. You'd walk through the rooms and one was more rustic wooden metal and the other one was stone and frosted glass and lit up in a Tron-esque way. I opened up this courtyard and people started hanging out in the store.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“When we built our first shop in Manhattan, so we built two shops simultaneously, one in the new Atrium store at that time. It was new on Flatbush and Bergen, and then one in the In the back of Bleaker and Broadway, there was this driveway that when I walked in to the space, I was like, what is this space over here? And they're like, oh, no one uses it to keep the gate closed. It's a driveway. You can barely fit a car in there because it was a little more narrow than you would want it to be for a driveway. So I was like, this is interesting. I want to turn this into a courtyard. I want to turn this into a space where people can hang out. The concept of the store was to have two rooms and we started off selling multi-brand footwear. That's how the company started. It was two multi-brand footwear rooms. One was more brown shoes and boots and one was more athletic driven because you know for me as”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Felt like they had a lot in common with the people who were helping them. And it became this space from like-minded individuals that cared about product in similar ways than I did. And that's where the name came from. It came from the phrase kith and kin, which means friends and family. I like the four-letter word. I liked it. I thought it was unique. So I dropped and kin. And ironically, 13 years later, I started a brand under the umbrella last summer called Ankin. That's a more elevated price point with more elevated fabrics of apparel, just my version of the most luxurious product that you'll find from the brand.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And they shut the music off until he walked out. And I've always wanted to open up my own store. And I had different intentions back then. And they've obviously changed since. But that was the fire that I needed that lit a huge fire under my ass to go and fucking do it. And basically that's where the name came from because Kith means friends. I wanted to create an experience where everyone who shopped with the brand felt like they were at home.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I won't mention the name of the store. And because my dad walked in and my dad is not a well-dressed man, he's just not into that type of shit. He's like a quirky dude. And I walked him in because I was trying to show him the kind of brands that I liked and different types of stores that I thought would be really interesting to him because he's never seen those type of stores. He's never really cared about the retail business in that way. But I wanted him to experience a few things while he was in the city and we were grabbing lunch. So I walked into a store with him.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Comes from the phrase kith and kin, which means friends and family, in the city during that time when I left David Z and created Kith around 2010, 2011 era, there was this attitude that you'd get where you felt like people were doing you a favor, walking into certain stores and certain brands that felt like they were too cool for your business. And that really rubbed me the wrong way. I remember walking with my dad into a store.”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The way I'm a big fan of that because I always tell people if you're not the hardest working person you know then you're not working hard enough that's another iteration of that it's a competition within yourself of being the best version of yourself I want to do that in every facet of my life not just in my work I want to be the best dad that I know I want to be the most efficient person I know with time I want to be the best family member of my extended family that I know try to be as caring as I can and always trying to better yourself in every facet I think that that's been a piece of something that I've learned throughout my career that I've been able to transfer that over to other pieces of my life which has been great”
2024-12-03 · Invest Like the Best · Ronnie Fieg - Building Kith - [Invest Like the Best, EP.399] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source