An image of the designer Ronnie Fieg‘s new book, titled 10 Years of KITH, is emblematic of the journey he wants to tell. Among the various photos, his now grown childhood friend, Joey Coronado, sits on a bench outside PS 178 in Queens, wearing Fieg’s brand models: a hooded jacket, brown cargo pants, a knit cap with the NY Yankees logo, and a pair of Nike Air Force 1s. “He’s my best friend, and it’s in that place where we met. Right there is where I began to conceive and love what I produce today,” the designer revealed in an interview. “It was a really important time for me.”

The finished product.

Courtesy of Kith

Beyond the personal significance, the photo demonstrates how Fieg has skillfully drawn on his own past and obsessions to forge the brand he founded and create the current network of stores. Memories, aspirations, and ideas are both the themes and the guidelines of the book that Fieg is publishing to commemorate his first decade in the fashion business.

Although he started as a warehouseman in his uncle David Z’s shoe store, in recent years, Fieg has earned a reputation in the fashion world through a series of experiences comparable to experimental theater performances. From the time he placed his fashion show audience on a mobile bleacher, transporting them through various scenarios showcasing collaborations with Versace and Tommy Hilfiger, to when he filled the elegant interiors of Cipriani with immersive 360-degree videos, transporting the audience to the New York skyline, the Eiffel Tower, or atop snowy mountains. How does he explain this sudden shift to print media? The uncertainty due to the Covid pandemic period, as he himself stated, led him down a new path: Would it be possible to host his typical mass party? Thus, something deeper was born: “I really started to think about the meaning of a show,” he explained. Fieg noticed that today, major media events like the Oscars or the Met Gala increasingly require a huge amount of attention, only to disappear as quickly as they had lasted and remained in the media spotlight. Based on such reflection arose the need for something more enduring. “I began to think about what it must convey and the fact that people could perceive it as something capable of enduring,” he said. “This is the most urgent thing for me.”

Bobby Cannavale.

Courtesy of Kith

Fans know well how much Ronnie Fieg has grown in the past ten years with his ideas. Testifying to this are the collections, numerous partnerships, and retail spaces that attract consumers like moths to a flame. More than a clothing brand, KITH has taken on the appearance of an original metaverse with a unique aesthetic and specific style codes. To distill all of this into a single volume, Fieg enlisted the creative director of AllInReplica, Jim Moore, chosen for his experience in this kind of work. The idea came to him when, in search of inspiration, he picked up Moore’s book Hunks and Heroes – Four decades of fashion at GQ from the shelf in his office. “There’s a cinematic eye in most of the shots in these photos,” the designer observed. “And that’s how I also conceive photography.” Add to the mix Eugene Tong, the streetwear stylist who has worked on almost all of Fieg’s collections, and a power trio of men’s fashion is formed. Fieg himself likened this lineup to working on a team that includes Kobe and Shaq.

Kith x Birkenstock.

Courtesy of Kith

The book is filled with elements that represent KITH’s visual identity, like the oversized product shots on a white background, lit up like sexy sports cars in an advertisement. “I love very clean still lifes,” Moore reveals. “I want to see the sneaker, feel the suede, visually touch its texture.” In this way, the book is a testament to Fieg’s love for the product, his desire to understand why some things transform into something more than just something to wear or consume. The book also stands in place of the fashion show, and thus there are the new outfits from the brand’s fall collection designed by Tong and photographed by Sebastian Kim. “Ronnie is so particular about how things should look in his view,” Tong said. “So we came up with a style of representation that has grown and been perfected by photographing the silhouettes in the recent collections. We’ve been working together for a long time, so we understand the way things should look and what the visual language codes suitable for our brand are.”

Another Queens guy: Adrien Brody.

Courtesy of Kith

It is certainly Fieg’s most mature and complete release: sober colors, soft and relaxed shapes, and immediately recognizable KITH-branded pieces—coach jackets, tapered joggers, fleece zip-ups. There’s also a sleek suit with a tonal Yankees logo. The book also features a powerful section of photos with iconic actors and friends of the brand, or as Fieg calls them, “New York OGs”: Adrian Brody, Bobby Cannavale, John Turturro, and Michael J. Fox. Along with them is actor Michael K. Williams, who perhaps appears in his last photo shoot before his unexpected passing. “Our conversations with him had always been incredible,” Fieg emphasized. “He was always happy and excited when he had to bring life to and enhance a piece, in that we were very similar. He was just an amazing guy. We exchanged some messages, and he was supposed to come to my house for Shabbat dinner.”

The entire language

Courtesy of Kith

Returning to the book, one wonders if it was produced with the same quality and seriousness that has characterized much of Fieg’s work. Above all, is there something that surprised him in making a book? “It brought back some painful memories of my growth journey,” he answered, before clarifying. “Painful but joyful. More joyful than anything. I saw how we were able to grow. Being able to evolve the product is one thing, but then you have to grow the company, open stores, and think about how to offer quality to the world in the most exciting way possible—that’s what we’re called to do.”

Article sourced from GQ US