Carlos Badillo

My conversation with @RonnieFieg, founder, CEO and creative director of Kith. At 13, Ronnie turned down an envelope of cash at his bar mitzvah and asked for a job instead. He started the next day in a sneaker stockroom and spent the next 15 years learning every part of the business before launching Kith in 2011. Today, Kith puts out more than 5,000 styles a year across apparel, footwear, kids and accessories, and has lines outside its stores from New York to Seoul. It has no outside investors, doesn’t wholesale and doesn’t license. Until recently, Ronnie was still the fit model for the product. Ronnie describes himself as a world builder, and this conversation is the best explanation I’ve heard of what that means. 0:00 You can’t work backwards from money 4:43 “Keep the envelope. I want a job.” 10:25 Why the CEO is also the fit model 18:43 The childhood shoe that launched his career 20:52 The Wall Street Journal, a line down the block and a visit from Adidas 26:48 Get rid of the crap 31:09 What luxury should actually mean 32:40 Why Kith doesn’t wholesale or license 38:24 Building the opposite of an arrogant sneaker shop 40:39 The Italian crook who registered Kith’s trademark 52:02 How a $20 deli experiment became Kith Treats 55:11 Serve your customers, don’t chase new ones 59:35 Always give people more than they pay for 1:02:41 Seeing 15 years of work laid out on the floor 1:12:00 Growing up before the algorithm 1:25:46 How a padel obsession created Kith Ivy Includes paid partnerships.