Kith’s first fashion show since 2019 was scheduled to take place outside, in front of its first-ever flagship store on Lafayette street at 6:30pm. At precisely that same time one of those fantastical flash summer thunderstorms descended upon the city. When the show eventually got underway 45 minutes later, after Kith-branded clear umbrellas had been handed out, the rain had stopped, and Carmelo Anthony had taken his front-row seat it was obvious the mood in the crowd had not dulled. And as the first models stepped on the astro-turf runway repping the various New York teams which Kith is involved with—the Knicks, the Yankees, the Giants—it occurred to me that the rain was actually somehow perfect: this is what summers in New York City are like.
“We recently remodeled the Soho store, and I didn’t want the moment to pass, I wanted to celebrate what an institution that space has become in the city,” Ronnie Fieg explained a few days before the show took place. It explains why although in recent seasons Fieg had been taking Kith collections into more adventurous territory—“boho-streetwear” was a recent descriptor used—this season felt like a return to classic Kith. Co-ed models looked cool in luxxe double-faced herringbone sweatsuits, baseball jerseys in cozy chenille, and logo’d bomber jackets were joined by a motocross theme, complete with flame-emblazoned tracksuits that felt exactly right for the moment.
The sportswear was often seamlessly styled together with the smart tailoring that Fieg has been slowly introducing in the last few years (which culminated in a collaboration with Giorgio Armani). As is the mood of the moment, a kind of ’80s mood permeated this offering, which included a women’s pinstriped double-breasted suit with a jacket cropped at the hip, an ultra-elegant black trenchcoat with velvet-trimmed lapels worn over a velour tracksuit, and a white and tan bouclé car coat worn over matching shirt and trousers in a soft wool, with a tie tucked into the placket. Every look had an ease about the way it was put together, a testament to how well Fieg and his team know their customers. While the menswear looks did not seem like they were built as archetypes of “city dwellers,” every single one of them felt like someone you could see as you make your way through the streets of Soho; the womenswear felt more editorial and less directly ripped-from-the-streets.
Collaborations are a big part of the Kith universe, and there were plenty of terrific ones on display at the show: Birkenstocks with a braided trim on the sole, leopard-print Wallabees with Clarks, and “classic” Wallabees that weren’t classic at all because they were set on an Adidas Ultra Boost Sole. The Adidas of it all yielded some cool experiments, including suits with the tonal signature stripes running down the jacket sleeves and pant legs, and a Frankensteined denim-and nylon tracksuit/Canadian tuxedo ensemble. Next year, Kith will be celebrating its 15th anniversary, and if this show is any indication, Fieg is about to take us on quite the ride.
