Ronnie Fieg, the Most Powerful Person in Streetwear in 2026 Interview

Ronnie Fieg is the most powerful person in streetwear right now. Just check the resume. In the past six months alone, he has opened a Kith flagship store and restaurant in London, worked with global superstar LISA on a Kith Women’s collection, dropped an expansive NBA collection to celebrate All-Star Weekend in LA, opened a gigantic new space in West Hollywood complete with a takeaway restaurant, and released a campaign for the 2026 World Cup featuring the G.O.A.T footballer Lionel Messi. And that’s just the highlights.

For some, categorizing Kith as “streetwear” is touchy. Fieg struggles with the label, because the brand’s scope has expanded far beyond its origins in collaborative sneakers, jogger pants, and logo tees. But this is true of the category at large. Sure, at one point a bespoke BMW or a multi-level retail space on Sunset Boulevard with marble finishes wasn’t streetwear. But its not the ’90s anymore. Fieg has been at the forefront of the colossal shift that has transformed brands like his own into hybrids that live between the boundaries of classic streetwear, American menswear, and aspirational luxury. (By the way, Kith is still making all of those things that are considered core streetwear, like thoughtful colorups of iconic Nike Air Maxes, or graphic tees nodding to classic video games.)

Kith may not be universally beloved, but what brand is? In a rare interview, Fieg discussed the Kith world that he has grown over the past 15 years, the brand’s reputation, his bucket-list projects, and more.

How do you define streetwear?
A big part of what we do is be the better version of ourselves every year and every season. In doing so, tailoring has become a big part of the business and knits have become a big part of the business. Denim has become a bigger part of the business. So on the apparel side, the evolution from who we were when we first started to where we are today—I believe we are the new luxury. I think that there are a handful of brands that sit in that bucket and I feel like the term streetwear now embodies luxury brands too, which sits outside of my definition. But I think it’s very subjective. 

But in my world, I got blinders on. I’m super focused on what we’re doing and I believe that we’ve carved our own lane in this industry. I don’t know if it’s necessarily considered streetwear and I don’t have a name for it, but I do believe that [Kith] is becoming a modern luxury brand. And luxury doesn’t necessarily just mean luxurious product. It’s about the experience, the spaces that you build, and covering different aspects of lifestyle. So it’s about world building and when it comes to world building, I feel like we’ve been best in class.

When you started Kith in 2011, did you have this vision of building this world?
In 2011, I didn’t even know I was going to make apparel. We were a multi-brand footwear shop, 800 square feet.

So when did your mindset shift?
I think it was building blocks year over year and then the dreams and the aspirations exponentially got bigger over the years. Building out a team was the most important part. I was trying to surround myself with really talented people to help me achieve some of my goals. The resources allow you to think bigger. 

And audacity is important. It’s daring to think that big and execute on that level when everybody is betting against me to be successful in different parts. Everybody has tried to put me and the brand in a box throughout the years, but they can’t really pinpoint what we are. My focus and goal has been to be the best version of myself, as an aspirational and inspirational leader to my team, and to make them believe and understand that we could do anything we want in any category as long as it has a purpose, as long as it’s laser focused, and as long as we have a point of view. I have many dreams and goals of things that I want to do in my life and the brand has been an incredible vehicle in getting those things done.

When you look at what you’re creating right now with Kith, strictly from an apparel standpoint, what are you most proud of?
The Kith brand has so many different categories between our ready to wear collections, seasonal collections, our classic collection, and our core collection. And then we have And Kin, which is a new brand that we launched about three years ago, which has been under the radar, but it’s a higher cost of construction and manufacturing, using a lot of Italian and Japanese fabrics, and tailoring. 

I’m really proud of that part of the brand because that’s the product that I wear the most today just because of my age and how I like to dress today.

From the brand’s perspective, meaning the non-collaborative house brand, I put our product up against any brand and even some of the luxury houses. I’ve learned a lot throughout the years and I have brands that I really respect in terms of their tailoring and construction and I aspire to be. But we have a lot of pride in the product that we build and we’ve been able to cater to millions of people around the world. For a summer release, we’ll have lines across the globe in Korea, Japan, London, Paris, the US, and Canada. To have international recognition in quality products is a big deal for me. And I think it has been a team effort and it’s been really rewarding for the team to see people from all over the world respect us in that fashion.

When you started, you were selling primarily to New Yorkers. Now, you have to sell to the whole world. What’s the biggest lesson you learned as you open in new continents and see how those shoppers interact with your brand?
I think it definitely changes the approach because some of the regions that we’re in now inspire some of the product that we’re making. Japanese influence has always been prevalent in the collections that I design, but now learning the Korean market, and learning what Koreans love about product and fabrics has been super interesting. As I got to spend time in Paris and the UK, it’s definitely added extra dimensions to the brand. 

As successful as the brand is, you also get a lot of criticism. A few months ago, you gifted one of those critics a very special pair of sneakers. What compelled you to acknowledge them in that way?
Well, this dude was wishing death upon me on the internet. It was actually sent to me by somebody and started to scroll down his Twitter and saw that he was taking a very vulgar approach. I never think that this world that we’re in—product—should be taken as seriously as starting to wish death upon another person. So, I wanted to remind him that I was human and I had a wife and kids and that I live a real life. 

Sometimes humans can get carried away with their reasoning for hating someone and that can snowball into a different thing. I don’t know what it is and I wasn’t really interested in that. I was just interested in reminding him that I’m a human just like he is and that I never see myself above anyone else. I always speak to people eye to eye and I’ve always respected everybody for what they’ve done. I never talk negatively about anybody on the internet because I believe that if anyone is trying and spending time on their art, it’s subjective. If people don’t like certain things, they don’t need to attack someone for trying. So I just wanted to take a human approach to it and decided to do that.

I didn’t know he was going to post it. I didn’t know he was going to sell it. I didn’t know it was going to become news, so it wasn’t for that at all. I did it for the right reasons and it ended up being a thing.

You also have a loyal set of supporters and you make sure you show love on that side too.
I like people who are passionate about this game, not only about my work or what I do, but just in general. The enthusiasts in our world deserve recognition. I’m a product of the environment that we’re in. I grew up collecting and I grew up in love with a lot of the same products that we all love. The fact that I’m able to contribute to that world by making products is a blessing.

The Kith campaigns that have become a hallmark of the brand. People are anticipating the next star.
I never had the intention of building the portfolio that we do in terms of the talent that we’ve been able to shoot. When I shot with Jonah [Hill], thinking about the fact that I wanted to shoot him years ago, I was like, “Wow, how many people have we shot between the time we originally wanted to shoot him and now?” 

I don’t really ever live in the index of what we’ve done, but we’re working on our 15-year book that’s coming. When I go back and start to look at some of the stuff I realize we’ve done a lot. The footwear piece of the book had me in this nostalgic state of being able to see all of these projects. [Our footwear] is the biggest portfolio in our business that any one person has. It’s like hundreds of thousands of hours of work. When you look at it all, 15 years later, it’s important to me.

Why have we never gotten a Kith Air Jordan? Have we come close? Is it your devoted Knicks fandom?
Michael Jordan is one of the most important humans in my lifetime and I’m over what he’s done to the Knicks, so that’s not a problem [laughs.]

I’ve had a great relationship with Nike over the years and we just have never really sat down and I haven’t been able to break bread throughout my career to discuss a [Jordan] project. It just never panned out and it’s for no other reason than that.

Is it a goal for you?
Yeah. I mean, I love the brand and I get to enjoy what some of my friends do with the brand, especially Nigel [Sylvester]. So I think his work has been able to scratch that itch for me. When he wins, I feel like I win. He’s from the same neighborhood and it’s really been incredible to watch. 

By the way, you know what Jordans mean to me as an OG collector and I have so many ridiculous Jordans in my collection. I’m a huge fan and I still continue to wear the brand. If the time is ever right and makes sense in the future, I’m definitely open to it. I definitely have had some ideas over the years. I think it would end up being amazing, for sure.

Back to the campaigns, can you give a little peek into how you are getting these people for this? At this point when I see them I’m like, “How did they get this done?”
Like who?

Marty for Armani is the one that sticks out.
The craziest part about that was that I was directing him. Can you imagine?

With that one, we were wanting to work with Marty for quite a while, but that one made a lot of sense because of the suit and the archetype. It was called “The Artist.” We just had to figure that one out. Armani definitely helped with that too. Very happy that we were able to make that happen.

There’s the Knicks freestyle series with Dipset and the LOX. It’s George Costanza for the Yankees.
Don’t forget Jerry [Seinfeld]. Jerry doesn’t do anything ever with anyone.

What’s the timeline of planning things like this? Like for [Lionel] Messi, you said it was a year in the making. Are all of them like that?
The conversations happen in advance for sure and you have to be strategic. When you’re able to shoot such great talent, you’re able to attract other talent. We do such an incredible job of presenting them in the best light and making them feel comfortable. And we built a relationship with all the talent that we’ve shot and then they become a part of the Kith family.

Who is still on your wishlist?
I’ve always loved [Robert] De Niro from day one. He’s always on there. Leo [DiCaprio] is on there, just a generational talent. Tom Hanks is on there. Some of the all- time greats that I grew up watching, just legends. I like to work with icons because I would like to bring the brand to that place too. And I think that helps achieve the vision.

The world that you’ve built with Kith has become pretty massive at this point. Would you talk about your approach to editing down all of these ideas that you have?
Every 1% of growth that we have, I’m basically in a new role I’ve never been in before. So I wasn’t a CEO of a company before I started this company, but I’m the CEO, the creative director and the CMO of this company. I’ve sacrificed a lot in my life to be able to grow this company, which is still my baby, and I have my hands in a lot. I have a lot of direct reports and I am very busy trying to direct the different categories of the company.

There hasn’t been a footwear piece that has been released that I have not ideated myself and have not personally spent hours of time on. Same thing goes for the apparel. I like to go vintage shopping. I like being inspired by great design and great designers.

In each category of the business, I have leaders that are really in tune and are really great at what they do. I think that the difference maker has been consistency in those positions. So we’ve been able to grow the brand together in each category of design and marketing. I have multiple people that have been with me longer than 10 years, and that’s a hard thing to achieve these days. So I’d like to consider myself a great leader in keeping people excited and giving people a purpose in their work and a road to feel accomplished with the growth. Being involved in every facet of the brand is the only way I know how to manage.

You’ve said before that everything you make isn’t necessarily meant for everybody and that Kith speaks to many different audiences. Do you still create with that mindset?
Yeah. At the end of the day, people that love it, love it. People that hate it, hate it. 

For example, when I worked on the Matrix collection, it was split on whether people loved it or hated it. I’m going to continue working on film forever. I love film. It’s a passion of mine. So for people that love film the way I do, they want to wear it the way they like wearing their favorite team. So to me, there’s a purpose in that category. Some people look at it as a one-off without the context of seeing the previous films that I’ve worked on in the past to know that there’s a purpose and there’s a real passion for it.

The last New Balance release which came out for the opening of Sunset [Ed. Note: On May 8, Kith opened a newly renovated, multi-level flagship store in West Hollywood on Sunset Blvd., complete with an apothecary, private VIP studio overlooking Downtown LA, and a new restaurant concept, called Ronnie’s Pronto.], a lot of people were quick to say, “Oh, that looks like a GR [general release sneaker].” There are many more people that love the shoes than don’t like the shoes because they think it’s too simple. But the truth is, with the amount of projects that I work on, there’s a need for simplicity. And by the way, I’m wearing them. This isn’t like I make them just to sell them. I make them for myself. I love every one of those silhouettes and colorways, but the truth is there’s a void in the market for that. It’s not meant to be the collaborative approach of when I storytell around a specific concept. The concept is color and I have a very unique perspective on color. I have this relationship with New Balance where there will be a point of view on color on some of my favorite silhouettes. And the silhouettes are not simple. These are made in US, incredible 99X silhouettes. So yeah, there’s a grey, but it’s a different hint of grey. That makes a big difference to me.

It’s just that people are very quick to judge, like when they listen to an album for the first time and then they’re like, “Oh, it’s a classic” or, “Oh, it sucks” without giving it the context of why it’s in existence, and seeing everything that came before it, and how it evolved to where it is today.

Any future projects you’re looking forward to?
For the 15-year anniversary, we have something really special coming this summer with BMW that I’m very excited about. We’re in the process of still working on some of that stuff. 

The world that you’ve made, this 360 experience you’re building, the retail, Kith Ivy, the Ronnie’s restaurants, I can’t help but see the similarities to Ralph Lauren. Has that become the goal or the barometer for you?
I love Ralph, one of my favorite designers, one of the most important designers, but Ralph has not been the blueprint. We’re writing our own blueprint at this point. We had Kith Treats in our store before Ralph’s had coffee. So, the evolution of what Ronnie’s is was really an evolution from Treats, to be able to offer the menu that we have at Pronto with sandwiches and frozen drinks. The stores don’t look anything like a Ralph store. Every Kith store has its own distinct build out using the city as inspiration, which is very different from what these other brands do. Although I love Ralph very much, I think that we’ve been writing our own book and we’re trying to be the best version of ourselves from where we started.