Trends in the fashion industry are brutal, and you the margin between creating the next big thing and showing up to the party too late is ultra thin. Even for the people who have truly made it in the industry, getting and staying hot is a massive challenge.
Ronnie Fieg, the designer behind streetwear retailer Kith, sat down with Complex for the latest episode of The Blueprint, and described what it's like to go through that process as a designer.
"I think the hardest part of the job for me," said Fieg, "is just like build things or buy into things that I think the consumer's going to want six months after you start working on them, either from the buying side or the production side. When we go and create apparel, you have to understand what it's like to be a risk taker, but be experienced enough to understand the cycles, and know what's been gone long enough, what people will want if it comes back."
Fieg went on to explain the challenge behind making an old style feel new again. "When I was working on the shoes that I was bringing back out of the archive, people were like, oh, this is like an ID situation, what is he actually doing but bringing the product back?" said Fieg. "And I was like, I'm bringing the product back, that's what I'm doing. I'm offering you something that wasn't offered in the market beforehand, and then I put my spin on it, based on materials and colorways I would want for myself.
You can watch the full episode of The Blueprint below.
