A Closer Look at KITH and Disney's Playful FW19 Collaboration
Ronnie Fieg also shares details about his vision.
KITH delivered a flurry of collaborations during its Fall/Winter 2019 runway show in September, serving up a cheerful and graphic-infused capsule with Disney among the partnerships. After sharing more details about the Mickey-themed Converse sneakers earlier this week, the brand has now followed up with a closer look at the apparel pieces, showcasing a number of sporty silhouettes with playful Mickey Mouse imagery.
The collection encompasses seasonal outerwear like puffer coats and vests, alongside warm and cozy staples such as cardigans and knit sweaters. To keep the color palette classic the brands relied upon primary shades of red, blue, and yellow, while shots of heather grey, white and black provide the neutrals. Several of the styles including kimono-shaped overcoats, bomber jackets and kangaroo pouch hoodies come crafted in blue washed denim, offering a mix of structured yet casual pieces to the range. Meanwhile, the usual selection of hoodies and T-shirts are featured throughout as easy layering options.
On the accessories side, Disney and KITH have also created trinkets such as shot glasses, scarves and a colorful range of stuffed Mickey Mouse toys. Printed beanies and corduroy bucket hats provide toasty toppers for the looks, while co-branded caps round it all out.
The Disney x KITH collection starts at $65 USD for the bucket hats and beanies, and goes up to $895 USD for the Swarovski-encrusted “Laight” denim jacket. It releases on November 18 at 11 a.m. EST at KITH’s webstore.
In the meantime, catch up on what KITH founder Ronnie Fieg had to say about the inspiration and vision in the interview below. And for more from the brand, take a look at its recent Vogue and Russell Athletic collaboration.
HYPEBEAST: You focused on Mickey Mouse for Kith’s partnership with Disney. What is it about the iconic cartoon mouse that’s special to you personally?
Ronnie Fieg: The purpose of the collection is to celebrate Mickey’s 90th anniversary. We worked with Disney to be the closing ceremony for this, as we wanted to launch the collection on Mickey’s 91st birthday, which is November 18. Mickey is one of, if not, the most iconic character ever. We’ve all grown up with him in our own way, which is what makes this moment so important to me – to be able to bring all of the versions of the Mickey together to tell a unified story.
Design-wise, what message did you want to convey to the Kith customer in relation to the graphics, cuts and silhouettes chosen?
We wanted to tell the story of Mickey’s timeline by showcasing our own. Over our eight years as a brand we’ve developed over 150 fabrics. So we chose eight of our signature fabrics and dedicated each of them to a different decade of Mickey. This collection tells a fabric story, but by doing so, also tells the story of both Kith and Mickey simultaneously.
The footwear range is also in partnership with Converse for the Chuck 70 model. What was your vision for these Mickey-themed designs?
Taking the mentality of Mickey and his ability to relate to everyone, we created three models that each offer something different and each serve different purposes. With the first style, we used a sherpa fleece similar to our custom-milled lofty sherpa used in the collection to nod to the apparel. This model is also colorblocked in a way that pays homage to Mickey’s iconic palette. The second style is meant to be the ultimate classic version of what a Mickey-themed Converse could be. That’s why we used classic canvas and other OG details and paired it with different versions of Mickey printed on the upper. The third is our premium offering, where we used suede for the tongue and lux black leather for the upper that features a debossed timeline graphic of Mickey through the ages.
Disney as a whole is such a legendary name in the world of pop culture. What makes Disney such a great fit with Kith?
I’m living out my childhood dreams through the projects we work on as a brand. Everything we do comes from an authentic place for me, otherwise we wouldn’t do it. Having the opportunity to work with a brand that has had such a major impact on my life is something I cherish.
How do you want this collaboration to be remembered? What would you want fans to think of when they look back at these Kith x Disney pieces?
Our goal as a brand is to create emotional connections with people. Whether they purchase the product or not, we want to engage with people in memorable ways. This was big enough of a moment for us to show the evolution of our brand over our eight years. We’re telling our story through the story of Mickey, and we did it in a way that feels cohesive, which is what was most important to me. The product was designed to age well and live in people’s closets for a long time. These products are also meant for people to experience a new side of Mickey. We’ve all grown up with this character and have so much nostalgia for him, so being able to bridge that gap through our sensibilities I believe will resonate with people.
