EXCLUSIVE: Ronnie Fieg Explains the Importance of KITH and Tommy Hilfiger's Latest Collaboration
Up close with the lookbook and each individual item from the collection.
KITH and Tommy Hilfiger‘s latest team-up encompasses an array of summertime must-haves. Archival Hilfiger classics and new must-haves co-mingle in the diverse offering, accented by plenty of bold color-blocking, bright colors and co-branding.
Like Fall/Winter 2018, the Spring/Summer 2019 collaboration serves up a vast assortment of layering pieces and accessories, this time even remixing Hilfiger’s popular undergarments. Everything from yacht-ready swim shorts to multi-pocketed jackets to chunky sneakers appears in the new range, making liberal usage of Hilfiger’s familiar navy, white and red tones.
The new Tommy Hilfiger collaboration hits KITH’s website and physical outposts on May 24. Below, read exclusive quotes from Ronnie Fieg about the process of working with Hilfiger and his team to create the new collaboration.
OG Sailing Equipment (Navy Jacket, Yellow Vest, Polo Shirts, Yellow and Navy Pants)
“Tommy’s ability to create different worlds of product has always been a skill I’ve admired. He created atmospheres that you wanted to dive into, whether that was sailing, racing, skiing, etc. So when working on a SS19 collection with him, it was important to retain the core DNA that made me such a fan growing up. Sailing has always been one of my favorite lines from Tommy and it fit perfectly into the direction of the product we were building. We dove into the archives and pulled out some of the most iconic Tommy designs from the 1990s.
The yellow sailing vest is one we brought back almost 1-to-1 but with updated branding and fabric. Building off the vest we made the sailing jacket, which uses the body of the vest but with added sleeves obviously.
The Polo is another one we brought back from the archive that felt so nostalgic to me. In the ’90s that sailing polo was a major collector’s piece, so to redesign it with our logo was a big moment for me and this collection.”
Satin Camp Sets
“The satin camp sets are original designs from KITH that I feel could live in the Tommy archive and stand the test of time. We custom-milled a substantial satin fabric that features our KITH monogram print and it executed perfectly. The shorts are inspired by the fit of boxing shorts and are fully lined in mesh for breathability. I go back and forth a lot, but I think these are my favorite pieces from the collection because they feel so unique yet cohesive with the rest of the collection.”
Colorblock Jacket
“This will be the third colorblock jacket we’ve made with Tommy. The first two released with last year’s collection and were geared more towards fall/winter. This version keeps the same fit and branding but is executed to be a lightweight spring/summer outerwear piece. We used the same vintage nylon fabric but lined it entirely in soft mesh. After seeing the response to this piece last year, I knew I wanted to bring it back, but in a way that felt very original.”
Tracksuits
“The tracksuit is one of my favorite silhouettes and if you’ve followed KITH then you know we’ve built a strong program around them. We took some classic Tommy elements and fused it with our silhouette, like the flag on the back of the jacket and the grosgrain belt on the pants. We used a crunchy vintage-feeling nylon that has our KITH monogram print all-over.”
Recently, KITH introduced a special capsule for LA’s Maya Angelou High School.
