If Kith’s spring collection looks extra Kith-y this season, it’s not a coincidence. “Spring now has its own identity,” explained Ronnie Fieg. “We wanted to differentiate it to be more sporty, more branded, and more colorful.” The clothes are classic New York City summer ’fits, but appropriately elevated by Fieg’s discerning eye. Take the slimmed-down basketball shorts, which Fieg actually described as “wide” (“This is as big as our basketball shorts gets, but they’re probably a little slimmer than what Iverson used to wear,” he added, laughing when pressed). In a shade of jewel green he is calling “Machine,” and paired with a patchwork bandana-print satin trucker jacket, the shorts have an air of formality about them; ditto another pair of b-ball shorts in a beige, pink, and umber bandana-print, worn with an off-white delicately (delicately!) hand-embroidered flowers and a khaki tech-y nylon bomber jacket.
The pieces by themselves may be simple—a hoodie, cargo pants, a button-down shirt—but their individual execution and the way they’re paired makes them exciting. (One trick to learn from this season: Instead of throwing on the nylon jacket right before you leave the house, layer it “under a softer, warmer hand-feel fabric,” says Fieg. It’s unexpected and pulls together the whole ’fit in a more thoughtful way. It also happens to be Fieg’s own approach to dressing.)
Fieg has long been a fiend for luxe fabrics, and although this affinity feels more obvious during the cold season collections, it’s still evident here. Along with the hand-embroidered hoodies, there’s a polo sweater embellished with tender rosettes and teeny pearls, a chunky zip-up cardigan knitted with a reflective yarn, paisley-printed quilted jacquards used on handsome crossover jackets, and lots of tech-y nylon fabrications, including a completely water resistant 3L jacket printed with a pattern that brings to mind ornate mouldings on an antique house. Other highlights included a plaid gi jacket—an upgrade for the men that love to layer a plaid flannel over a shirt and jeans—and the striped bouclé jacket and matching trousers that closed the lookbook in a hint about what’s coming in the next collection.
