Building the Streetwear Empire Kith | Ronnie Fieg

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

September 27, 2026

Duration

1h 30m

Channel

David Senra

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Ronnie Fieg is the founder, CEO and creative director of Kith. At 13, he turned down an envelope of cash at his bar mitzvah to ask his cousin for a job, then spent 15 years working his way up from stock boy to buyer at David Z. He explains how growing up in Queens and working on 8th Street shaped his taste, how his first ASICS Gel-Lyte III collaboration landed on the front of The Wall Street Journal’s Pursuits section and why he still designs every product for himself first. Ronnie describes why Kith refuses to wholesale or license, why he opens new physical stores as online sales grow and why he believes luxury should mean how much people love what they buy. He also details how a failed white chocolate bread idea became Kith Treats, how he prices product so customers get more than they pay for and what he felt seeing all 1,800 of his shoe designs laid out in chronological order. Ronnie shares how an obsession with padel led to Kith Ivy, why he is expanding into hospitality with Ronnie’s and why growing up before the internet forced him to develop his own point of view. Show notes: https://www.davidsenra.com/episode/ronnie-fieg Made possible by Ramp: https://ramp.com AppLovin: https://applovin.com/senra Deel: https://deel.com/senra David Senra X: https://x.com/davidsenra Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidsenra LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidsenra Facebook: https://www.linkedin.com/company/senrashow Threads: https://www.threads.com/@davidsenra Spotify: https://spti.fi/TVrr557 Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4msoZtb Website: https://www.davidsenra.com Ronnie Fieg Website: https://ronniefieg.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronniefieg Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ronniefieg X: https://x.com/RonnieFieg Chapters 00:00:00 You can’t work backwards from money 00:04:43 “Keep the envelope. I want a job.” 00:10:25 Why the CEO is also the fit model 00:18:43 The childhood shoe that launched his career 00:20:52 The Wall Street Journal, a line down the block and a visit from Adidas 00:26:48 Get rid of the crap 00:31:09 What luxury should actually mean 00:32:40 Why Kith doesn’t wholesale or license 00:38:24 Building the opposite of an arrogant sneaker shop 00:40:39 The Italian crook who registered Kith’s trademark 00:52:02 How a $20 deli experiment became Kith Treats 00:55:11 Serve your customers, don’t chase new ones 00:59:35 Always give people more than they pay for 01:02:41 Seeing 15 years of work laid out on the floor 01:12:00 Growing up before the algorithm 01:25:46 How a padel obsession created Kith Ivy

🎤 SPEAKERS

• David Senra

  host

  Host of the podcast Founders, focused on entrepreneurship and the habits of history’s greatest founders.

• Ronnie Fieg

  guest

  Founder and CEO of Kith, serving as its creative director and leading brand/product vision in streetwear and retail.

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of David Senra, featuring David Senra and Ronnie Fieg, Building the Streetwear Empire Kith | Ronnie Fieg explores ronnie Fieg on building Kith through obsession, control, and community Ronnie Fieg explains why the best entrepreneurs build from passion for product and experience rather than optimizing from a target profit number.

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