KITH Take Flight

“It all started with a dream. Well, that’s not quite right. It all started with a shoe…” Ronnie Fieg, KITH.

That quote put in motion the collaborative process of bringing 90’s court icons to the streets of NYC through a holistic consumer journey—environment, graphics, storytelling, and collateral – for one of the most anticipated launches of the year, the Scottie Pippen ‘Take Flight’ Nike X KITH collection. To add to the excitement this experience would open the still undisclosed KITH location that would open as the 337 Lafayette flagship.

To create the core retail elements, we looked to KITH’s homebase of NYC for inspiration and insights. Basketball venues like the West Fourth Street courts— known as “The Cage”—became our muse. The iconic pipe and clamp ‘scaffold’ system used at outdoor courts and throughout the city were the perfect embodiment of sport and street. All fixture and display elements were created using this core material DNA.
 
One of the most important aspects of this experience we identified was the need to communicate to a young KITH consumer that Pippen was a legend – Hall of Famer, Olympic Gold Medalist, and 6X NBA Champion. Extensive research led to curated selections from the Nike’s DNA archives and KITH’s private collection. A ‘trophy case’ of Pippen’s basketball career, featuring signature footwear models and cultural artifacts from beyond the hardwood established context for the collection and legitimized the collection to KITH consumers.

As a nod to the collaborative spirit of Nike and KITH over the years, we brought a touch of the soon-to-be-closed Nike X KITH Pop-Up into the new location. One of the most recognizable elements was the NIKE | KITH neon sign. Using it as a starting point, we transformed into a ‘center court’ graphic that anchored the space.

Leveraging KITH’s affinity for the 90’s, we looked to Nikes iconic ‘phone number’ ads, reimagining them as wheatpaste posters featuring the updated footwear and new phone numbers with four key elements related to the launch – new flagship store address, product release date, KITH website, and the phone number of the new Lafayette St location.

KITH Treats were the cherry on top, we designed custom boxes featuring black and leopard Pippen 1 colorways. The limited-edition collectable boxes were a key piece of the launch strategy.

The grand opening and collection were heralded by sneaker, streetwear, and fashion media as the release of the year with features in Hypebeast, Business of Fashion, Architectural Digest and Addicted To Retail.

Creative Direction: Aaron Carlsson
Lead Design: Brian Jones
Art Direction: Meg Miller + Kelso Davis
Design Support: Brendon Miller + Bren Postma + Meg Miller
Account Management: Chris Leedom
Production: Bednark Studio Inc.

Conceived & Created while Creative Director at Cinco Design