Digital Social Hour
Competing with Ralph Lauren: A Streetwear Pioneer's Strategy | Karl Kani DSH #978
14 Dec 2024
Competing with Ralph Lauren? 👀 Karl Kani, the Godfather of Streetwear, reveals his game-changing strategy! From dressing Tupac to revolutionizing baggy jeans, Kani's journey is packed with insider secrets 🔥 Learn how he built a global empire, faced off against fashion giants, and stayed relevant for over 30 years. Discover why Kani doesn't see other streetwear brands as competition and how he keeps his eye on the real prize. 💰 Get the scoop on his collabs with hip-hop legends, international expansion tactics, and the future of streetwear fashion. Ready for some serious entrepreneurial inspiration? 💪 Watch now and subscribe for more eye-opening conversations on the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly! Don't miss out on these invaluable insights from a true fashion pioneer. 🚀 #KarlKani #Streetwear #FashionIndustry #HipHopFashion #DigitalSocialHour #SeanKelly #EntrepreneurialAdvice #FashionPioneer #ssurplus #streetwearbrands #caviarcartel #marcecko #rap CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:38 - Starting Karl Kani Brand 02:28 - Launching Karl Kani Shoe Line 05:00 - East Coast vs West Coast Fashion 06:49 - Hip Hop's Influence on Fashion Trends 07:37 - Karl Kani's International Success 10:58 - Competitors in Urban Fashion 12:16 - FUBU Brand Overview 15:02 - Decline of Urban Fashion Brands 17:24 - Future of Retail Trends 18:01 - Evolution of Modern Hip Hop 19:03 - Rapid Trend Changes in Fashion 20:16 - Kanye West's Impact on Culture 21:00 - Disrupting Fashion Systems 24:10 - Collaborations in Fashion Industry 26:23 - Future Plans 26:54 - OUTRO APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [email protected] GUEST: Karl Kani https://www.instagram.com/karlkani/ https://www.karlkani.com/ LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Full Episode
Why'd you do that, honestly? You know, because they're competitors.
I don't look at them as competitors because, you know what, they were my competitors when I started. My competitors was Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren. Those are the brands we have to convince that, hey, here's an alternative to that brand to wear. Yeah, after they came out, it lumped some of us together and say, we're competitors, but that's not keeping your eye on the prize.
It keeps your eye on the prize of staying where the big money is at. Alright guys, Godfather of Streetwear here today. We got Carl. Thanks for coming on, man. Thank you. Glad to be here.
What a journey you've been on since 1989 in this space. That's right, yeah. The last 30 years, that's impressive, man. Let's walk through it. Back in 89, you were kind of one of the first people getting into this.
Yeah, we originated as a streetwear fashion, you know, grew up in Brooklyn, New York, started making clothes for myself and people liked it. We found a market, we saw that hip hop needed a clothing designer to represent the culture and we were there for that. So we kind of made our stance right there. And who were your inspirations back then or were you kind of the first one doing this?
No, we're the first ones doing it. We didn't have any inspiration before us to do this. You know what I'm saying? There's nobody that came before us. There's no other brand that could say they started streetwear before Carl Canais.
It's not factual because we were trying to figure things out on our own and just hustling, taking our stuff to different stores, trying to just, you know, make it how we can and get the brand out there. That's pretty crazy. So you had the foresight to see this industry exploding then?
Yeah, well, it was more of that's like growing up, we didn't really find the type of clothing that we wanted to wear. Me and my friends were buying Levi's, but we're buying it four or five sizes bigger because we wanted to have more of a baggier fit. Yeah. And the waist was too big. So when I went to my father's tail axe and could he make me some jeans that bigger legs make the waist fit.
And when I wore that particular pair of pants, that's how the baggy jean for craze started. We finally found a way to make baggy jeans that fit someone. And that's how it kind of took off from there. No other designer had this type of fit in the stores at the time until we created that. 100%.
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