Karl Kani

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Karl Kani
Company typePrivate
IndustryFashion
FoundedLos Angeles, United States (1989)
FounderCarl Williams
ProductsApparel and Accessories
Websitewww.karlkani.com

Karl Kani (/kəˈn/; born Carl Williams on May 23, 1968, Brooklyn, New York City) is the fashion designer, founder and CEO of the Hip Hop fashion brand Karl Kani.

History

At age 16, Carl Williams started designing clothes after learning the essential handcraft at his father's company.[1][2] Karl never studied tailoring or design, but he had flair for coming up with unusual concepts. He would buy material and tell a tailor exactly how he wanted his garments to look. "For a relatively small sum", as he put it, "I had a fresh outfit that nobody had."[3][4]

After seeing him on the scene in local clubs, men started asking for a Carl Williams' outfit of their own. Soon Karl was taking his first orders in his car. The death of one of his close friends inspired some deep contemplation. "It made me think about life differently", he added " I thought I should really do something positive."[4]

In 1989 Karl headed to Los Angeles where he and a good friend opened a clothing shop on Crenshaw Boulevard.[5] They made no profit at this location and after the shop was robbed, they moved to Hollywood where Karl started selling catalogs for $2 that he and his partner had put together. They only made profit off the catalog sales and didn't actually sell any clothes. He decided to take out an advertisement in Right On! Magazine but even that didn't help jumpstart sales.[6]

Karl Kani Infinity

After watching 'The Today Show' Karl had an idea. He paid a friend in New York to make a sign with his label's name on it and hold it up during the taping of the show. The idea worked. People started calling and orders began to come in.[6]

In addition to working with a mainstream color selection Williams modified the baggy pants that had become the basis of street fashion. According to Karl black people never liked tight fitting jeans.[7] They would always buy a bigger size but then the waist would be too big, therefore Karl decided to increase the pant size.

In 1994, Williams used $500,000 in profits to launch his company Karl Kani Infinity.[4] In addition to his old partners, Kani now faced a marketing onslaught from hip-hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons's Phat Farm and a number of mainstream clothiers. Kani also had reason to worry that his involvement in Cross Colours might taint his operation in the minds of retailers. "I expected some resistance," Kani himself averred. "A major turning point for me was when retailers accepted us back into the market."[4]

Staying ahead of fashion counterfeiters who aped his signature and sold cheaper versions of his clothes, Karl began fastening a metal-and-leather plate to his product.[8] After some initial resistance from the people who made the plates, Karl Kani decided to go ahead with it and it turned out to be his best-selling jeans ever.

A sister brand, Kani Ladies was launched in 2001.

Karl Kani Big & Tall

The idea for the Big & Tall line came to Kani after numerous conversations with NBA stars, who complained that they could not fit into much of his merchandise. Big and tall people are just as fashion-conscious so Karl launched his line in mid-1995 in Big & Tall stores around the country.[9]

Brand name

Carl Williams, the son of a Costa Rican mom and Panamanian dad, comes from a modest family from Brooklyn, New York.[10] Young Karl dreamt of combining his passion for Hip Hop music and fashion.

During Karl's initial rough start in Los Angeles the question that had obsessed him for years, "Can I do it?", remained unanswered. He kept asking himself: "Can I do it? Can I build a fashion empire? Can I become the 'Ralph Lauren of the streets'?" Karl didn't have the answer for all these questions but it did provide the basis for his new name, Kani, a variation on "Can I?".[11]

Legacy

Carl Williams was the first black man to launch a Hip Hop Fashion brand[citation needed] and became one of the 100 richest African-Americans in 1996 according to People Magazine.[12] Karl began a trend of merging hip-hop with fashion.[13] He spotted an area in the market that previously was ignored and paved the way for other Hip Hop Fashion brands.[8] Being the first African-American man to launch a Hip Hop Fashion brand, Karl inspired many others to follow in his footsteps.

Awards

Black Enterprise Magazine named Karl Kani-Infinity Corporation the most successful African American owned firms worldwide in 1996.[14][15]

In 2002 Carl was honored with an 'Urban Fashion Pioneer Award' for his lifetime achievements during the Urban Fashion Awards.[16]

References

  1. ^ Detroit Free Press. August 20, 1993. p. 1F. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ^ Detroit Free Press. August 1, 1994. p. 4C. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ^ Black Enterprise. July 1994. p. 16. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ a b c d Black Enterprise. June 1995. pp. 145–47. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ^ Newsweek. October 31, 1994. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ^ a b "Karl Kani". December 2007.
  7. ^ Boston Globe. Section 3. November 30, 1993. p. 61. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. ^ a b Vibe. October 1994. pp. 59–62. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ^ Tariq K. Muhammad (June 1996). "Black Enterprise".
  10. ^ Michael Quintanilla (September 10, 1999). Los Angeles Times. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ^ Kevin D. Thompson (June 1995). Black Enterprise. Vol. 25, no. 11. p. 114(6). {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ^ Marsha Jones (August 1999). "Unconquerable KANI".
  13. ^ Re'Neise Francis (11 May 2004). "P. Diddy Makes Big Moves on 5th Avenue". The Hilltop Online.
  14. ^ Tariq K. Muhammad (July 1996). Essence. Vol. 15, no. 23. p. 16(21). {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. ^ Tariq K. Muhammad (June 1996). "From here to infinity: Karl Kani".
  16. ^ Shaheem Reid. "VH1, Snoop Dogg takes home New Urban Fashion Celebrity Line trophy".

External links