Karl Kani (Brooklyn, New York City, 1968) (real name Carl Williams) is the fashion designer, founder and CEO of the Hip Hop fashion brand Karl Kani. Karl Kani was launched in 1989 as a fashion forward and Hip Hop influenced clothing line. Inspired by his passion for Hip hop music and fashion, Karl designed clothes that appealed to a large public, including friends and celebrities from his hometown Brooklyn, New York.
History
At age 16, Carl Williams started designing clothes after learning the essential handcraft at his father’s company. Karl never studied tailoring or design, but he had flair for coming up with unusual, stylish concepts. He would buy material and tell a tailor exactly how he wanted his garments to look like. "For a relatively small sum, as he put it, "I had a fresh outfit that nobody had."
Karl’s customized outfits were so “fresh” that soon they were in demand. 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."
In 1989 Karl headed to Los Angeles where he and a good friend opened a clothing shop on Crenshaw Boulevard. 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.
Karl Kani the success
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.
Upon his arrival in California he knew that he had to put a foot in an established fashion corporation before trying to establish his own sole proprietorship. When Karl met Carl Jones in 1990, co-founder of Threads 4 Life Corp, during a Cross Colours fashion show, Karl saw his chance. The partnership with Carl Jones lasted 2 years.
Karl's stylistic innovations were successful. In addition to working with a mainstream color selection he modified the baggy pants that became the basis of street fashion. According to Karl black people never liked tight fitting jeans. 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 Karl used $500,000 in profits to launch his company Karl Kani Infinity In addition to his old partners, Kani now faced a marketing onslaught from hip-hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons’ Phat Pharm and a number of mainstream clothiers who now smelled profits in an area they had previously been ignored. 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."According to Karl Kani, the hardest part of this business is predicting what the consumer will want next. Karl Kani knew the importance of staying in touch with his core public and staying open for new ideas.
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
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. 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.
Karl Kani used the metal plate to spread his positive message to others.
"Inspired by the vitality of the streets of Brooklyn New York. Karl Kani, the young African-American designer of Karl Kani Jeans, encourages you to follow your dreams and accomplish your goals. Wear the clothing that represents the knowledge of African-American creativity and determination. Recognize the signature that symbolizes African-American unity and pride... peace, Karl Kani."
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