Back in November, Kappa celebrated the official reintroduction into the U.S. Market, launching its “Live Authentic” campaign release party in Los Angeles. Since its inception, Kappa has evolved from a sock and underwear company into a “streetwear darling celebrated among athletes (Olympians, New York City marathon runners, professional soccer players, and skiers) global brands and Hollywood tastemakers.” Now, upon its reintroduction, Kappa is looking to “make sure that [the brand] is seen globally as a sports brand and just not lifestyle.”
In an interview with Baller Alert, CEO Dre Hayes opened up about the reintroduction ahead of the new releases and revealed the future plans for the growing sports brand.
Originating in Italy as a sportswear brand born of a sock and underwear company, how was Kappa able to evolve into streetwear and appeal to the new generation instead of just sports teams and athletes?
Heritage Athletic has been a big fashion trend in fashion over the last three years. This trend ushered in resurgence of heritage athletic brands like Kappa. Kappa is unique because although a sportswear brand, the Omini logo (Man and woman sitting back to back) is very unorthodox and resembles more a lifestyle brand logo. Particularly in the U.S., Kappa is not known for its strong soccer heritage like it is in Europe so the introduction to many of the U.S. customers has been through fashion and streetwear. With so much emphasis on 90s culture in fashion, Kappa is very authentic to that era which really was the prequel of streewear as we know it today.
How does your experience as co-founder of The Foundation, which is reportedly one of the leading brand development agencies, helped you manage Kappa?
The prep for Kappa started before The Foundation. I have been in the fashion industry for 25 years, having started when I was 17 in retail as a manager and buyer in the mid 90s. I actually grew up in the era that birthed much of the streetwear and sneaker culture. When we started The Foundation, we were at the beginning of the globalization and commercialization of streetwear. We have been part of the growth of streetwear globally with the brands we have been involved in over the years so that education and experience prepared us for being able to launch and build Kappa in the U.S. market.
The tracksuit is a streetwear staple, how did the reimagining of the classic tracksuit impact markets across all industries?
When luxury and designer fashion started the heritage athletic trend, it focused a lot of energy on the classic tracksuit and made it the fashion item. Tracksuits were always a streetwear staple, but they were not universally accepted as a fashion staple. Kappa and the brand with three stripes are the two brands with the most iconic polyester tracksuits. Even as the fashion trend shifts away from classic tracksuits, Kappa has still remained strong in this category because the tracksuit is authentic to the brand.
As you mentioned, The Kappa logo is a silhouette of a man and woman leaning against one another, which represents the equality of men and women and their mutual sport, how does your brand further push for equality among the sexes?
Considering the Omini logo is 50 years old, it was a radical concept 50 years ago to see male and female athletics as equals. Fast forward to today, it looks like Kappa was right on time. There is a huge movement in sports and culture in regard to equality for women in sports and equality for women in general. Seeing the Kappa Omini logo so prominently featured on so many of our garments and pro sports teams further enforce that message not only on the field but also off the field.
How do you separate Kappa from other growing/popular streetwear brands?
Kappa isn’t really a streetwear brand. The true DNA of the brand is Sport. Much like some other sports brands, it has a strong appeal to the streetwear community. The key for us is to make sure that Kappa is seen globally as a sports brand and not just lifestyle. In the U.S., Kappa does not have the rich sports heritage it has in Europe and other countries so our challenge is not only to push the lifestyle/streetwear narrative but also to introduce and build the sports heritage of the brand at the same time.
What can we expect from Kappa in the future?
Kappa will continue to further push the lifestyle narrative while remaining authentic to our sports heritage. We look at hip hop, electronic, and rock music strongly pushing youth culture and Kappa is vibrant in all of these music scenes and will continue to grow. You can also expect to see us introduce more of our Kappa Sport into the U.S. market. Categories like active, ski, and soccer will slowly be introduced into the U.S. market.
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