Karl Kani

Known as 'The Godfather of Urban Streetwear', Carl Williams (Karl Kani) founded his legendary label in 1989. Born in Costa Rica and growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was influenced by Hip-Hop and street culture. Unable to find representation of this style in mainstream fashion at the time, he began designing his own clothes at the age of 16. Recounting: 'For a relatively small sum...I had a fresh outfit that nobody had'. As a young man out on the club scene, he began receiving requests from others for custom orders, which would mark the beginning of what would become the Karl Kani brand. An industry pioneer, he is credited with being amongst the first to commercially create the baggy jean and to bring Hip-Hop style to the masses. In 1994 Tupac Shakur starred in a Karl Kani advertising campaign - free of charge. In an interview with Hollywood Unlocked, 2023, Kani recounts meeting Shakur for the first time in a hotel room and taking a chance on asking him to promote his brand: "I was like Yo Pac, so...how much would you charge me to do an Ad? And he ain't say nothing. I thought 'Damn, I fucked up'. The room stayed quiet and finally he said 'Yo man, you black. I don't charge my people nothing'. The man kept his word: two weeks later he was in New York and he did the photoshoot." 

The brand has since spread internationally through 25 countries in Europe and 13 flagship stores in Japan alone. 

The 'Koko' newspaper print was designed in 1995 to introduce the new womenswear line and features fictional news articles about the Karl Kani girl 'Koko' being stalked up until the release of the hotly anticipated collection.