Kudo is a tidy, nimble consultancy operated by partners, Todd Katz and Eric Sorensen. We both began our careers in the apparel industry and are delighted to say that we still absolutely love what we do 25 years later.

The Partners

As the principal partner at Kudo, I got my start in the apparel business, like many, in the retail sector where I managed an outdoor specialty shop in Boulder, Colorado. I was endlessly fascinated with materials technology advancements which, at the time, included Gore-Tex fabric and Kevlar yarns to name but two. I also learned a lifelong lesson back then; everything our industry designs/develops and produces in volume must be sold one single unit at a time on the retail floor. Understanding retail is critical to good merchandising. From those humble beginnings I was fortunate to land a position at Gore-Tex fabric and then The North Face where I headed-up Merchandising and Sales. Later on, I took a position based in New York City to oversee an apparel program for New Balance. In between all of that, I owned and operated a specialty wine store in the Denver, Colorado area.

Eric Sorensen is an aesthetic craftsman who loses lots of sleep sweating all the little (and ever so important) details that go into executing successful products. It’s really cool when the design guru runs an ultra-tight ship; everything is always buttoned-up. Eric cut his teeth in the apparel industry working with his longtime friend, Mossimo Giannulli, when the brand Mossimo was still a garage operation. Since most of the products were made in Southern Cal, Eric was constantly in the factories managing development and production. Later on, Eric oversaw the entire men’s and young men’s business and was instrumental in merchandising, designing and developing the Mossimo brand at Target; which grew to over $500 million during his tenure.

Each of us having recently moved to the New York area from the west coast; Eric and I were introduced in 2008 by a common friend in the industry.  After doing a couple of projects together, we both knew that our synergistic skill sets and like-minded approach to business were a perfect fit.

We formed Kudo in 2009 and have had a great time plying our craft with some wonderful brands including Simms Fishing Products, Hestra Gloves, POC Sports and PF Flyers. From the ground up, we also built AIREDALE, a premium sportswear brand for NBA All-Star, Chris Bosh, of the Miami Heat.

Insights and Philosophy

Having worked extensively in both the sport and fashion sectors of the apparel industry, we find that sport-performance companies tend to operate on much longer timeline, are more objective and deliberate than their fashion counterparts. We find that often times this methodical approach results in products that, though technically superior, lack “personality” and aesthetic relevance.

On the other hand, fashion-based brands tend to operate much more subjectively and at a much faster pace than their sport apparel counterparts. This snappier approach to design and development tends to produce more trend relevant products. However, many technical details are missed in this faster approach to market.

One could surmise that fashion brands are often too reactive and move too quickly while sport brands operate too slowly and are not relevant with changing consumer preferences. At Kudo, we take the position that, to a reasonable degree, both of these views are valid. Balance is the key; at Kudo, we leverage the unique strengths of the fashion industry and those of the sport/performance industry in order to create a more comprehensive solution for our clients.

Kudo consults across a broad range of disciplines within the sport and fashion industries. 

For more information, please visit Our Services page.