Craig Kitto is the co-founder and CEO of Kitme, a revolutionary digital closet and social commerce platform transforming how individuals manage and engage with their wardrobes. Driven by a passion for innovation and a vision for social commerce, Craig developed KITME to seamlessly merge social interaction with effortless resale. Recognizing the growing demand for digital-first solutions in the fashion industry, he leveraged cutting-edge AI technology to simplify closet management and promote a circular economy.

Prior to KITME, Craig honed his expertise in scaling high-growth tech companies. As the first GTM manager at intenseye, he played a pivotal role in driving revenue growth from Seed to Series B. His experience at Gusto further solidified his understanding of creating user-centric platforms, while his time at Lockton Companies provided valuable insights into business development .

A graduate of Williams College and former NCAA ice hockey player, his path instilled in him the discipline, strategic thinking, and competitive spirit that now drive his leadership at KITME.

What was the initial inspiration behind creating Kitme, and what specific problem were you aiming to solve for consumers?

Kitme started when I tried to rebuy a shirt I had about 4 variations of, only to realize I’d tossed the tag and couldn’t find the receipt in my email. I thought, “Why isn’t there a simple way to automatically track what I’ve bought?” That idea quickly evolved into a digital closet that not only keeps track of your purchases but also makes it easy to share, style, and resell all in one place.

With so much focus on sustainability, could you elaborate on how Kitme fits into that conversation?

Kitme is a tool that helps consumers shop smarter. One of our pillars is conscious consumerism. When you can see everything you own in one digital closet, you stop repeat-buying and start making intentional choices. We believe the power of visibility creates less waste and less overconsumption and see how to style what they already own. We want to normalize closet rotation, styling, and not accumulation. In theory, creating the first closed loop consumer platform and making Kitme the default for a smarter shopping experience.

How does Kitme differentiate itself from other digital closet or fashion-tech applications currently on the market?

Kitme digitally syncs what you own with your email so users do not have to lift a finger to upload photos, descriptions, or anything tedious into their digital closet. No other app has an email integration like Kitme. Other digital closet-esque platforms require you to either manually upload photos or select stock images of items you likely have in your closet, so it is not an accurate representation of what you own. We also are the only fashion service to offer free personal styling and because all stylists can see what users own, there is little emphasis on buying more.

Outside of our features, building a community based on shared values is one of our main goals. We don’t want users to be isolated with their wardrobe. Instead, we want Kitme to be a place where users can bond over shared style.

Given your background in business development, what were some of the key strategies you implemented early on to build partnerships and scale Kitme?

When starting Kitme, we really evaluated every angle in which we could utilize connections and build bridges. Early on, we also built out various ways in which we could bring in strategic partners, whether at the very beginning or years down the road. This helped us envision various ways to grow Kitme and all of its implementations.

What were the biggest challenges you faced in the early stages of developing and launching Kitme, and how did you overcome them?

As with any new tech offering, education among your audience is key. In today’s world, you only have a few moments to capture the attention of a potential user. One of the biggest challenges comes from the daily grind of being a founder and hearing “no” 99 times out of 100. Whether it’s pitching investors, reaching out to creators, or potential partnerships, in the early days it’s constant rejection. But you learn quickly that the one yes makes up one hundred fold on the 99 no’s. You just have to keep going.

As an example, in the very early days of Kitme we were going directly to fashion brands. I’d send thousands of emails to these brands in hopes to secure a meeting to talk with them about Kitme. I think it was on email 600 that I got my first response and it was from a top 5 brand in the world. Although our customers are not brands anymore, this brand is still very much connected to Kitme and will be a strategic partner going forward. It’s those 1/600 odds that seem crazy but are worth it.

How do you envision Kitme evolving in the future, both in terms of features and its impact on sustainable fashion and the circular economy?

We have a ton of exciting new features in the pipeline. This includes:

• In terms of sustainability and circularity, there will be a world where any product in Kitme can be resold on any resale marketplace. A huge barrier to entry is simply getting products into the circular economy. We plan to make it easier than ever to do so.
• We currently have integrations with Ebay but we will look to partner with Depop, Poshmark, and many others.
• Peer-to-peer swap and rent features where users can buy or rent items in other users closets
• Stylist concierge where users can consult real stylists and AI stylists on all things personal style. This could be anywhere from planning looks, to finding the right figure-flattering silhouettes and color palettes to under the radar brands or help evolve your personal style. With Kitme, personal styling is now an affordable luxury and democratizes services that used to only be available with incredibly high price tags/the 1%.
• Devolving our fashion community by bringing creators from Substack over to Kitme to get more exposure. This would also involve paying creators according to engagement so users aren’t stuck behind a paywall. We envision ourselves as the new go-to for fashion journalism with newsletters, trend reports and brand spotlights. Within Kitme we want to eliminate outdated stereotypes in the fashion world and create a new community without elitism and/or outrageous paywalls.

What role does community and social sharing play within the Kitme platform, and how do you encourage user engagement?

On the user side, Kitme makes it easy to discover closets you actually connect with, whether it’s a close friend, someone with a similar style, or an influencer you hadn’t come across before. You can follow, get inspired, and even start renting pieces directly from other users’ wardrobes.

On the creator side, we streamline everything. Their full wardrobe lives on Kitme, so they never have to answer another “where’s that from?” DM again. Every item is linked, shoppable, and commissionable, so they get paid when people buy through their closet without them lifting a finger.

Outside of that we are striving to be a new home for authentic fashion related content that doesn’t require a million different substacks, media outlets, creators, etc.

As a founder, what was the most valuable lesson you learned during your journey of building Kitme?

One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned is the importance of focus. In my experience thus far, it’s easy to get pulled in a dozen directions by exciting ideas, user feedback, and emerging trends. But I realized that real progress only happens when you commit to solving and focusing on one core problem. For Kitme, that means staying focused on building an engaging and intuitive experience around the digital closet first, even though there are opportunities to expand into other areas immediately. That discipline is helping us build something users get value from and want to come back.

For aspiring entrepreneurs in the tech and fashion space, what advice would you offer based on your experiences with Kitme?

Fashion has always been a forward-looking industry, so people are accepting of new and exciting offerings. There is so much opportunity bringing tech into a space that has been around for centuries.

What’s next for Kitme?

We’re currently honing in on solving fashion-related problems by building the first owned product moodboard and launching a human-to-human concierge styling service to make professional feedback more accessible. On top of that, we’re undergoing a significant rebrand that will give Kitme a more elevated and aspirational look moving forward.

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