Kenneth Cole (designer)
Kenneth Cole | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | American |
Education | Emory University (1976) |
Occupation | Fashion designer |
Label | Kenneth Cole Productions |
Spouse |
Maria Cuomo (m. 1987) |
Children | 3 |
Website | kennethcole |
Kenneth D. Cole (born March 23, 1954) is an American designer, social activist, business owner, and philanthropist. His global company, Kenneth Cole Productions, creates clothing and other products under the labels Kenneth Cole New York, Reaction Kenneth Cole, and Unlisted, as well as footwear under the label Gentle Souls.
Early life and education
Born to a Jewish family[1][2] in Brooklyn, New York, his father, Charles Cole, owned the El Greco shoe manufacturing company. Cole graduated from John L. Miller Great Neck North High School in 1972. Before learning the family business and starting his own company in 1982, Cole graduated from Emory College of Arts and Sciences of Emory University in 1976.[3][4]
Birth of a shoe company
In 1994, Kenneth Cole went public, and has been included on Forbes annual list of 200 Best Small Companies four times.[6]
Kenneth Cole Productions sells clothing and accessories under the following labels: Kenneth Cole New York, Kenneth Cole Reaction, Unlisted and Gentle Souls. The company’s products are also distributed through department stores, specialty stores, company-owned retail stores and its e-commerce website and digital global flagship, www.kennethcole.com.
The company has a wide variety of strategic partnerships for the production of men’s apparel, fragrances, watches, jewelry, eyewear, and several other categories.
Kenneth Cole and the company have expressed a commitment to helping communities in need by supporting public health, civil liberties and sustainability.
Support of progressive social causes
Since 1985, Kenneth Cole has been openly involved in publicly supporting
In 2001, The Kenneth Cole Foundation, in association with Cole's alma mater, Emory University, created The Kenneth Cole Fellows in Community Building and Social Change Program at Emory University.[3]
Kenneth Cole's socially conscious advertising for the causes that he champions has created controversies. One such example was his campaign for World AIDS Day in 2005. He designed T-shirts for the campaign which were sold at such stores as Barneys New York, Scoop, and Louis Boston. The messages on the shirts stated either, "We All Have AIDS" or "I Have AIDS." Cole created the shirts in hopes that those with or without AIDS would wear the shirts, to help diminish the stigma attached to the disease. Cole stated, "There is a legend of the Danish king, Christian X, who, during World War II, when Hitler insisted all Jews publicly wear a yellow Star of David, would wear the star himself, hence making it difficult to differentiate who was Jewish. This is kind of like that, hopefully."[9]
In August 2006, it was announced that Kenneth Cole Productions would stop selling fur in all of their garments for the Fall 2007 Fashion Season.[10]
In October 2007, Cole guest-starred in the Ugly Betty episode Betty's Wait Problem.[11][12]
In the summer of 2007, Kenneth Cole Productions also began their "Awearness" Campaign, which will produce a line of T-shirts to benefit the charities that the company supports, and proceeds will go to the Awearness Fund.[13] The campaign is further promoted by a book "Awearness: Inspiring Stories About How to Make a Difference" featuring celebrities assisting various causes.[14]
On May 1, 2009, Kenneth Cole delivered Northeastern University's keynote address at the Commencement ceremony.[15]
In 2020, Kenneth Cole founded the Mental Health Coalition, a group of the organizations, brands, and individual who have joined forces to end the stigma surrounding mental health and to change the way people talk about, and care for, mental illness.
Awards
In 1998, People Magazine voted Cole as "Sexiest Businessman of the Year."[6]
On May 14, 2009,
In November 2011, Cole was honored by the Ride of Fame and a double decker tour bus was dedicated to him in New York City.[16]
In 2016, Cole received the UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador award.
In 2017, Cole received the CFDA Swarovski Award for Positive Change.
In 2011 and 2019, Footwear News named Cole Icon for Social Impact.
In 2020, Cole received Person of the Year Award from the American Apparel and Footwear Association as well as the Visionary Change Maker Award from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Child Mind.
In 2022, Cole received the Suicide Prevention Champion Award from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Child Mind.
Controversy
On February 3, 2011, Kenneth Cole posted an update on Twitter that referenced the
In April 2012, the designer started a campaign portraying the national debate over education as one that pits "Teachers’ Rights vs. Students' Rights".
- "Cole’s campaign is thinly veiled ideological propaganda, and it comes with myriad problems, not the least of which is the simple fact that almost nobody believes “underperforming teachers” should be protected. That includes the nation’s biggest teachers’ unions, which have been outspoken in backing “accountability” reforms for teacher tenure. So right off the bat, Cole is constructing a straw man, one that has served over the years to pretend that public employee unions in general and teachers’ unions specifically are about nothing more than making sure bad employees get to keep their jobs."[21]
In response to the negative outcry, his company announced on Twitter, "We misrepresented the issue—one too complex for a billboard—and are taking it down."[22]
Personal life
In 1986, Cole met Maria Cuomo, and they married a year later. Maria Cuomo Cole is the daughter of former
Cole and his wife Maria purchased a $14.5 million co-op in 2008 on
Books
- Cole, Kenneth, Footnotes: What You Stand for is More Important Than what You Stand in, New York: Simon and Schuster (September 30, 2003)
- Cole, Kenneth, Awearness: Inspiring Stories about How to Make a Difference, New York : DK Melcher Media (November 3, 2008). ISBN 978-1595910462
- Cole, Kenneth, This Is A Kenneth Cole Production, New York: Rizzoli (September 25, 2013)
References
- ^ Jewish Virtual Library - Jewish Biographies -Fashion Icons: "Kenneth Cole" retrieved September 7, 2015
- ^ "Interfaith Family: "Book Shines Light on the Private Life of Jewish Stars" By Alexandra J. Wall". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ a b Gleason, Jan, "Kenneth Cole Foundation donates $600K", Emory Report, November 12, 2001
- ^ a b "Kenneth Cole" Archived March 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine 2006. New York Magazine. Accessed online March 10, 2008
- ^ http://alouettecommunications.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/FFaNY_anniv_booklet.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ AskMen.com. Accessed online March 16, 2008
- ^ "AIDS activists take aim at amfAR chair Kenneth Cole for Weinstein deal". NBC News. November 14, 2017.
- ^ Chi, Paul (February 8, 2018). "Kenneth Cole Resigns as amfAR Chairman Amid Controversy Over Harvey Weinstein Deal". Variety. Archived from the original on July 15, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
- ^ Wilson, Eric (December 1, 2005). "Front Row; From Kenneth Cole, A New Solidarity". The New York Times. p. 8. Retrieved March 16, 2008.
- ^ "Kenneth Cole Gives the Boot to Cruelty, Pledges to Go Fur-Free". August 18, 2006. Archived from the original on January 5, 2007. Retrieved March 26, 2008.
- ^ "Kenneth Cole to Guest Star on "Ugly Betty"" August 7, 2007. Accessed online March 16, 2008
- ^ "Full cast and crew for Ugly Betty: Betty's Wait Problem". IMDb. Retrieved January 15, 2009.
- ^ Espinosa, Renata (March 19, 2008). "Awareness of the Issues through Kenneth Cole's "Awearness"". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on March 22, 2008. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
- ISBN 978-1595910462.
- ^ "Fashion designer to speak at graduation" The Huntington News. April 9, 2009.
- ^ Kenneth Cole Honored By Gray Line New York's Ride Of Fame. Getty Images. November 29, 2011.
- ^ "Egypt protests – Thursday 3 February". The Guardian. February 3, 2011. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ^ "Kenneth Cole apologizes for tweet using Egypt protests to promote fashion line – 4 February, 2011". Los Angeles Times. February 4, 2011. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ^ Kenneth Cole gets schooled – Education. Salon.com. Retrieved on May 5, 2012.
- GothamSchools. Retrieved on May 5, 2012.
- ^ "Kenneth Cole gets schooled". April 30, 2012.
- ^ Kenneth Cole [@kennethcole] (April 30, 2012). "@TeacherSabrina We misrepresented the issue - one too complex for a billboard - and are taking it down" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "New York Post-THE RUMBLE AN OFF-THE-BALL LOOK AT YOUR FAVORITE SPORTS CELEBRITIES" January 6, 2008 Accessed online March 16, 2008
- ^ Ohrstrom, Lysandra (2008) "The New York Observer-Kenneth Cole, Maria Cuomo Buy $14.5 M. Sutton Place Co-Op" Archived March 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine March 5, 2008 Accessed online March 11, 2008
- ^ Matsuda, Akiko. "What's for sale in the Northeast's richest ZIP code". lohud. www.lohud.com. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- ^ "Emily Cole, Matthew Dover". The New York Times. August 12, 2018. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
Bibliography
- Pogrebin, Abigail (2005). ISBN 0-7679-1612-3.