A biography for Kenneth Colehasn’t been written yet.
“The stigma, the fact that nobody was talking about AIDS was arguably killing more people than the virus itself. So I did an ad about the fact that nobody was speaking about HIV/AIDS.”
“I named the company Kenneth Cole because I didn't have a lot of time to make up a name.”
“What people are consuming is what things represent. It's people defining themselves through what they wear.”
“I'm sure some people haven't necessarily embraced some of the messages over the years. We've been talking about the inappropriateness of automatic weapons and guns since the late Eighties. I know we've lost some customers over the years, and in some ways, secured others.”
“For years, I put out thoughts, I didn't really express opinions.”
“We are trying to speak to the consumer by their lifestyle.”
“When I started this business, I never anticipated this would become a platform for me to talk about things that I personally believe in.”
“I need to distort not just leather and fabric, but also words. It's a disorder I have.”
“Today, I believe everybody's their own brand, and everybody has their own brand and they curate their own brand on their Facebook and Twitter pages.”
“Shoes are by far the most complicated thing to bring to market. It's not just design. You need engineering.”
“I'm a pragmatist, and I don't like gratuitous fashion - in fact, there's not that much gratuitous anything in my life.”
“I've come to realize nobody needs what we sell. There's hardly a woman who needs another pair of black shoes.”
“I find that people look to personalize their fashion alternatives.”
“When you sit around at dinner talking about the death penalty, it's hard to find relevance in what color shoes will be next season.”
“In business, you can write your own book. The more unique it is from anything written before, the more likely it is to succeed.”
“If a brand is relevant anywhere, it's essentially viable everywhere.”
“To the degree you could provoke people and engage them in a unique way, your message is more likely to resonate longer. I figured out the less-than-140-character concept long before Twitter came along.”
“I've started calling fashion my day job.”
“I've always believed that fashion is not just what you look like on the outside, it's a reflection of who you are on the inside.”
“A brand today is much more than status. Consumers have to be able to trust it.”