Kenneth
Cole was born in the United States in the late 1950's. He was
a very ambitious young man in the early 1980's and wanted to
start up a shoe company.
In
1982, in order to get his shoes in front of the public,
he parked a large truck in midtown Manhattan and pretended
to shoot a film called "Birth of a Shoe Company".
He sold 40,000 pairs of shoes in two and a half days. He
was off and running.
In the mid 1980's, he married Maria Cuomo, of the famous New
York political family the Cuomos. They have a teenage daughter
Amanda. He and his family live in a Stanford White-designed
Westchester home.
Kenneth has built a fashion empire out of tailored classics
with sharp accents, and he's done it from the shoes up. His
womenswear is engaging and informally chic. His pantsuit outfits,
coats, dresses and sportswear are the ultimate favourites for
New York women.
Kenneth Cole presented his Spring/Summer 2003 collection at
Bryant Park, during the New York Fashion Week in September
2002, which was much admired.
Autumn/Winter 2003 Ready-to-Wear
New York - February 2003
Kenneth Cole's clean simple collection was based around
a few basic shapes inspired by the 1960's. Mini-dresses and
skirts were worn with silver boots, tight jeans and trousers
were paired with short fitted tops and sweaters. Fabrics had
interesting surfaces like felted wool, nubby knits, velvet
and corduroy. The leather top outfit on the right is from the
Autumn/Winter 2003 collection.
Spring/Summer 2004
During New York Fashion Week in September 2003, Kenneth
Cole showed his usual elegant New Yorker collection for next
Spring. An outfit from this collection is shown on the right.
He started his show with a short film celebrated his 20 years in fashion.
Cole each season puts a fresh twist on reliable classics. For Spring he has
gone over to the preppy side, showing big V-neck sweaters, layered over crisp
white shorts or slim trousers. Colours were muted and neutral, with an occasional
splash of yellow or blue. It was an appealingly practical collection.
Fall/Winter 2004
Kenneth Cole kicked off the New York fashion
week in February 2004 with a bang. His innovative designs
included big lapel
jackets for both men and women, flat over-the-knee boots,
and tweed trench coats cut like tuxedos. His flowing dresses
with
asymmetrical hemlines and bias cut panels will fly off the
shelves. Liza Minelli was one of the celebrities in the audience
who pronounced the collection "simply wonderful".
Kenneth Cole Cares
The designer is a very caring person and tries to help
people in many areas. He makes statements about AIDS and homelessness
in his ad campaigns and offers customers discounts if they
donate their old shoes to charity. He is also taking part in
the Innocence Project to help people who have been exonerated
for crimes they didn't commit. He sent nice new clothes to
one recently released person, which really made the man's day.
Spring/Summer 2005
Opening New York Fashion Week in September 2004, Kenneth
Cole presented his Spring collection.
He gave a short film clip before the runway show, encouraging everyone to
Vote. He distributed buttons and cards with his message, although he didn't
come down for either candidate.
Kenneth's collection was the usual sophisticated elegant
New York woman's show, with white cropped bomber jackets and
skinny pants. It was as easy on
the eye as it will be to wear, with clean lines and a colour range of white,
tan, grey, spearmint and a flash or two of orange.
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