“You can’t drive a car while looking in the rearview mirror and that goes for the fashion business, too. It’s moving so fast you always have to be looking forward,” said fashion tycoon Kenneth Cole when he visited Georgetown University late last month.
Nevertheless, Cole spent plenty of time looking back while writing his recent book, published on the 20th anniversary of Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc. The fit and friendly Cole spoke to an audience of nearly one hundred in Gaston Hall Nov. 20th, promoting his book and discussing the relationship between entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility.
Kenneth Cole has distinguished himself as a designer with more than just a sense of style. Social justice causes have always been a top priority for him and his company, he said.
“I’ve been energized by the opportunity to create debate,” said Cole, of his glossy spreads in United States magazines that address homelessness, gun control, abortion and AIDS. Some critics have complained that Cole exploits the issues to gain publicity, citing a post-9/11 ad which read, “On September 12th we still paid our workers much less than what is needed for a decent standard of living.”
Cole denies that his campaigns for social justice are at all politically motivated. “It’s not a political message but a social message, a human message.”
Cole said that he has worked hard to make sure that his company has looked out for the less fortunate. “We’ve never missed an AIDS walk,” said Cole, a long-time member of the American Foundation for AIDS Research. The company has also sponsored shoe drives, offering shoppers a discount on a new pair of shoes when they donate an old pair to the homeless.
“Sixty percent of start-up businesses fail,” Cole said, “but often times the best solutions are the most creative ones.” Cole told his own story of creative problem solving which began 20 years ago in a trailer in the middle of New York City.
“I didn’t want to show my shoes like every other designer in a New York City hotel room,” said Cole, “and I couldn’t afford an expensive show room, so I had to find another idea.” His inspiration was a 50-foot trailer parked on a New York City street that caught the young designer’s eye.
“I asked the owner if I could borrow his trailer for a few days and then called the Mayor of New York City to ask how I could get a permit to park the thing,” said Cole.
Only city maintenance crews, emergency response teams, and motion picture companies are given such a license. “A light bulb went off in my head,” said Cole, “and the next day I added the word ‘productions’ to Kenneth Cole Inc. and set up shop, complete with a ‘director’ holding a camera that only sometimes had film in it.”
The designer discusses the importance of both creativity and social conscience in the corporate sphere in his new book, Footnotes: What You Stand For is More Important Than What You Stand In.
“There are 11 and a half chapters in the book,” explained Cole, “because in business, you never want to end in chapter 11.”
