kenneth cole disambiguation . kenneth cole productions inc. type formerly public now private traded as nyse kcp founded 1982 1982 mm headquarters new york city united states number of locations 105 december 2010 1 website www.kennethcole.com headquarters kenneth cole productions inc. nyse kcp is an american fashion house founded in 1982 by kenneth cole . contents 1 history and operations 2 lines 3 advertising 4 charity and social causes 5 financial performance 6 criticism 7 references 8 external links history and operations edit cole originally named the company kenneth cole incorporated in september 1982 and planned to showcase his new line of shoes during market week at the hilton new york hotel . finding that he could not afford to purchase a hotel room or showroom to exhibit his line he borrowed a truck and asked the mayor s office for permission to park two blocks away from the hilton hotel in front of a fancy shoe building . upon learning that permits were only granted to utility companies and production companies shooting full length motion pictures cole changed the name of the company to kenneth cole productions inc. and applied for a permit to shoot a full length motion picture entitled the birth of a shoe company . with kenneth cole productions painted on the side of the truck they opened for business on december 2 1982 in front of 1370 avenue of the americas . they had a fully furnished forty foot trailer klieg lights a director a rolling camera models as actresses and two nypd policemen as doormen . a velvet rope allowed a limited number of people into the trailers and in two and a half days they sold forty thousand pairs of shoes . the company remains kenneth cole productions inc. to this day to honor this unusual beginning . 2 in 1985 kenneth cole opened his first store on columbus avenue in manhattan followed shortly thereafter by another store on union street in san francisco . kenneth cole retail and company stores can now be found worldwide in countries such as mexico canada venezuela colombia israel united arab emirates united kingdom philippines japan south korea taiwan thailand singapore australia and south africa . in 2013 elana drell szyfer was named executive vice president of global brand strategy for kenneth cole productions and before this she was ceo of ahava corp. 3 lines edit kenneth cole currently operates 6 separate clothing and accessories lines with different price points 4 and 1 shoes only line kenneth cole collection launched early 2012 . kenneth cole new york 100 to 795 the original and second most expensive line consists of fashion and accessories for men and women watches and fragrances . gentle souls 80 to 300 comfort shoes for women only . kenneth cole reaction 35 to 250 introduced in 1996 as a more casual less expensive component to kenneth cole new york . 5 the secondary line for more affordable products consists of fashion and accessories for men and women . kenneth cole unlisted 25 to 100 the tertiary and cheapest line consists of handbags and clothing for men and women . tribeca 50 to 70 6 le tigre advertising edit kenneth cole productions inc. is well known for its socially conscious and often controversial advertising . campaigns often incorporate topical issues such as addressing imelda marcos a shoe fetish in 1986 with the line imelda marcos bought 2 700 pairs of shoes . she could ve at least had the courtesy to buy a pair of ours . in 1994 the company ran its first partisan political ad for the new york state gubernatorial race featuring george pataki and mario cuomo cole s father in law . the ad was an image of a muddy boot with the words next time you hear george pataki speak might we suggest the appropriate footwear . george pataki did end up becoming governor and cole received some backlash for his decision to run the ad . not all of their ads are as overtly political but most have a humorous tint to them often incorporating word plays or puns . some of his better known lines include what you stand for is more important than what you stand in are you putting us on and today is not a dress rehearsal . popular topics in his advertising include hiv aids homelessness gun control abortion the environment and same sex marriage . the current advertising campaign uses the tagline we need more than a surface mentality . the writing is on the wall . charity and social causes edit kenneth cole productions inc. is active in charities and often uses advertising publicity and other corporate initiatives to support charitable causes . cole s advocacy for aids awareness and research has made the fashion house a legend in philanthropic circles . he is a longtime board member and current chairman of the board for the foundation for aids research amfar . his involvement with amfar began in 1985 when he organized a public service campaign that was photographed by annie leibovitz and featuring high profile models such as christie brinkley paulina porizkova and andie macdowell . the tagline was for the future of our children . support the american foundation for aids research . we do . at the time aids was still a relatively unknown and misunderstood disease . cole managed to procure nearly 3 million dollars worth of donated exposure and press . in 1987 he was invited to join amfar s board . in 2005 cole spearheaded the we all have aids awareness campaign with advertisements photographed by mark seliger and featuring such luminaries as nelson mandela tom hanks will smith elton john sharon stone richard gere elizabeth taylor alicia keys desmond tutu natasha richardson eric mccormack ashley judd whoopi goldberg harry belafonte greg louganis and rosie o donnell . he also has annual world aids day promotions in his retail stores . 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 . 7 cole is also very active with help usa his wife maria cuomo cole is currently chair of the board a non profit organization that is the nation s largest provider of housing jobs and services for the homeless . recently he partnered with rock star jon bon jovi to create a line of jackets t shirts and fragrance under the kenneth cole new york label . the proceeds from the sale of these items supported help usa . other charity campaigns include establishing relief funds for victims of 9 11 and hurricane katrina respectively through the sale of t shirts giving discounts at his retail stores for donating shoes or clothes to the homeless and hosting numerous charity shopping nights at retail stores throughout the nation . 8 financial performance edit since 2008 kenneth cole productions has been on a sustained revenue slide which has led analysts from a variety of brokerage houses to cut their ratings on the stock . kenneth cole productions returned to profitability in q309 ; however estimates for the coming year remain weak . citation needed criticism edit kenneth cole productions has occasionally experienced difficulty adequately staffing its stores in order to properly rotate employees through mandatory rest and meal breaks . for example on april 16 2007 the supreme court of california unanimously affirmed a trial court judgment requiring the company to pay an additional hour of pay for each day that a store manager had been forced to work a nine hour shift without a break . 9 references edit kenneth cole productions 2010 annual report . retrieved july 28 2014 . cole kenneth . the birth of a shoe company . kennethcole.com accessed november 18 2008 . lockwood lisa december 2 2013 . kenneth cole productions taps elana drell szyfer . wwd . retrieved december 3 2013 . espinoza galina & clehane diane style and substance page 97 . people magazine 58 15 2002 . reaction of attraction plunkett jack w. kenneth cole productions inc. page 416 . plunkett s retail industry almanac 2008 retail industry market research statistics trends and leading companies 2007 . 2006 kenneth cole gives the boot to cruelty pledges to go fur free august 18 2006 . accessed online march 26 2008 kenneth cole charity . kenneth cole awearness . kennethcole.com accessed august 20 2007 . murphy v. kenneth cole productions inc. 40 cal . 4th 1094 2007 . external links edit official site kenneth cole awareness retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title kenneth cole productions & oldid 712393610 categories companies listed on the new york stock exchangeclothing brands of the united statesclothing retailers of the united statesclothing companies of the united statescompanies based in new york citycompanies established in 19821982 establishments in new yorkhidden categories use mdy dates from july 2014all articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from january 2010 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main 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