Kenneth Cole

American brand that initiated with shoes but developed into clothing and accessories. The founder’s history can be filed under the heading “entrepreneurship made in the USA.” In the mid-1970s he collaborated with his father in the family business, the El Greco Shoe Company. His début occurred in 1982, when, during a shoe fair in New York, he sold his first women’s shoe Collection from a truck parked in front of the Hilton Hotel. That marked the beginning of Kenneth Cole Productions Inc. Quoted on the Stock Exchange since 1994, Forbes put it in the list of the 200 World’s Best Small Companies. Nowadays it is also present at international level with shoes, womens- and menswear, and accessories under the brands Kenneth Cole NY, Reaction and Unlisted, and with more than thirty lines of products under license. Cole’s urban and contemporary fashion matches his social engagement, as witnessed by his often controversial advertising campaigns. He is the son-in-law of Mario Cuomo, former Governor of the State of New York.