Kenneth Cole Shoes: A Brief History of A Major Modern Fashion Shoemaker

Shoes complete your outfit for the working day. To become sassy, stylish and wonderful, ladies need to come across a great pair of footwear to go along with their chosen outfit, and Kenneth Cole Shoes can play the role of giving the perfect complete look all through the working day.

Kenneth Cole is a fashion designer by profession who established his own company in the year 1982 under the name Kenneth Cole Productions. At the onset he introduced a delicate collection of ladies’ footwear. There is an interesting story about how Kenneth Cole first started his company.

He 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 permit for “The Birth of a Shoe Company” in hand, Cole filmed the entire two and a half day run on the trailer, during which he sold a mind-boggling 40,000 pair of shoes.

Shoes were in Cole’s blood, as his father owned the El Greco shoe manufacturing company. He learned the shoe business from his father then went to study law at Emory University. He returned to New York to begin designing his own line of shoes in 1982.
You can get easily get Kenneth Cole shoes of your choice, because there are shoes designed and available for every age and gender. You only need to know the type of shoe you really want. Their shoes range from all kinds of colors, styles and sizes and thus making it easier for you to choose.

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.

Interesting Facts:

In 1986, Cole met Maria Cuomo, and they married a year later. Maria Cuomo Cole is the daughter of former New York Governor Mario Cuomo and sister of New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and ABC News journalist Chris Cuomo. One of his daughters, Amanda, hosted the Mets Kids Clubhouse for Sportsnet New York.

In 1998, People Magazine voted Cole as “Sexiest Businessman of the Year.”
Kenneth Cole and wife Maria Cuomo Cole purchased a $14.5 million co-op in 2008 on Sutton Place in New York City. At one time, fashion designer Bill Blass lived in this same building.

In 1994 the company went public, though Cole still owns 45% of the stock. He is still the CEO and creative director, plus remains the head designer for his ready-to-wear collections. Considered one of the good guys in the fashion industry, Cole is also involved in a tremendous amount of charity work benefiting AIDS awareness, human rights and poverty.