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About
Kenneth Cole |
Eighteen years ago, Kenneth Cole wanted to open a shoe company
with limited money. From experience hr knew one had to get in
quickly because so often new companies run out of cash flow
before they get the chance to conduct business. He also knew
it was easier to get credit from factories in Europe who
needed the business than from American banks that didn't. So I
lined up the factories, went to Europe, designed a collection
of shoes, and returned to the states to sell them.
At the time, a shoe company had two options. You could get a
room at the Hilton and become 1 of about 1100 shoe companies
selling their goods. This didn't provide the identity or image
Kenneth Cole felt necessary for a new company, and it cost a
lot more money than I had to spend. The other way was to do
what the big companies do and get a fancy showroom in Midtown
Manhattan not far from the Hilton. More identity, much more
money too.
Kenneth Cole had an idea. He called a friend in the trucking
business and asked to borrow one of his trucks to park in
Midtown Manhattan. He said sure, but good luck getting
permission. He went to the Mayor's office, Koch at the time,
and asked how one gets permission to park a 40 foot trailer
truck in Midtown Manhattan. Kenneth Cole said one doesn't. The
only people the city gives parking permits to are production
companies shooting full length motion pictures and utility
companies like Con Ed or AT&T. So that day he went to the
stationery store and changed our company letterhead from
Kenneth Cole, Inc. to Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc. and the
next day Kenneth Cole applied for a permit to shoot a full
length film entitled "The Birth of a Shoe Company."
With Kenneth Cole Productions painted on the side of the
truck, we parked at 1370 6th Avenue, across from the New York
Hilton, the day of shoe show. We opened for business with a
fully furnished 40 ft trailer, a director (Sometimes there was
film in the camera, sometimes there wasn't), models as
actresses, and two of New York's finest, compliments of Mayor
Koch, as our doormen. We sold 40 thousand pairs of shoes in
two and a half days (the entire available production) and we
were off and running.
To this day the company is still named Kenneth Cole
Productions, Inc. and serves as a reminder to the importance
of resourcefulness and innovative problem solving. |
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Kenneth Cole in the News |
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