Fragrance house

Kenneth Cole

Kenneth Cole founded his namesake company in New York in 1982 as a women’s footwear business. Its first showroom was a 40-foot trailer used during New York market week on December 2, 1982; Cole secured a film-production permit and staged the purported film The Birth of a Shoe Company, selling 40,000 pairs of shoes in three and a half days. The company became Kenneth Cole Productions and expanded from shoes into handbags, accessories, outerwear, clothing, and fragrances before becoming publicly traded in 1994. In 1985, an AIDS-awareness campaign began the social-activism work that later addressed homelessness, public health, and civil liberties through advertising, advocacy, and philanthropy. Today, the brand describes its identity as purpose-driven, integrating product design with social impact and community engagement. Kenneth Cole Black provides a notable fragrance milestone: a 2004 WWD report said it remained in the top five during its first year and ranked fourth in the latest rating cited.