KENNETH COLE SUNGLASSES
CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW
TO SEE OUR COMPLETE LINE OF SUNGLASSES
THE BIRTH OF A SHOE COMPANY AS TOLD
BY KENNETH COLE
Twenty years ago, I wanted to open a shoe company with limited
money. From experience I 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. I 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 I 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.
I had an idea.
I 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.
I 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. He 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 I went to the stationery store
and changed our company letterhead from Kenneth Cole, Inc.
to Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc. and the next day I 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.
|
