Kenneth Cole made purpose-driven fashion a thing before it was “a thing.” From AIDS and homelessness issues to gun safety and mental illness, topical causes have kept the brand on point for four decades.
Today, the tagline “Always on Purpose” continues the throughline of the brand’s growth, both overtly and in the background.
But activism can never be skin deep, nor can it take the place of well-crafted clothing and a well-run business. “[Purpose] is really embedded in every single thing that we do as a company, straight through the product and brand,” said Jed Berger, global president and CEO, Kenneth Cole Production in a fireside chat at The Lead Summit. And that non-negotiable throughline is helping the brand stay consistent as it grows its offerings and global footprint.
Having a strong point of view also helps with differentiation among the growing number of brands today. Retail is “fragile and tricky” with fewer retailers left, but that only means “the important ones who remain have a lot of leverage,” said Berger. It also means that brands need to be smart about how they design their business models to stay relevant in the various retail channels they’re in.
“How you do business today with a department store is very different from how you do business with Amazon, TJ Maxx, Costco or TikTok Shop,” said Berger, noting that Kenneth Cole was built on the department store model, but that channel “has evolved quite a bit over the past 10 years.”
And just like product can’t be the only differentiator, neither can price, as that just leads to an inevitable race to the bottom “that no one wants to be in.”
“Brands need to connect product, brand distribution, trust, social enterprise—and then bring pricing in to make sure that your entire brand position is well suited against competition,” said Berger. “You need every single one of those things to really battle that sea of sameness.”
And while “America is on the discount drug right now,” nothing ever beats a great idea, so the brand took a hard look at what the industry needed.
That prompted Kenneth Cole to relaunch its women’s contemporary business two years ago.
The company found a significant white space around the modern professional woman and built a deep line that not only “far exceeded expectations,” but is essentially a full-priced line. “The customer showed us what she needed,” he said. “It’s also allowed us to elevate a lot of other pieces of our business that honestly, needed to be elevated.”
Storytelling is another important piece of the puzzle, and as Kenneth Cole was founded on purpose, it has to be authentic. The company launched “Purposeful Voices,” featuring various survivor role models, like Isabella Strahan, who battled brain cancer at 19, and ESPN NBA host and Emmy Award-winning journalist Malika Andrews, a sufferer of mental health challenges.
“So yes, we have incredibly beautiful, real human beings wearing our incredibly beautiful clothes, but that’s connected to an authentic story that only Kenneth Cole would tell,” said Berger. “There’s absolutely nobody else who’s going to tell that story.”
European Expansion
While Kenneth Cole is a quintessential American brand, it is currently sold in over 40 countries. The company recently turned its sights to Europe for expansion.
“We prioritize Europe,” said Berger. “It’s the biggest opportunity that we have, and it’s also a springboard to many of the places around the world. But it’s a very different business model than for retailers in America.”
Europe has far less wholesale, he explained, so brands need to have a much bigger direct-to-consumer (DTC) presence, which is also a different model overseas. “To have a bigger DTC presence in America, we have over 20 amazing [licensing] partners making what we sell. In Europe, we primarily have one.”
Kenneth Cole just opened a store in Prague, relaunched e-com with 10 stores opening in Germany this year, and has plans for a “few hundred stores” in the next couple of years. But growth has to be healthy.
“If I wanted to grow the business by $500 million or a billion dollars in retail sales in 2027, I really could, but it would have long-term negative ramifications on our overall business,” he said. “We have to make sure we have a very formal strategy that’s well-communicated to the organizations [and partners] who are all going in the same direction.”
