Quotes from Kenneth Cole

What's so great about my business is that every day is different than the day prior.

I need to distort not just leather and fabric, but also words. It's a disorder I have.

I love black. Anything black transforms lives in a profound way, particularly for women.

I've always believed that how you look is a self-fulfilling prophecy: When you wake up, get dressed and look in the mirror, if you think you look good, most likely you will.

Twitter is a very powerful platform for adversarial feedback.

Success has less to do with what we can get ourselves to do and more to do with keeping ourselves from doing what we shouldn't.

In my opinion, being able to do some form of service is a gift. The one that provides the service is the greatest beneficiary - I will attest to it.

To the degree you could provoke people and engage them in a unique way, your message is more likely to resonate longer. I figured out the less-than-140-character concept long before Twitter came along.

Over the years, I have found a way to use this business and this platform to talk with people about important issues. To the degree you can bring a sense of purpose to what you do, it makes the relationship with the customer that much more meaningful and purposeful.

There are only so many things we can do that make us feel better. We pick up the newspapers and we want to cry every day. We turn on the news and we want to jump out the first window, jump in front of the first truck.

Asking people for money is a hard thing to do. But helping people do the right thing is not hard. So I often call people up and suggest ways they can spend their money to make a meaningful impact, and I don't feel I've asked them for money.

I never really had long range plans. I take one season at a time, every day at a time.

Giving back is something most companies look to do at certain times of the year. We as a company look to do it all year.

We as a country are very good at responding to acute, short-term crises. When the crisis becomes chronic, we tend to withdraw.

I'm also on the Board at Sundance, so I've seen witnessed first hand the power of independent storytelling.

I am the closest of all to my wife, who is in and of herself a change agent and has committed to impacting the realities of homelessness - and making sure I get out of the house every day to do what I have to do.

I'm a pragmatist, and I don't like gratuitous fashion - in fact, there's not that much gratuitous anything in my life.

Important moments like this are time to reflect. To remind us, sometimes, that it's not only important what you wear, but it's also important to be aware.

It is great to be known for your shoes. It is even better to be recognized for your soul.

I believe what has kept us relevant over the years is not just the fashion which has sometimes been more timely than other times but has also been our messages, which have consistently reflected the context of the world we're living in and what was happening and that which was affecting what we were thinking and what was inspiring us.

Our business is fashion, and it's about timing and in our case, it's about being relevant and there's nothing more relevant than current affairs.

When we get up in the morning, what we put on is very much a reflection of how we see the world and how we want it to see us.

I've always believed that fashion is not just what you look like on the outside, it's a reflection of who you are on the inside.

What's so great about this industry is that you have to be able to reinvent yourself every day.