Interview Exclusive: Kenneth Cole Gets Personal
The fashion king opens up to LimeLife about his marriage, charity...and the look this spring!
As we reported earlier this week, LimeLife's celeb editor encountered way more than poker at PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas last week. PCA was filled with celebs, and one of the most sought-after among them was American fashion phenom Kenneth Cole. We caught him on the red carpet after PCA's charity tournament to benefit amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, for which he is an instrumental ambassador.
Not only was Kenneth Cole totally open to talking about rarely-explored topics like his social concerns and his wife Maria Cuomo Cole (of the Cuomo family dynasty of politicians and journalists and herself a non-stop non-profit mogul who chairs HELP USA, one of today's most powerful forces in the fight against homelessness). Plus - you lucky reader! - we got the scoop on spring fashion from Kenneth Cole!
LimeLife: Kenneth, we're chatting at PCA, one of the most glamorous, highest-profile poker events in the world. Do you actually play poker?
Kenneth Cole: You know, I don't play poker, but I played last night in the [amfAR] tournament and I had a lot of fun and it brought back a period in my life when I used to do it. It's great - one is reminded that essentially poker is an enactment of what we do everyday [in the fashion business]: it's calculated risk-taking. You sit there and contemplate what everybody else is doing...it's intriguing.
LimeLife: But even better is the reason you played, right? It was for AIDS research.
Kenneth Cole: The risk-taking that we embark upon at amfAR is about extending lives and saving lives with the limited resources that we have available to us.
LimeLife: We love a man who's socially concerned. Kenneth, you've been married to Maria Cuomo for a long time, is that correct?
Kenneth Cole: I have.
LimeLife: Everything we've heard about her sounds amazing. In your career, how does Maria's support impact what you do and how well you do it?
Kenneth Cole: It impacts a lot. Maria runs a homeless organization [called HELP USA] that impacts thousands and thousands of people's lives everyday, and they today are the largest provider of homes and services of any other homeless organization. So Maria respects what I do, she understands what I do, and she knows the value of what it is.
LimeLife: Very important in a relationship. Now onto fashion: Mr. Kenneth Cole, what do you have happening for women this spring?
Kenneth Cole: We have a great new women's collection, which is really cool, and we have a great new line of the most comfortable shoes a woman ever looked good in, guaranteed.
LimeLife: Awesome!
Kenneth Cole: And we have some cool bags, and I'm working on a new fragrance. (smiles) So there.
LimeLife: A new fragrance?! When?
Kenneth Cole: We have a new men's fragrance coming out in the spring, and ... there will be a woman's fragrance right behind it.
LimeLife: We can't wait. In three words, can you tell us the look for spring?
Kenneth Cole: It's refined, feminine and comfortable.
Don't you love him?! If you like useful interviews with high-profilers as much as we do, then you'll love our PCA interview with world-renowned pro poker player Vanessa Rousso on four easy ways to tell if a man is lying to you. (But Kenneth Cole would never!)
Plus if you love social awareness like Kenneth Cole and LimeLife do, then check out our list of ways you can donate in the wake of this week's earthquake in Haiti.
Get FREE LimeLife Celeb News Alerts On Your Phone
Get the hottest daily celebrity headlines sent directly to your mobile phone from LimeLife.
RSS Feed
Everything I Like, Wherever I Am
