what you stand for is more important than what you stand in

"Hi, Kenneth Cole. My name is Liz and I just wanted to tell you that I LOVE everything you do. Keep up the good work."

If you know me, then you know that I am a big fan of Kenneth Cole. What's not to like? The guy makes fabulous shoes, fabulous leather goods, and fabulous clothing. And he's a liberal. So, can you imagine what would happen if we met? Well, today I met Mr. Kenneth Cole. And it took all I had to keep myself from bowing down at his feet.

Although I am a huge fan of his stuff, I'm an even bigger fan of his activism. Today, Kaiser Family Foundation hosted a Q & A with Kenneth (yes, we're on a first name basis now) to discuss the recent AIDS anniversary, his 21 years of AIDS activism and his role in amFAR. Needless to say, I was floored by his humility. He acted as though his successes in the fashion world just kinda happened. But this talk was about his activism, not fashion--although his outfit was AWESOME. He paired a pair of dark rinse jeans with a slate grey pinstriped blazer, white button-down shirt, and brown, worn-out boots. Yes, BOOTS! In Washington, DC. In the middle of June.

He gave us a history of his AIDS activism. Basically, it came from, what he thought, was a need just to talk about AIDS. No one was talking about it in the early 80s and it was such a big problem. Being a private company, he decided to use his advertising as a way to get the public to be aware and open lines of communication. Out of this desire to inform came some of the most controversial taglines in fashion history. Examples include: "If the Pope had AIDS, He'd need more than just your prayers", and "Our shoes aren't the only thing we encourage you to wear" next to a picture of a condom. Kenneth also discussed how stigma is a big problem for AIDS awareness, which is why he came up with his We all have AIDS campaign.

Needless to say, now I'm an even BIGGER Kenneth Cole fan. Kenneth, thank you for spreading the message when no one wanted to talk about it and for fighting stigma that no one wants to deal with.