He grew up in Long Island, joined his family’s shoe business, Brooklyn-based Candies, in the ‘70s and sold his first pair of shoes from the back of a 40-foot trailer 25 years ago. Kenneth Cole Productions, formed in 1982, is the parent company of 100 Kenneth Cole domestic stores and 75 internationally. There are five lifestyle brands with 21 licensees and 26 product categories. Almost as noteworthy are the advertising lines that have touched on everything from gun control and cloning, to abortion and AIDS. As chairman of The Foundation for AIDS Research and a founding board member to the homeless organization HELP USA, Cole was named Humanitarian of the Year by the CFDA in 1997. The National Arts Club gave him its Humanitarian award in 2007 and Fashion Group International named him Humanitarian of the Year in 2009.