Did Kenneth Cole cross a line? - YouLookFab Forum

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Did Kenneth Cole cross a line?

Michelle

(website)

Veteran

Earlier this week, pereneal YLF favourite Kenneth Cole touched off a storm online with one of his tweets. Cole, who seems to post his own material to his feed at @kennethcole, posted this on Thursday morning:
"Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online at http://bit.ly/KCairo -- KC"
It didn't take long for this to become a trending topic and to provoke a general backlash. A few hours later, Cole had taken that tweet down and posted this apology:

"I apologize to everyone who was offended by my insensitive tweet about the situation in Egypt. I’ve dedicated my life to raising awareness about serious social issues, and in hindsight my attempt at humor regarding a nation liberating themselves against oppression was poorly timed and absolutely inappropriate.

Kenneth Cole, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer"

I was discussing this with a friend of mine who handles the fashion coverage for my news outlet, and she was genuinely surprised by the tweet. She had interviewed Kenneth Cole in the past and found him to be quite articulate and very much engaged with social issues, just as he claimed in the apology. Other colleagues took a different view and were slightly amused by the irreverent tone, while acknowledging the tweet was in questionable taste.

Personally, I'm not impressed at all. Without venturing into sensitive political territory, I just feel the situation in Egypt is too volatile and risky to be made light of, especially for promotional purposes.
What's your take? Do you think he was out of line or just trying out an edgy marketing gimic? Did he handle things right in the aftermath? And on a related topic, does the conduct/philosophy of a fashion designer or company ever influence your purchasing decisions?

General

29 replies

Latest reply was from Maya

kimlee

Veteran

My thoughts on the issue are very in line with you, Michelle. I believe that the situation in Egypt does not need to be the fodder for a joke. With that being said, I believe that Cole handled the situation well by issuing the apology.

Kate

Veteran

It was an attempt at a joke, and it doesn't seem like he meant to cause any harm. He did the right thing by apologizing, but I'm not offended by the original post.

Humor can be a tool for increasing awareness as well as a coping mechanism for dealing with the awful realities of corruption, human rights abuses, violence, and death. That's part of why I love the Daily Show and Colbert Report.

In terms of the last part of your question, I care more about what a company does, and the product that they produce, than what they say. Plenty of businesses claim to be all kinds of things that they aren't.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I read this in my twitter feed. It was in *extremely* poor taste.

I am 100% with you, Michelle. Glad Mr. Cole apologized though. He makes a great product. He'll get a second chance from me.

Maya

Veteran

Given the seriousness of the situation in Egypt (not to mention the US response), I would think the last thing people should care about is an off color remark from a mid-range fashion designer.

He made a slightly tasteless remark and apologized for it. What a non-issue.

Anonymous

Ditto what Maya said.

taylor

Veteran

triple ditto

Michelle

(website)

Veteran

There's no accounting for the things that really catch the publics interest. Maybe it's born of a desire to steer clear of a serious, potentially world-changing issue while giving the pretence of caring about it? People don't want to learn about the factors leading to the current situation, let alone the actions being taken in the present, so they'll latch on to a tangential issue like this? I don't really know...but I can say that when I was approached to do a story on this for my news outlet, I declined.
I just thought it would be an interesting topic to thrash about with members of this community, many of whom are engaged in both current events and fashion matters. Sorry if it seems irrelevant.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

It *is* interesting, Michelle. And it's great that you posted this thread! Not irrelevant at all.

Maya

Veteran

I don't think anyone said it was irrelevant to the forum, Michelle--certainly not me. I just think it's a shame that with something this serious, people are getting all bent out of shape over something SO petty. Getting offended or objecting to something that a head of state or other political figure says is understandable, but a fashion designer? Really? Who cares?

I'm not sure if that was the response you were looking for, but it was my honest reaction.

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

Obviously KC is a risk taker, or else he wouldn't be where he is. Risk takers fail and know how to get up again (as demonstrated by his response).

I am not that easily offended by attempts at humor. I would be curious how an Egyptian would feel about the comment though. I think those are the real people needing an apology.

taylor

Veteran

Not irrelevant at all Michelle, but people have such a huge reaction to things that people say in jest...Some jokes should be kept between friends and not tweeted to the entire cyberworld ...knowing the sensitivity out there.

Michelle

(website)

Veteran

Maya, no need to apologize at all! Any reaction is cool, and I always love hearing what you have to say.
I would like to think the people who raised an outcry over this were reacting to the notion of using a political crisis as a marketing tool and not actually treating this as cogent commentary on the situation from someone with no obvious vested interest in what's going on. That's the basis of my reaction, certainly. I'm usually first in line to laugh at Daily Show humour, and my own sense of humour can be highly irreverent, but this just struck me as an opportunistic and poorly considered gimic used in the wrong setting. As others said, though, he apologized and defused the situation as quickly as possible, which is ultimately what matters. And I acknowledge that an off-the-cuff comment like a tweet is less controversial than, say, a full-fledged advertising campaign using stock footage from the riots would be.
Wouldn't it be nice if the attention this admittedly petty matter got in some quarters inspired some people to actually get informed and engage more deeply?

Isabel

Veteran

Well....my two cents are that it is important because he makes the news. People in the public eye who's remarks travel around the world should be a bit more careful than me, for example.

I think it was a flopped joke and insensitive. I am someone who thinks lightening up about almost anything can help us get through hard times. This is not one of the instances for me. Just like I would never joke about what happened in Bosnia or the Holocaust. Just too ugly. As I try to teach my children when to have a sense of humor about something, this is an example to me of when not to do it.

Though I completely understand why many people shrug it off as insignificant.

Deb

I think Mr. Cole took his role of "Chief Creative Officer" a bit too far when he came up with this one. Not very clever, unfortunately.

However, what I find far more offensive in the fashion world is the trend for military-styled clothing and patterns. Men and women are wearing the real deal overseas, while back home the trendy crowd are drinking mojitos in camis and boots. There is something very off-putting about it.

rae

(website)

Veteran

OK, the comment was pretty tasteless... but I have to admit I chuckled a little when I read it (yeah, there's my dark humor coming out). The image of people rioting to that degree for a new line of clothes... it's just scarily close to the image of people trampling one another at Walmart on Black Friday. Still, yeah, as a public figure, he should have known better.

Elly

Veteran

I honestly wouldn't have thought anything of it. I have one friend/acquaintance (we used to be friends, but I haven't seen her since she moved overseas and she doesn't keep in touch well) that is living in Egypt at the moment. She is the American-born daughter of an Egyptian businessman father and is working as a liason for an American company in Egypt atm. She has occasionally written about he treatment by police in Egypt as a woman, and has explained that she is rather lucky in that regard because of her "insider-outsider" status as an American and businessperson. The thing that struck me that she has mentioned about the conflict is that fact that all the protesters in the street are male. She said that all the women have been moved by family members to lower conflict (more rural) areas or are holed up in their homes. The corrupt police are willing to beat a man senseless for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but according to her women have been shot in cold blood with little to no warning for less.

On the other hand her own statements have been joking in an attempt to lighten the feeling of stress that undoubtedly overcomes those that truly understand and internalize the situation. I am not sure if Mr. Cole was truly in a position to make such a joke, but rather than take it as something horribly offensive I am going to put it in context and not pretend that I commonly make off-color comments about difficult situations that I am emotionally invested in because of a poorly developed mental filter on my coping mechanism.

Deb--- I can see your point of view on this. Being very young (early twenties) I have close friends and some family members in military that are currently overseas fighting that number more than 45 at the moment. Despite having my own opinion on the war itself (as believe me many of our young service members do), I am always very conscious of separating that from supporting our armed services. I wear the military trend with a nod to my friends that are serving overseas. I like to think of it as a visual reminder of all of the service members that aren't with us--- but you may be right, it does seem to have become ubiquitous with mojitos now.

Isabel

Veteran

Deb, there was a thread about a year ago on the the whole military garb and there were quite a few people who found it offensive. I was really surprised by that - it just wasn't something I had ever considered. I can see why it would be a fine line. So much of our clothing comes from the military : trench coats, wellies, safari jackets ( gulp, all stuff I love ). And my little boy wears a lot of brightly colored cargo pants.....

So, as a means for me to understand it better, is it that you feel people are irreverent about it ? Is what we wear in battle off limits, or should it be ? ( I am huge supporter for the military and vets, BTW. ) This is very interesting to me.

biscuitsmom

Veteran

Ditto what Kimlee said.... its a very interesting thread and I really like reading everyone's opinion on this. Thanks for posting it, Michelle....

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I know it's not PC, but I did think it was funny when I read it. I guess I'm just a sick-o!

Isabel

Veteran

I completely agree with Michelle saying that this wasn't on CNN, but it garnered a lot attention because of who KC is. nd I also hope, deep in my heart, that it brings some insight into that part of the world, which is important, not just to us, but to them having a peaceful, fearless society.

Elly - funny you mentioned that about your friend, I was noticing the other day that there were no women anywhere...it made me think of where they were. How scary, huddling at home with your children....yuck.

Call me a fuddy-duddy, but if he had said this about the frenzy at the Super Bowl or a soccer game, I would have found it hysterical....the gravity of this must be kept in perspective, in my humble opinion.

Michelle

(website)

Veteran

Deb, a very interesting perspective on the military trend. I echo Isabel on t his one...I had never actually given the issue much thought, but am very interested to hear what specifically bothers you about the way the trend has been interpreted. Related to Angie's blog entry this morning, I imagine some people could perceive the popularity of military styling as a sort of tribute/show of support?

Deb

Isabel: It's not really that big a deal, and it doesn’t stem from any ideological viewpoint. It just jars me somewhat. And truthfully, it’s not the on-the-street real people who wear it that bother me, but the models, and the way they’re posed, and all that. Hard to explain.

It's like ... I'm leafing though a newspaper, and there are photos of soldiers in cammies and boots and Kevlar, and then I turn the page and there's a model sprawled across it in cammie leggings, boots, military-type jacke, and a pouty scowl to show she's tough.

Anyhooo - simply a peeve, but not a pet one of mine! :-O

Isabel

Veteran

That makes complete sense to me. It reminded me of a photo spread I saw soon after 9/11, it was either models or something for Playboy ( I can't remember ) where the women were dressed as dirty ( as in not clean ) "firefighters" in daisy dukes and suspenders, firefighters hats, thigh highs and firefighter coats. It practically sent me into orbit......
Thank you for putting yourself out there and explaining...I never mean to put someone in the spot of defending a position, I am just genuinely interested in others' perspectives that I have just never thought of !

Deb

Hi Michelle - I was tapping away at my response to Isabel and did not see yours. I think what I expressed may answer your question. I agree with you that wearing military clothing could be perceived as a show of support, "solidarity" etc ... but I do question how many of the women purchasing the look at Neiman Marcus approach it with that attitude. how many people who adopt Western gear, with the boots and denim, are showing wearing it in support of cowboys? They wear it because they like the look, and think it's cool, or trendy.

In a way, just sitting here explaining it, I believe it may be because, in a way, it reflects a certain desensitization of what military gear is really all about: death, killing, misery and horror. Now, the soldiers can be walking through an airport on their way to the ME, and twenty-something could be catching a plane to Cancun - the blurring of what it represents is probably my core concern.

But in any case - this really is not a soapbox issue for me - but something that strikes me, every so often.

Joy

Veteran

This is an interesting discussion. I suspect KC just wasn't thinking much beyond his new collection and stuck his foot in his mouth. I'm glad for the quick apology.
I've not been attracted to strong military looks and think the original thread was especially aimed at wearing camoflague prints. It opened my eyes to how this print could be perceived when worn for fashion. Now I wouldn't wear it but don't judge others who do.

Isabel

Veteran

Deb, no soapbox, I asked !!!!!! This is very interesting to me. I will look at it a whole other way from now on. I also really want to ask my nephew about this to ( he and his wife are in Afghanistan ).

From now on, when I put on my "utility" or safari jacket, I will take a moment to think of and pray for all those at war. It is actually a wonderful thought. Thank you !!!

Maya

Veteran

Khris and Rae, I gave a snicker too.

Humor, much like fashion, can draw inspiration from just about anything.

Queen Mum

Veteran

I'm just glad that all the dumb things I say don't get broadcasted to the world. But honestly, if Leno or Letterman had said something like that, nobody would have batted an eye...

Maya

Veteran

I'm also going to put it out there that I disagree that public figures have any obligation to behave or conduct themselves a certain way as a result of their status. It is the responsibility of the public to decide how to react to their conduct. Ignore it, condemn it, praise it, whatever. The point is, we're not children who need big famous people to set an example for us.

The line for what is and is not offensive or off-limits is different for everyone anyway. A lot of people probably find Stewart and Colbert highly offensive. Imagine if they had to issue an apology each time they offended someone! I bet if they had made the same joke about, say, a new feature on the show, it wouldn't have occurred to even the most humorless fussbudget to get offended.