Kenneth Cole

Kenneth Cole was born into a shoemaking family, his father Charlie having originated the Candie's line of women's shoes. He started his own company in 1982 with a line of women's shoes, and has since branched out into just about every category of clothing through his own designs or licensing arrangements. I like the clean lines of his menswear, and I've recently acquired a couple casual shirts with particularly saucy prints for those rare occasions when a necktie is inappropriate. His ties are pretty good, with many of the Reaction line (of which this is an example) bearing some strong similarities to Gene Meyer's bold geometrics. I got this one a couple years ago when I was building up my "retro lounge" category: the diamonds are reminiscent of 50's ties (think L.A. Confidential) with off-kilter crisscross lines added to modernize it. Kenneth Cole trivia: he is married to Mario Cuomo's daughter, Maria.

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Off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush...