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"  IT WAS A MONUMENTAL DAY for social justice when we arrived at Kenneth Cole&amp;#039;s Hell&amp;#039;s Kitchen, New York, studio. Hours before, the Supreme Court had ruled that a key part of the Defense of Marriage Act (which denied federal benefits for same-sex marriages) was unconstitutional, a victory of sorts for Cole, 59, who has been a pioneer for social issues (and was the first designer to use fashion as a platform) like equal rights, gun control, and HIV and AIDS prevention since starting his business. He took to Twitter @KennethCole: &amp;quot;The Supreme Court decision &amp;#039;For better or for worse&amp;#039; is one &amp;#039;To have and to hold.&amp;#039; Congratulations @HRC #SCOTUS.&amp;quot; It&amp;#039;s a monumental time for Cole, too, who is celebrating 30 years in fashion\u2014or as he likes to say, &amp;quot;the ninth anniversary of our 21st birthday&amp;quot;\u2014although designing wasn&amp;#039;t a career goal of his. (He studied business at Emory University.) Activism wasn&amp;#039;t, either, despite marrying into a prominent New York political family when he wed Maria Cuomo in 1987. &amp;quot;There was never a strategically anticipated initiative or agenda that would bring me to any place that resembles where I am,&amp;quot; he says. Where he is: at the helm of Kenneth Cole Productions Inc., a lifestyle brand of women&amp;#039;s and men&amp;#039;s ready-to-wear; accessories; fragrance; eyewear; and, most recently, a line of home goods for Bed, Bath &amp;amp;amp; Beyond. Along the way, he&amp;#039;s been both criticized for his controversial advertising (included in This Is a Kenneth Cole Production, out this month from Rizzoli) and lauded as People magazine&amp;#039;s Sexiest Businessman of the Year in 1988 and as board chairman of amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research. From his social consciousness to his democratic fashion, Cole&amp;#039;s message has always been one of inclusion. And he will keep putting it out there. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m obsessed,&amp;quot; he says, &amp;quot;with how to make what I do relevant.&amp;quot; \u2014Jessica Minkoff Photos from left to right: 1. One of many ads promoting equal rights, 2008. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s been a consistent theme.&amp;quot; 2. A look from Fall 2013. 3. VEST $198. 4. A campaign ad from 2011. &amp;quot;We have taken our core messages and reinterpreted them over the years.&amp;quot; 5. SHOES $170. 6. PANTS $98. All items, Kenneth Cole New York; (800) KEN-COLE. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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