Kenneth Cole is known primarily for two things: creating classic clothes/ accessories—and for promoting causes. Regarding the latter, Cole has been involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS for almost two decades now.
On Dec. 1 ( World AIDS Day ) , Cole, in conjunction with KNOW HIV/AIDS—a joint public education initiative involving Viacom and the Kaiser Family Foundation—launched the 'We All Have AIDS' campaign. This program brings together leaders in various arenas ( e.g., entertainment and politics ) in an effort to get people to learn more about the pandemic as well as to protect themselves, get tested and procure treatment. ( One photograph that is getting plenty of exposure features a who's who of famous figures, including Rosie O' Donnell, Will Smith, Sharon Stone, Nelson Mandela, Whoopi Goldberg and Cole himself. )
On Dec. 9, Cole appeared at Marshall Field's State Street in his own World of Kenneth Cole shop. ( Five percent of sales from the purchases will be funneled to www.WeAllHaveAIDS.com . ) He managed to squeeze in a couple of minutes to talk to Windy City Times about why this particular cause is so close to his heart.
Windy City Times: Could you give me a synopsis of what the 'We All Have AIDS' campaign involves and how KNOW HIV/AIDS became a part of it?
Kenneth Cole: I'm now the chairman of AmFAR, the American Foundation for AIDS Research, and the first thing I realized is that the same problems we had 20 years ago are not the same problems we have today. [ Cole assumed the post in 2002. ] It's not about affordable and available healthcare, because it's there. The problem is that more people are going to die in the next year from HIV that was undiagnosed than people who were diagnosed. Why is that? It's because people would rather die from HIV than live with the stigma [ that comes with ] people knowing that they have the virus. So they don't get tested, they don't address their wellness.
So then one says, 'According to world health organizations, 90-95 percent of the people in the world who have AIDS don't know they have it.' And then one says, 'So how do you de-stigmatize the disease?' The Kaiser Foundation has a great database of testing centers and support centers that are around the world. Viacom came on board and supplied us with a lot of media outreach. So I brought content and ideas. I then found photographer Mark Seliger and we went around [ the world ] photographing various icons. We then created this campaign—which is the largest one addressing stigma in the history of the disease; we hope to reach a billion people in the next 30 to 60 days.
The message is a call to solidarity—that we all have AIDS. If anyone is infected, then we all are affected. My hope is to keep the campaign going and to get more demographically appropriate role models. We need to connect with younger people because Elton John and Elizabeth Taylor—while they're great people—may not connect with [ people who are coming up ] .
WCT: I was going to ask you if you think there's a problem with complacency regarding AIDS. Two decades ago, everyone was wearing red ribbons. Now, people are sporting Lance Armstrong bracelets. Today's younger people didn't see the horrors of AIDS in the '80s.
KC: Yes. People today who see all of these advances have it good and bad. They see people take antiretrovirals and become fine and say 'Why can't I just have fun?' However, there are about 40 million people today who are living with the disease and about 14,000 people contract it every day, but the biggest statistic is 0—the number of people who have been cured.
WCT: It seems to be that stigma varies by culture.
KC: No question.
WCT: In this country, the number of Black women who have been infected has increased exponentially over the years.
KC: It's terrible. In the inner city, African-American women have been terribly stigmatized. However, in Africa [ the AIDS situation ] is even worse. The highest at-risk group in much of sub-Saharan Africa is married women—because they have no say regarding sexual practices and they're totally at the [ mercy ] of their partners. The women may be monogamous but the partners usually are not.
See www.WeAllHaveAIDS.com .
