Kenneth Cole Relaunches Women’s Sportswear Collection in Partnership With Kasper

Kenneth Cole is looking to recapture a piece of the women’s sportswear market.

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The brand exited the women’s sportswear business in 2020 and entered a strategic partnership last year with The Kasper Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Premier Brands Group Holdings, to manufacture and distribute a new line of modern women’s apparel.

Over the years, Cole has had women’s sportswear deals with Chaus Inc. (2005 to 2010) and Global Brands Group (2016 to 2020) and also manufactured the women’s line in-house. At its height (under Chaus), Cole’s women’s sportswear generated more than $100 million in retail sales, said Kenneth Cole , chairman and chief creative director of Kenneth Cole Productions.

This new effort marks the first women’s apparel collection under the creative direction of Emily Cole, executive vice president and women’s creative director and product strategy. The fall collection will launch at retail on Sept. 30.

Kasper handles the sales and distribution of the collection. Design is handled by Kasper, with approval by KCP.

In an interview with Kenneth Cole and Emily Cole, they spoke about the new collection, partnership with Kasper, and whom they’re gearing it to. Kenneth Cole said they chose Kasper because “They’re a great womenswear company. They have great sourcing, logistics and supply chain. We felt it would be a great partnership.” Cole said both companies have a sense of who this customer is, and the two companies are a very good fit.

In a separate interview, Irene Koumendouros, chief executive officer of Kasper Group, said it was truly a partnership. “We definitely collaborated on concepts and the true essence of what the line could possibly be. When you start something from scratch, it’s important to come to a place that’s a good place to start creating. Emily definitely comes to the table with ideas, and Kenneth himself comes to the table with ideas. Then it’s up to us to take all those ideas and thoughts and formulate it into something that is going to be incredible.”

She said they didn’t look at what had been done in the past. “We just moved forward to the future. And we just closed our eyes and said, ‘Who is this girl and who can she possibly be? How do we put a face to her and how do we tell her story.’ To me, it starts with understanding the person and what her needs are.”

Koumendouros said the collection is targeted to a modern young professional, who is very active and loves the element of fashion and wants to be a part of everything that’s happening in that contemporary world. She said the collection is built on performance-based fabrics. “To me we’re very good at taking fabrications and creating silhouettes in an unexpected way,” she said.

Kasper’s other brands include Anne Klein, Jones New York and Kasper.

Throughout the process, Kenneth Cole was a big inspiration. “He inspires his team, you can see it in their eyes. He’s an inspiration to all of us because he remains so current and so present. It’s great to be able to work with someone who is ageless. That’s who Kenneth Cole is,” said Koumendouros.

Emily Cole described the line as modern with some architectural silhouettes and a rich color palette. The line features an oversize moto jacket, relaxed suiting, textured knits, bomber jackets, soft suedes and vegan leather layering pieces, and a fresh take on menswear tailoring. “We tried to have an elevated and optimistic feel,” said Emily Cole.

She said obviously there’s some black (“it wouldn’t be Kenneth Cole,”) as well as great earth tones, browns, navy, creams and white (in the poplin button-downs).

Emily Cole shared that the collection is geared to a woman like herself and women at any age who are running around and doing things. “We wanted to make clothes that are beautiful, elevated pieces for everyday life. They need clothes to be a fun form of self-expression. They should also be a tool for the best lives they want to live and get where they need to go,” she said.

“The hope is we have something for the different type of days that women have,” she added.

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The contemporary line will be sold at Kenneth Cole’s e-commerce site, Macy’s, Macy’s.com and Nordstrom.com. Retail prices range from $29 to $495, and sizes range from XS-XL, and 0-16 for tailored pieces.

Kenneth Cole said this women’s line is more elevated than what they did previously.

For now, Kenneth Cole has no plans to open freestanding stores. When they went private about eight years ago they closed their stores with the goal of re-opening them in the future.

Emily Cole feels the bestsellers will be some of the core pieces and the oversize suiting that can be worn different ways. There are some shirts with “Kenneth-isms.” For example, one of the button-downs has a little whisper on the inside sleeve that says, “heart goes here.”

“It’s a great way to put our voice into the clothes,” said Emily Cole. “We have some great body-con dresses with built-in bras that are a really great fit with soft and stretchy materials. You can dress it up or you can dress it down with sneakers. We’re really going with flexibility and day to night, and we’re going to keep evolving as the seasons go,” she said.

Kenneth Cole said they’ll likely do a delivery every month.

“This collection is much more than a line of clothing. It is meant to stand for the women who do everything, who care deeply about the world around them, and who want to feel like they are part of a brand that really sees them and feels the same way. I truly believe that the pieces in the collection and the campaign are a reflection of what women’s daily lives are like today and will help to propel the brand into the future,” said Emily Cole.

The 25-piece collection incorporates the brand’s innovative comfort compression technology for its fit, enabling the modern woman to transition from a professional setting to a casual outing or an evening event.

“I was thrilled three years ago when Emily agreed to join the company, and I have loved watching her grow in this expanded leadership role as women’s creative director,” said Kenneth Cole. “I am also proud of her commitment to social impact, her continued passion to be addressing and impacting important human rights agendas inspires me every day. It is only fitting that the brand is relaunching womenswear during a pivotal time; the collection feels empowering to all women, and the campaign shares an important message.”

For the ad campaign, Ariana DeBose, the Academy Award-winning actress, was photographed by Cass Bird. The campaign encourages women to use their voices and keep up the momentum in the fight for change and equality that so many influential women have lent their voices to in the recent past.

“I am honored and humbled to be a part of Kenneth Cole’s women’s campaign this fall,” said DeBose. “The brand’s decades of dedication to social impact and advocacy coupled with this campaign’s theme of female empowerment resonates deeply with me. The pieces in the collection embody the confidence and resilience that all women need to have, especially during this crucial time,” she said.

Cole’s company oversaw the campaign that was shot at Chelsea Piers. Emily Cole said they chose DeBose because “she’s insanely multitalented. Her voice is a critical voice of who she is. She’s also stunning and makes the clothes look really great too which is a win-win for us. She’s really dynamic, and we were able to get fun and exciting creative that we are excited to show.” She said the theme is “optimism and really empowering some female voices.”

The campaign will run outdoors on billboards and social media. “We thought it was really important for the brand to be in the streets of New York,” said Emily Cole.

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