His ad campaigns, which rarely portray his famous footwear, instead bear provocative statements like "Imelda Marcos bought 2,700 pairs of shoes. She could at least have had the courtesy to buy one of ours."
Cole’s company mantras are "To be aware is more important than what you wear," and "What you stand for is more important than what you stand in."
His millions of dollars in yearly revenue don’t go to buying resort islands in the Caribbean, but to finance the causes closest to his heart, like the homeless, women’s rights, and most importantly, AIDS awareness and finding a cure.
In 1986, Cole was the first person in the fashion industry to speak out about AIDS with an ad campaign calling for support of AmFAR, the American Foundation for AIDS Research.
Last year, Cole was appointed chairman of AmFAR, a non-profit organization. To promote World AIDS Day last Dec. 1, 2005, Cole funded the "Take A Step: We All Have AIDS" campaign in New York. The campaign, which will be the biggest public-service announcement about AIDS in history, will reach over 200 million people via newspapers, magazines and the Internet.
Highlighting the campaign is a black-and-white photo collage for which Cole gathered together the world’s foremost AIDS activists, scientists and doctors, hoping to inspire the next generation of warriors against the disease. African icons like Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu are shown beside celebrities like Sharon Stone, Bono and Will Smith, barefoot and taking a step into cement – an act showing their dedication to stamping out the disease. Their cement footprints have been on display as a public exhibit in New York since Dec. 1.
The photograph, which was shot by renowned Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone photographer Mark Seliger, was a logistical nightmare to shoot. To catch these VIPs in a rare free moment, Cole and Seliger had to fly as far as South Africa to meet with President Mandela.
Cole is so intent on promoting worldwide awareness that he agreed to do an e-mail interview with The STAR over the hectic holiday season:
What do you mean by the statement "We all have AIDS"?
It is a statement meaning that we all have AIDS – socially, culturally, spiritually. If one of us has AIDS, we all suffer from this global pandemic.
Why is this cause especially close to you?
Over 20 years ago, no one was talking about the AIDS crisis. We have lost many people in the fashion industry to this disease but this, of course, was not the only reason I became so involved in the cause. I thought, especially 20 plus years ago, that if I spoke about the disease and safe sex and brought it to the forefront of people’s minds that perhaps it would go away or that we would even find a cure. I was naive and yet passionate and wanted to do something about the disease.
How did the photograph of all these global AIDS warriors come about?
I had done a public service campaign 20 years ago with the photographer Annie Leibovitz and at the time it was of supermodels of the day like Christie Brinkley, Joan Severance, Beverly Johnson and a few children. The tagline read: "For the Future of Our Children." Twenty years later, 40 million people are living with HIV and we still don’t have a cure. I thought it was time to anniversary that photograph and this time, show the real AIDS activists, doctors and scientists of the times.
Aside from World AIDS Day, is there a special urgency about launching this awareness campaign right now?
If not now, then when? The disease keeps growing exponentially.
You show celebrities like Richard Gere, Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Hanks, Sir Elton John and Ashley Judd. What are their contributions to the cause?
Each one of these activists is dedicated to fighting the disease. They each have organizations they are very loyal to and work tirelessly to find a cure, raise money and bring awareness to the AIDS crisis.
How can ordinary Filipino citizens help?
Get involved – work with organizations that teach children about safe sex. Volunteer with your local AIDS organizations, whether it’s to raise money or just distribute information about safe sex and clean needles.