Donna Karan Presents Kenneth Cole With Prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at FNAA 2024
“This man is probably the most extraordinary man I’ve ever met,” Donna Karan gushed over Kenneth Cole onstage at the 2024 FN Achievement Awards. The legendary designer presented Cole with the Lifetime Achievement Award on Wednesday night in New York.
“You’ve been ahead of the curve your whole life, in every aspect of your life, in the way you create, collaborate and communicate to sheer perfection,” she continued. “You call, we come.”
Karan and Cole have worked together, not only in fashion, but through their philanthropic efforts through the years. In 2019, the two were honored as the Icon Award for Social Impact winners at the FN Achievement Awards for their mission to help support the country of Haiti.
But that’s just one of Cole’s many humanitarian and charitable works. For more than four decades, the designer has been committed to using his platform to support a range of social justice movements, including HIV/AIDS awareness, gun control, climate change and, most recently, ending mental health stigmas.
“I have always believed that fashion is more than how we present ourselves in the world, but also a vehicle to positively impact it, and a powerful and creative way to respectfully communicate our commonality as well as our differences,” he said while accepting the award. “My story is the story of an American designer slash Shoe Dog — (and I hate that term, but as they say, if the shoe fits) — who uses the platform he has to make the difference that he can. It has taught me today that this is absolutely not a dress rehearsal, and that what we stand for will always matter more than what we stand in.”
For 38 years, the annual FN Achievement Awards — often called the “Shoe Oscars” — have celebrated the style stars, best brand stories, ardent philanthropists, emerging talents and industry veterans. The 2024 event is supported by sponsors Listrak, Marc Fisher, Nordstrom and Vibram.
