It was more than an inspired PR move when Kenneth Cole hosted last week’s screening of Miramax’s new comedy Kinky Boots. “It’s my story!” says Cole. “My life is the Jewish Kinky Boots!” In the movie—based on a true story—the reluctant son of a men’s-shoe-factory owner has to take over his father’s struggling loafer business. To reinvent the brand, he recruits Lola, a drag queen (Chiwetel Ejiofor), and scrambles to churn out knee-high stilettos for transvestites before the big Milan shoe fair. As Cole points out, he gave up law school at 22 to take over his father’s ladies’-shoe factory in Williamsburg and reinvented the brand with the trashy, drag-friendly Candies, followed by a mad dash to design his own line before the big New York trade show. (He sold his wares from a 40-foot trailer outside the Hilton after lying about shooting a movie in order to get the parking permit.) But the similarities do stop somewhere. Cole says he doesn’t wear women’s clothing and has never attempted to corner the drag-queen market. “At least not intentionally.”

Related:

• Archive: “Intelligencer”
• Articles by Jada Yuan
• Table of Contents: April 24, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!