Fashion brands Kenneth Cole and Katharine Hamnett are looking to give back with their new collections. Cole is introducing a new line of customizable t-shirts to raise awareness about the Gulf oil spill. "100% of net profits from all our tees in our Custom T-shirt Store on Facebook will be donated to AWARENESS, The Kenneth Cole Foundation to support the clean-up effort thru July 2010," the label's announcement reads. As far customizing your $35 tee, there are 12 colors and 3 graphics to choose from. As if setting up a Facebook store wasn't a big enough push by the brand to further its virtual network, "Cole is utilizing the full power of social media by also holding a Twitter contest," says Racked NY.

Each year during the Cannes Film Festival, the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amFAR), holds their Cinema Against AIDS gala: the black-tie rendezvous for about eight hundred guests, among which are many of the stars from the films currently being screened in Cannes theatres, film producers, and anyone directly or indirectly involved in the fundraising effort. Chaired principally by Kenneth Cole, Harvey Weinstein, and Sharon Stone, Cinema Against AIDS helps raise funds for medical research. Both Weinstein and Stone have been tireless supporters of amFAR’s efforts to get the message out about AIDS awareness. Their participation in the gala helps to ensure as many A-listers as possible will show up, thereby increasing amFAR’s visibility. As Kenneth Cole explained to me when the gala was getting underway, "Anyone who is anyone will be here tonight, and Annie Lennox is going to sing. The night is going to be magical." Aware of the current economic climate, Cole told me that "last year was a different time and place, and it’s very hard out there, but it’s no less important in here."

Someone should've seen this coming: Designer Kenneth Cole, known for his terminally cheeky ads, managed to get a billboard up about the waterlogged landing of US Airways Flight 1459 in pretty incredible time (click image to enlarge). Cole's been known for his social activism streak throughout his career, so this isn't really all that surprising. Pretty neat, and a nice thing to see; we buy into it. Full story via WCBS here.

When celebrities rally to support important causes like curing world hunger, funding AIDS research, or in Rosario Dawson's case, fighting for the Latino vote, it’s logical to assume that questions in the realm of, “So, what’s your favorite Christmas present ever?” are probably off-limits. But then again, no one said it was logical to assume that logic is popular these days. At Kenneth Cole’s launch party for his new book, Awearness -- a compilation of 86 stories and essays by prominent media figures like Bill Clinton and Jon Bon Jovi -- a crowd almost uniformly clad in head-to-toe black (Kelly Cutrone would’ve been proud) lounged as journalists pressed belle of the ball and book contributor Rosario Dawson about what she likes to unwrap under the Christmas tree.

I'm shocked! Apparently the extravagantly planned mergers & acquisitions deal -- er, I mean wedding -- between Tommy Hilfiger and Dee Ocleppo is off the table. According to Page Six, the pair were planning to marry at Hilfiger's swanky Mustique digs this Friday and follow up with a larger celebration for friends at The Plaza in October. Not anymore!