The Broadway play “Liberation” recently collaborated on a new marketing campaign with the fashion designer Kenneth Cole called the Purposeful Voices campaign. This coincided with Kenneth Cole’s Day of Purpose 2025 initiatives on Dec. 2, also known as Giving Tuesday.
The designer donated 100 percent of KennethCole.com sales transacted on Dec. 2 to the Mental Health Coalition (MHC), which is devoted to helping end the stigma surrounding mental health. MHC is committed to supporting women’s mental health initiatives and enabling access to critical resources for all.
The Purposeful Voices campaign spotlights the voices of women “confronting the intersections of progress, identity and mental well-being,” as stated in a release from Kenneth Cole.
Set in 1970s Ohio, “Liberation” follows Lizzie and a group of women intent on transforming their lives and the world, revealing — through her daughter’s journey into her memory — what has changed, what remains and what continues to be at stake.
The below photo from the campaign, with the tagline “Step the F*ck Up,” is inspired by the scene that opens the second act of Bess Wohl’s play as well as the fashion brand’s 1986 ad “For the Future of our Children” which was created to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. In that image, photographed by Annie Lebovitz, the women were clothed but barefoot. For the 2025 image and campaign, the women of “Liberation” are naked, as in the aforementioned scene, but wearing Kenneth Cole footwear. Per a release, “Each of the women chose a style based on the personalities of their characters in the play.”
“On Dec. 2, we bring together our brand, our partners and our community to elevate women’s voices through our Purposeful Voices campaign with Broadway’s ‘Liberation,’ convening our third annual Wellbeing at Work event, and donate 100 percent of proceeds to an important cause,” said Cole, chairman and chief creative officer of Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc., in a statement. “Together, these efforts move us toward one mission: making mental health a priority and inspiring purposeful action.”
This marks the first collaboration between a Broadway show and Kenneth Cole in over seven years. Per a representative for “Liberation,” the last partnership was with the Tony Award-nominated musical “The Prom.”
Directed by Whitney White, “Liberation” began previews on Oct. 8 and opened on Oct. 28 at the James Earl Jones Theatre. The production is scheduled to play a limited engagement through Feb. 1, 2026.
“Liberation” is being produced on Broadway by Daryl Roth, Eva Price, Rachel Sussman and Jenny Gersten.
