April 26, 2008...2:01 pm
Weekend Video | Millard “Mickey” Drexler
This past week J. Crew Group C.E.O. Mr. Millard Drexler was a guest on Charlie Rose. He provided great insight into the retail world, specifically that of The Gap and J. Crew Group. I was mesmerized by the interview and it made me feel as if I was friends with Mickey — or in someway connected to his inner circle. The story of how Mr. Drexler had purchased the defunct New Bedford, Mass. based workwear manufacturing company Madewell, relaunched the name as a contemporary women’s brand and then leased it to J. Crew for one dollar was particularly intriguing.
There are a lot of great things to be learned from Mr. Drexler in this interview — specifically about hiring talented people, treating those around you with respect, returning every phone call and acting like a small company in the “anti-customer service era”.
I specifically identified with one of the things Mr. Drexler said in the interview: “I have a uniform, I wear what is comfortable, not what is fashiony.” That is one of the great things about men’s fashion, your ability to find what works and then repeat indefinitely.
Further Reading:
A C.E.O. Sells the Store — NY TIMES
Mickey Drexler’s Redemption — NEW YORK MAGAZINE
5 Comments
April 26, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Very inspiring. Thank you for sharing this.
April 27, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Great post. I hope Mickey doesn’t get too many phone calls as a result…
May 5, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Is Charlie in a SB Peak Lapel? Great interview on Charlie’s part - - much better than his q’s for Flusser.
Can Mickey answer one question? Why do all J Crew Stores smell horrible? There’s that same synthetic smell you get when you’ve wandered into the women’s section of Sears, Belks, or JC Penny. I know there’s cotton in there but the whiff of those two sister designers, Polly and Esther is overwhelming.
May 29, 2008 at 12:53 pm
[...] Mickey Drexler on Charlie Rose [...]
July 7, 2008 at 11:24 am
The ‘most hands on CEO’ is Mike Jeffries at Abercrombie & Fitch, FYI.
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