It takes a long time to get a reputation for quality. There are people in our industry, they're basically copiers. Look at the cars on the streets. They all look alike. But if you put quality into a product, then have it validated, you have huge credibility.
— Mickey Drexler
When I was young in the business, I felt anything I wanted to buy personally and professionally was always too expensive.
When I started at Bloomingdale's as a buyer, Alexander's was a discounter across the street, and every time Alexander's had something that we had at Bloomingdale's, we'd have to meet price. I didn't really want to be in a business where I had no control over my inventory, the value of my inventory.
I would like Madewell jeans to be the Levi's of its generation.
Creativity runs on automatic, no matter what's happening in other parts of my life. I can't help myself. It's been in me, and it evolves in me over the years. It's a condition in me.
I love to work. I have a passion for what I do.
If you don't get trained for your SATs in America today, you are at a disadvantage. Training is expensive and a lot of kids don't get trained, perhaps. So I also identify with the kid or the person who has grown up in environments like I've grown up in.
What matters is hard work, and emotional intelligence.
I don't buy art. I'd rather buy a beautiful location or a beautiful site than buy art. A beautiful home is like owning a beautiful painting, except you can live in it.
If you don't care about the lapel or the buttons or the fit, then you are doing a disservice to the consumer. We're all inside the tunnel, speaking the language of business, but we need to speak the language of customers.
Every single day, I'm curious about everything. Curiosity is finding answers to things.
I loved the fact that if you put goods on the floor, you could watch them sell.
I always wanted to have my own company. It was a psychological issue.
I'm always looking over my shoulder, needing to stay ahead of the game.
I spot detail quickly.
I'm looking for best practices constantly. Apple has beautiful design, beautiful product, incredibly functional. But mostly it's about picking product, getting behind it, marketing it and introducing it to a customer. What they've done just inspires me.
People put 'study abroad' on their resume. I actually like when they don't study abroad because that means they aren't entitled.
I like to prove things wrong.
Everything has a trend to it; I don't care if it's appliances or engines. I always ask, 'What has a company done in the past five years that somebody's noticed?'
In a business, you have a vision, and you follow the vision. You have to execute. And then you have to learn how to run a good business. And I think if you look at the characteristics of any successful fashion business, it's all about that.
I look at companies as price-players or quality-players. The only way to go with J.Crew was quality.
A merchant is someone who figures out how to select, how to smell, how to identify, how to feel, how to time, how to buy, how to sell, and how to hopefully have two plus two equal six.
The first thing you see when you walk into a store is color.
People like consistency. Whether it's a store or a restaurant, they want to come in and see what you are famous for.
I consider a merchant someone who has a certain intuition and instinct, and - very important - knows how to run a business, knows the numbers.
I'm an agent of change all day long, and I want to meet other people like that.
