I find, in merchandising and design and creative, a business school degree isn't particularly helpful.Collection: Design
What matters is hard work, and emotional intelligence.Collection: Intelligence
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.Collection: Design
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.Collection: Design
People like consistency. Whether it's a store or a restaurant, they want to come in and see what you are famous for.
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.
Gap was essentially the American wardrobe that was well-priced, and it was attractive, and it was happy, and it had great color, and it has jeans, and I think we did the same with Old Navy. And I think we do the same with J.Crew at a much higher level, Madewell at another level.
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.
First, as I've always said, it all starts with product, which means having the right assortment, styles, and fits. Second is price, where we strive to offer the best quality, style, and design at a fair value. This is critically important, given the highly promotional environment we are operating in. And third, traffic.
I'm looking forward to partnering with TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners. This transaction is a clear endorsement of J. Crew and the hard work and dedication of all of our associates.
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.
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.
I like to prove things wrong.
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.
I'm an agent of change all day long, and I want to meet other people like that.
People put 'study abroad' on their resume. I actually like when they don't study abroad because that means they aren't entitled.
I consider a merchant someone who has a certain intuition and instinct, and - very important - knows how to run a business, knows the numbers.
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.
I spot detail quickly.
I love to work. I have a passion for what I do.
The first thing you see when you walk into a store is color.
I'm always looking over my shoulder, needing to stay ahead of the game.
I always wanted to have my own company. It was a psychological issue.
I would like Madewell jeans to be the Levi's of its generation.
I look at companies as price-players or quality-players. The only way to go with J.Crew was quality.
I loved the fact that if you put goods on the floor, you could watch them sell.
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.
Every single day, I'm curious about everything. Curiosity is finding answers to things.
When I was young in the business, I felt anything I wanted to buy personally and professionally was always too expensive.
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?'
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.
Data is very important, but you have to be good at reading the data in an emotional way. If you look at a selling report, there's an emotional trend to what's selling.
Growing up, I always wanted a bedroom of my own.
If you think you know the consumer better than anyone, then you're in real trouble. So we take a close watch. You spend time in stores.
I couldn't stand not controlling my own product from how it's manufactured to how it's sold.
Steve Jobs, if he had lived, was gonna design an iCar. I think cars have an extraordinary opportunity for cool design.
We buy and sell goods. We buy low and sell higher - that's what we all do to make a profit. But 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 think I was the youngest, fastest-promoted buyer in the history of Bloomingdale's.
I didn't like the name 'personal shopper.' That makes it sound like too much of a commodity and not personal enough.
The No. 1 thing is the product. The goods have to be good, but I care about how you feel about it.
Service drives a lot of my decisions.
When you say something, and a thousand people are hearing it, you hope you leave an impression.
Christopher Columbus discovered America in a blue-and-white sailor shirt, and since then, men have been wearing blue and white shirts.
You know what ends up on the markdown racks? All the weird colors. Guys don't wear orange or citron.
Don't be buying out of emotion. Buy less if you love something but feel it's a risky item. We don't want overstock. And remember: No profit, no fun!
I define leadership as: Emotionally, you own your business. You own it with passion. And you either have or you don't have an economic investment. But when you have all three of those, you are the boss from Day One, and you care every single day more than anyone.
You have to build a team, but someone's got to lead, and someone's got to be unpopular at times.
I don't size up their grades or their board scores. Because in America today, that's just an advantage certain people have. I size up the give and take, the speed of thinking, what I perceive as ambition. I say, 'Tell me about your high school jobs.' And I love people who worked in coffee shops who were waiters and waitresses.
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.
I call them associates; I don't like the word 'employee.'