If you get someone right out of college - and I meet a lot of them - you're not going to get a lot of experience at all, so you have to feel the ambition and desire, which is based on a lot of factors.
You banter, and you talk, and you get a sense of the speed of thinking and flexibility... It's not terribly scientific, but I interview a dozen or two dozen people a week, and I get a certain vibe reasonably fast.
Hong Kong has always been a dynamic and exciting and high-energy city, and it has that New York thing going on, and people here care about how they look.
You can't separate the clothes from the stores, from the environment.
My management style is there is no such thing as non-important people in the company.
My office has no walls. You can't be removed from your team to be successful. You have to be respectful of others.
The person is a resume, not what's on a piece of paper. Whoever gives advice about resumes in college should be dismissed. Titles don't matter. GPAs don't matter, nor does what school you go to.
People put 'study abroad' on their resume. I actually like when they don't study abroad because that means they aren't entitled. What about study abroad will make you a better J.Crew associate?
I hire a lot of waiters, waitresses. Someone who's successful has a background that's not predictable.
I think it's in my mind, and it's driven me my entire life, and it is to offer customers tasteful clothes at good value, meaning it lets the world - or more of the world - afford to dress well.
My personal opinion about the world is that it's homogenized.
The British invented the classic look. Men's apparel was created in London, the great English style. You have to respect this country's suits, shirts, shoes, luggage.
What is fashion? I don't know.
Celebrities have nothing to do with style.
I grew up in the Bronx. I used to remember going to all these fancy stores in Manhattan to run errands or whatever, and I felt intimidated, like they did not talk to me because I was from the Bronx. I never want anyone to be intimidated by fashion. Fashion is fun or, at least, should be.
We have secured names and trademarks with either loose ideas or intentions, or with our imaginations. Sometimes things come of it, or they don't.
There are too many retailers. There are too many brands. There are too many designers. There are too many discount stores, and the predator online companies are selling discount like crazy.
I never wanted to compete on price in my history because on price, you don't always win.
I've yet to see a correlation in my industry between great social media and great numbers.
It is our job as always to focus on what we can control in the business.
Customers don't just want to shop: they want to feel that the brand understands them.
If you get a pant that fits the woman, as all women know, you get a loyal customer for life.
While 2015 was challenging, we implemented many strategic and operational initiatives to improve our business and better position J.Crew for the future.
Fashion is guaranteed to never always be right.
Do it, do it right, pay close attention to the product, and over time, you will win.