Fashionista 50: The Slideshow
Click through to see who made our list–and why.
Read more »Click through to see who made our list–and why.
Read more »How do you measure influence?
Is it through website hits? Or sales? Through ad dollars? Or the number of mass retailers who’ve knocked off your work?
The answer is all of the above and none of the above. Influence is an intangible thing that just happens when you know your craft and you work hard at it.
To determine who belongs in the Fashionista 50–our list of the most influential people working in New York fashion–we used our own knowledge of the industry, combined with advice from industry sources. We also considered each candidate’s consumer reach–through sales, media, etc.
To be considered, candidates had to live and work in New York for most of the year.
What’s Fashionista’s definition of influential? It describes people who are shaping the direction of the New York fashion industry, both aesthetically and in terms of how the business works.
You’ll find the entire Fashionista 50 list after the jump. Click on the person’s name to read a full bio. And if you really want to click through the whole slideshow, you can do so here.
Read more »Topshop’s Sir Philip Green. Theory honcho Andrew Rosen. Designer Kenneth Cole. HSN CEO Mindy Grossman. Put them in a room with 300 other top retail CEOs and execs and what do you get? The Financo Forum, held last night at the Harmonie Club.
The event, organized annually by Financo (the top fashion/retail investment bank), is a hot ticket for industry insiders. The lively panel discussion and networking session gives attendees the rare chance to collectively review the state of the retail industry, to share insights and to socialize with their elite peers.
The forum’s focus this year was on all things digital. Although e-commerce and social media hardly seem to be new topics, they’re something many retailers are still trying to learn more about. Financo Chairman Gilbert Harrison explained that the goal was to “help navigate the new world, and to ultimately drive sales and profits.” The panel included Ben Fischman, CEO of Rue La La, Chip Wilson, Founder/Chief Innovation and Branding Officer of Lululemon Athletica, Stephen Zangre of Facebook and Dan Schock of Google, and was moderated by CNBC anchor Nicole Lapin.
A few key takeaways:
Read more »J.Crew will be acquired by two investment firms for $3 billion, according to a document released moments ago by the preppy-chic retailer. (We first reported on this Monday night–click here for some background.)
This will allow CEO Mickey Drexler and co. to fix what’s wrong with the business–and build on what’s right–without having to deal with public shareholders.
“It is a clear endorsement of J.Crew and of the hard work and commitment of each and every one of our associates,” Drexler said of the agreement. “As I have always said, we are in this for the long term and we do what we do day in and day out so we can deliver the best possible products to our customers.”
We think, overall, this is a risky-but-smart move. Retail is a cyclical business–you just simply cannot be on top forever. Even though going private often means gaining debt, it also means being able to avoid a black hole. (See: Gap.)
Good luck to Mickey and the J.Crew team. (PS, We love Madewell and want more of it. Please.)
Read more »J.Crew CEO Mickey Drexler is working with two investment firms to take the company private, according to the New York Times‘ blog DealBook.
This means that if the deal does indeed go through, J.Crew will be removed from the stock market and all public shareholders will be bought out.
Generally, with buyouts like this, the idea is to fix the business out of public scrutiny. And eventually either sell it to someone else or take it public again.
Why might J.Crew want to do this if it’s thought as the leading specialty retailer in the US, if not the world? We shop there, you shop there–who doesn’t think it’s a brilliant store?
Well, despite a transformation in recent years, thanks to Drexler and protege Jenna Lyons, sales have been slower in 2010, dropping for the last two fiscal quarters. Separately, we’ve heard from sources within the company that while men’s sales have continued to rise at a rapid pace, women’s have been stunted as of late.
What does this mean for your shopping experience? Probably not much.
Read more »Jenna Lyons was named president of J.Crew yesterday. The news arrives after several consecutive raises and bonuses for the creative director. Want to get where Jenna is someday? Here are five key components of her success.
1. A Great Mentor
What can we say? Mickey Drexler is a retailing genius. He recognized Jenna’s talent in 2003 and helped her to design not only for her customer, but herself. The reason J.Crew works so well is because the designers actually wear and like the clothes that they design. Not so with plenty of other high street brands.
2. Consistency. Jenna’s been working at J.Crew since the early nineties, and while we’re sure she’s had plenty of offers to work for other designers and retailers, she’s stuck around, slowly moving up the ranks. Now, I’m not advocating sticking with a dead-end job, but it does feel like people tend to hop scotch from company-to-company without really considering the consequences these days. In the past, my mentors have said to me, “Don’t leave a job until you’ve stopped learning.” Just think how different high street fashion would be if Jenna had left J.Crew four or five years out of school.
Read more »If you don’t already know Elizabeth Kiester’s story, read this. But to sum it up, the former fashion editor fell in love with Cambodia, picked up and left New York for Cambodia, and opened her own shop, Wanderlust. Said shop caught the attention of quite a few people, including a friend who worked at Madewell. [...]
Read more »So many people who love fashion want to be designers, stylists or editors. Sure, those jobs are all glamorous. (Sometimes.) But they’re rarely lucrative, at least not compared to careers on the business side of the industry. Take Urban Outfitters CEO Glen Senk. On Friday it was announced that, while his 2009 base salary was [...]
Read more »Tory Burch is determined to dominate the accessible luxury category. The company’s latest tactic? Bringing in a slew of key industry players to serve on the board of directors. First, it was Glen Senk, ceo of Urban Outfitters. Now, it’s former Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent chief executive Mark Lee. But what exactly is a [...]
Read more »When MTV cancelled It’s on With Alexa Chung, everyone wondered: Will the British TV personality stay in New York? And what will she do? Since then, she’s hosted a party for Louis Vuitton and lent her face to Pepe jeans, but her new project will keep her here through the fall, at least. She’s signed [...]
Read more »Just as the industry gears up for Black Friday and the ever-important holiday shopping season with fears still running rampant, the folks over at J. Crew have much to be happy about. They are reporting almost double the profits for this quarter. CEO Mickey Drexler told WWD, “It’s about product, it’s about quality, it’s about [...]
Read more »