This show is produced and hosted by Mark Webber. The show is sponsored by
G three of Parow. The views expressed in the following program are those of
the sponsor and not necessarily the opinion of seven ten wor or iHeartMedia. Who
is Mark Webber. He's a self made business executive here to help you find
your success from the New York City projects to the Avenue Montaigne in Paris.
His global success story in the luxury world of fashion is inspirational. He's gone
from clerk to CEO twice. Mark is classic proof that the American dream is
alive. And well, here's your host of Always in Fashion, Mark Weber.
Mark Weber. There are two types of chickens. One we all know
chicken without a head. Well. The other type that we also know.
Why did the chicken cross the road to get to the other side. The
first is clueless wandering around. The other is purposeful, knows where he's going.
There are two kinds of ships. One is ruddless. The second one,
again we're all familiar with, the speed of the convoy is only as
fast as the last ship, or said differently, all ships must sail in
the same direction. The ruddless ship gets nowhere. The ship with the plans
knows where it's going. While I'm on leadership and ships for a second,
it's easy to hold the helm when the sea is calm. I'll tell you
one of the great inventions of our lifetimes computerized navigation. We don't think very
much about how we get from here to there anymore because of the applications.
If you think about an airplane, for example, navigation direction setting above the
clouds, below the clouds, above the weather the most efficient route. We
don't think about it. We take it for granted, but navigational direction setting
is the key to flight. What we're directly familiar with his ways, Google
Maps, Apple CarPlay in our cars. Not only they point you in the
right direction, not only do they help us avoid mishaps, they lead us
the most efficient route. They give this comfort, They provide us with a
sense of safety. That's what The clear direction, the clear communication, the
belief in the navigation leadership has changed the driving experience. Whether it's Harry Truman's
plaque on his desk, or where I first saw it was Ted Turner when
he started CNN, or you can give credit to any of the people you've
seen it with lead, follow, or get out of the way. Every
one of these people. It could have been General Patent, Elon Musse or
me for that a matter, Lead, follow, or get out of the
way. The point is you need to either be a leader or you need
to be a follower. You have to make that choice. But it's also
clear we all need direction. We all need a direction in this ever quickening
world. It's clear direction is more important than speed. Direction, director,
leader leadership. Interesting words, the purpose of leadership is to develop more leaders,
not followers. I never thought follow them would have a role in society,
let alone we humans march down the path as followers. I can't believe
it to set direction, to have a point of view, to convince others
that your way is the right way. I have always found inspiring leadership.
Yes, having said this, I like to lead from the front. However,
I also take direction. Well. I don't care where the next great
idea comes from. I don't know everything. I'm ready to learn, try
new things. I like letting down my hair, releasing the pressure valve.
Lift someone else take the mantle of leadership. It's fine by me as long
as I can go in the right direction. As long as I can learn,
as long as something smart is happening, I don't need to lead.
I could sit at a table at dinner and direct a conversation completely. I
can be affable host I could be charming, but I love when someone else
takes that role and I can be entertained. I respect in others the ability
to command a room, develop a strategy, and see them all. I
tell you why you had spent time with Bono. We were at dinner one
night. There were twenty people around his table, and as the South of
France, he started talking. No one had to put in another word.
This man was so interesting, going from subjects about how to save the world,
his views on Africa, Apple's one concept, everything amazing. Guy and
I never had a talk. I just had to enjoy myself. So I
can take a subservient or a smaller role. I don't need to be the
censor of intention. But leadership never changes. It's just refined by new approaches
and humans expanding intellect, helped dramatically by technology. Now, following has changed
to be a follower. Someone has morphed into this being acceptable stance. I'm
not a follower, but I am a listener. I'm a follower of many
podcasts. I don't like the term. I prefer listener, so be it.
Ever, never a follower, I can respect our leaders when they earn
it through good ideas and selling them to me. I don't respect political correctness,
yet I've come to understand we're all different. We all must be represented,
but follower never. I suppose I'm not ever a follower, but I
can be a fan. I respect accomplishments of people. It could be watching
a parent or a mother or father interacting with their child. I respect all
first responders, people employed to help other people I couldn't do it. I
admire the courage of a policeman. Fireman are military, they're trained, they're
smart, they're professional, they're courageous business leaders. I'm forever in debt to
Jamie Diamond, the chairman of Chase, for bailing out bear Stearns, with
whom I had account when they went bankrupt. I respect the former president CEOs
from the companies I worked in. They weren't great, some made me sick,
but I got to tell you I was lucky. Although I automatically respect
we all should, doesn't mean I have to respect the person holding that office.
Unfortunately, I'm not alone. This country does not like our political leaders
at this time. Every poll shows were dissatisfied and it's in an all time
low. And then there's course personal style. I am never a follower.
I'm not a voice for fashion. In spite of writing two books and hosting
a radio showing podcast entitled Always in Fashion, I'm not about statements calling attention
to myself. Thomas Jefferson said it best when he said, in matters of
style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a
rock. Fashion is defined by me is wearing, accessorizing, and grooming with
the goal of looking your best so you'll feel your best. So many people
out there jump on trends, whether it suits them or not. So as
I think about this subject of leadership, I'm torn between leadership and I can
argue both sides. What do I know? I believe in setting a course,
developing a strategy or plan, and then executing it meticulously Ready aim fire,
no ready fire aim that I see happening every day. And the one
thing I'm learned that I'm convinced under the heading of success is successful. Direction
is the key, and I know direction is more important than speed. I
drive a fast car. I never want to be late. But the truth
is, if what I have to say is important, people will wait for
me. Tonight's show is direction, not speed. Now joining me on this
very directional point of view show is my son, my lawyer, and co
host Jesse Weber. Hey, there, good to be back. I feel
like I haven't been on the show in a while. Did you miss me?
I've always missed you, but I had to soldier on. And what'd
you think of the shows I recorded when you weren't there? I thought they
were great. You know, I listened as if a listener was listening.
I thought it was great. I think you were missing something. I think
you were missing something very valuable. I agree with you wholeheartedly. You are
a value part of this show, any of my sons. I miss you
in general when you're not around. Well, thank you. I like this
topic, the direction topic. I like it particularly when you're focused on current
events. I've always said this, There's no question the business perspective you give
important for people. Fashion conversations relevant and interesting. I like when you discuss
the world. I like when you discuss current events and we are talking.
I guess one of the biggest events is the war, right, the war.
I did it last week. I'm not doing it again. Well,
what did you say? What did you say? I suppose it was so
subtle, directional, Probably you or anyone else didn't catch it. I said
it very simply, five words, nothing changes, if nothing changes. I
think that pretty much covers it without taking sides. Wouldn't you say, precisely
good? If not? A subtle form of leadership. But going back to
the directional conversation, where are we headed? Where are we going? What
do you want to talk about? Sheep? Sheep? Like that kind of
sheep? Your brother, Ah, okay, it's clever. I know where
you're going with this. I know where you're going with it. Well,
tell everybody my brother has amazing style, best style in the family, best
style I think of any person I know. And he did something that drove
me crazy crazy. He decided to buy a pair of shoes that are navy
on the top and have the white soles at the bottom. You look on
television, all the sportscasters are wearing them. You're walking down the street,
everybody's wearing them with a suit. And I love my brother. I think
they're so lame. Everybody's wearing them and they skater fashion. I just am
not a fan. I'm not a fan of and it's like everybody's wearing them.
Somebody told them that's the thing you got to wear. It's like the
brown shoes you talk about with the navy suit. Everybody's wearing these things.
Well, what happened was you and I were going to meet him to take
a walk around the neighborhood. Beautiful sunny day. We show up at his
house to pick them up, and there is wearing these blue suede shoes with
the white bottoms. I wanted to scream, but I didn't. I told
him what a fool. He looked like he's trying to tell me how great
they are. I said, no, you know what really happened. He
saw David Beckham wearing them and they were from Laura Pianos. So they're very
expensive. They're very special, but they're very lame, and it really got
me thinking about cheap everybody's followers. People don't understand have their own identity.
This is where this whole idea of lead from the front, have direction or
be a follower, and he has wearing those shoes drove me crazy, got
me thinking everywhere you go, now you see those people with the rolled up
pants with their ankles showing, what the hell is that all about? Well,
let's be clear, he doesn't do that. No, I'm not on
him now. I got off him and his stupid shoes. He's a trendsetter,
and so it surprised me that he was. He purchased something that it
seems like everybody is wearing, and I don't know how when is that trend
gonna end? Because it doesn't look good. You think James Bond is gonna
wear those? I don't think. So here's the thing. You have to
know what looks good. Funny thing about shoes. Of the last couple of
years, particularly for men, shoes have become very directional. And as a
business guy in the industry whose companies have made hundreds of millions of dollars selling
shoes, I was the CEO of the Beast Shoe Company at one time.
You get into this, you know it's good for business. All these guys
wearing brown shoes with navy suits, or orange brown shoes with jeans, I
get it. It's a business. These blue shoes with the white bottoms.
You see a lot of fools wearing them. You're seeing some of the greatest
sports announcers who addressed impeccably wearing these shoes. It ruins the look. And
then you see the lame guys. I don't want to pick on anybody,
but boomersiasin great guy, great football play, a great analyst on the TV.
But wearing those shoes does not serve him. Well, it doesn't make
you look cool. And this trend setting, these sheeps are driving me crazy,
so to roll up pants. I hate them. But you know what
I hate, really, really, really more than anything. You watch the
baseball playoffs at all, Jesse. Now have you seen the guys with the
long, long beards. They look like Abraham Lincoln and they're playing sports.
I can't find words to say. How out of place and stupid it looks,
isn't that ad look to try to look more tough, or maybe to
cover up imperfections in somebody's face. Not everybody's got a good face, so
the beard hides it. So they need a beard that they can curl and
roll up or put with a rubber band to hold in place. Look,
the beards are definitely a trend That's why I'm talking about sheep. If someone
would come down from Mars right now, they would think that it's appropriate to
wear beards, because it seems as if more people are wearing beads, more
people are unshaven than people who are shaven. And wherever I go, I
see this now and it drives me crazy. So you know, it got
me thinking. I saw your brother wearing those silly shoes, and I started
thinking about lead follower, get out of the way, and I started thinking
about direction, and I started to think about all this subject where it comes
into play in business, live politics. And you want to talk current events.
You said to me, you think current events are more interesting on the
show these days. I just think that you have so much to say about
what's happening today. You have such great knowledge and insight, your perspective on
what's happening currently. We don't hear that enough. I'm going to do that
tonight. But before we go there, we haven't talked Trump in a while.
You've been on TV talking about all this stuff. What's going on in
New York? Is he gonna make it or not? And how unfair is
this thing? Well, look, New York's a civil case. It's not
a criminal case. It's not about whether or not he's going to go to
prison. It's just determined how much would he have to pay up, whether
or not he'll even be able to operate any of his businesses again, including
in New York. And what does it mean how the Trump brand was able
to build its legacy? Was it built on lies or was built on really
a successful company? What drives me crazy? And I'm generally a Trump supporter
because when you think about life under Trump, let's just be politically correct here.
You want to hate him, go right ahead. You don't like his
personality, go right ahead. Does he say things that he shouldn't say that
offend people? Absolutely? Has he pushed every one of consequence off to the
side at one time or another, whether his allies or not. Yes,
this is a guy you don't want to cross. Yes, there are so
many despicable things about him. But I like him. I respect him because
I know him and I've seen what he's done. But you have to ask
yourself. Let me just finish. You have to ask yourself, Oh,
I'm going to roll here in Trump? What didn't you like about his presidency?
Low inflation, wages were up, no wars, people were working,
the border was secure. We were friends and allies with the people we needed
to be. He reached out to our enemies to me take peace with all
of them. He was not easy on China, he was not easy on
Russia. He had a thing. What was wrong with the Trump presidency?
Nothing. First of all, he would never be facing any of these criminal
charges because he wasn't president. No, you know, I disagree with you
that he's going through all this because he's running for president again. Hold on,
can I can I finish my thought before you interrupting? I let you
go. You said you want my opinion some being forceful. Well, let
me tell you my opinion before you jump in. Number one, if he
was never president, he would never be charged with anything he's currently being charged
with because everything he's being charged with with respect to him as being president.
That's number one. But number two, of course, if he never ran
for president, he would have never been investigated in New York for fraud and
his company overvaluating itself. That never would have happened. It was only because
he entered the political arena that he is being investigated. Technically, yes,
but I think what's going on now? Is that doing it to him because
he's running for president again. Yes, Letitia James, who is the ag
going forward with this civil case against Donald Trump. When she was elected,
she said she was going to go after Trump before she knew anything about his
finances. That's what makes it look so icky. That's what makes it look
so political. You know, it's funny. The big issue with the case
is is how he valued his real estate. I had to reinsure my house.
I brought two inspectors in for the purpose of that. Their valuation of
the house was twenty five percent difference between them. I decided to sell one
of my sports cars during the summer, and I knew it was a good
time to sell because there weren't many of them around. And I actually,
after two years of owning this particular car, got what I paid for from
the dealership. This is unheard of. I've never, ever, ever,
ever, in all my years of life sold a car and got what I
paid for it, whether I owned it for a week or I owned it
for five years, never and all of a sudden it was valued differently.
How Donald Trump, or anyone from that matter values a piece of real estate
or values something that's important to them, or values whatever it might be.
Part of it is a real question mark out there. You don't know what
you're going to get. Part of its science. You have a building that's
one hundred stories tall and it's in the right neighborhood, it's gonna be worth
something. But your personal view on what something is worth is artsy and it's
what it means to you. And that's what they're going after them on.
And I can't imagine for any point of view that they can find him at
fault for not agreeing with anybody. He worked with his lawyers, his attorneys,
his executives, he viewed what he viewed his properties were worth. He's
a lot to fall in love with him. Wow, the judged disagree.
The judgeous say that he falsified it. And how much experience does the judge
have in real estate brokerage? How much experience and they have invaluating real estate.
I heard that mar A Lago was valued at eighteen million dollars. I
know people have houses across the street that are a tenth of the size and
evaluated thirty million dollars. You're talking about the prime real estate values in Palm
Beach, one of the bastions of the rich people in America. Something's wrong.
Yeah, anyway, I don't want to talk about Trump. You want
to talk about stuff. I want to talk about direction and leadership. Direction,
on one hand, is more important than speed, getting yourself set in
the right course. I don't think anything is more important than that. I
also think we have decisions as people to decide whether we want to be leaders
or followers when we come back. We just elected the new Speaker of the
House, the third in line for the presidency. Back in a minute.
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Always in Fashion. Here's your host, Mark Webber Lead follow get out of
the way. That's what I'm thinking about. I'm thinking about leadership. I'm
thinking about direction. I'm thinking about it in life, in fashion, business,
in the political world. I'm thinking about what's going on in current events.
And I am intrigued watching leaders or followers, watching leaders that are excellent
or not. I'm intrigued by people in general. This week, That's what
I'm talking about. I am so motivated by what's happening around us that I
got into this subject. And here we are Wednesday, we finally elected a
Speaker of the House. Now, for those who don't know, because I
assume there are a lot of you who don't, the Speaker of the House,
of course, is an important job to control what's going on in the
House and to lead the direction of where the House moves. The Speaker of
the House gets a majority vote from the party who's in power, who has
the majority. But what is not known across the board that in times of
difficulty, the Speaker of the House is the third in line for the presidency.
So if something would happen to Biden or to Kamala Harris, the Speaker
of the House, this is the president of the United States. That is
awesome, and it's a huge responsibility, and the decision making of who becomes
the speaker is enormous. So having said that, that's where I want to
talk about. Jesse likes talking current events. Here we go, Jesse,
what do you think about the new Speaker of the House. It's about time.
My goodness. The circus that was the past two weeks of not having
a speaker was really concerning, and I think it was very uncomfortable. So
I'm happy that we have somebody. Look, he seems to be a very
popular individual. I liked it what he had to say yesterday. He hugged
Takeim Jeffries, who's the House Minority leader of Democrat. He liked the idea
of trying to bridge both sides together. But he doesn't come without controversy.
People have already painted him as an extreme. They say, well, not
only does he an ardent supporter Ofnald Trump, but also he was helping Donald
Trump and trying to stall the election. And so look he's got a lot
of hard right views, but I'm open to him. I think it's going
to be a good breadth of fresh air and he's got a lot on his
plate. Well, thank you for that. I have a totally different point
of view than you when it comes to the circus that you refer to in
the Republicans. First of all, we didn't elect people to tow the party
line. When we elect an individual for our state or for our geographical region,
we are electing them to vote in Congress on behalf of what is important
to the constituents that they represent. When someone tows the party line, they
don't care what we think. We don't vote across the board. We all
have points of view what's important to us. That's what makes this country great.
But we hire politicians by voting them to represents the needs of the community
in which we are. When you watch the Democrats behave and they all line
up and agreed to do the same thing, it makes me sick. Now.
The Speaker of the House was elected this week, Jesse, do you
know how many Democrats actually agreed to vote for him? Zero? Great answer,
zero? There, of course, was a Republican majority. There were
two hundred and twenty people that actually voted. They were all Republicans, and
he became the Speaker of the House, but not one Democrat voted for him.
Does it bother you? Of course it bothers me. But I'm not
surprised by it. Well, I am countries in turmoil right now. We're
involved in two massive wars. There are protests going on in every city and
every college, and we as a country are on fire. Now. I
want to hold that thought because I think the problem is about respect, and
I'm going to start there. It goes back back to Nancy Pelosi. You
want my opinion on stuff. The state of the Union. The President of
the United States is standing up in front of Congress to share the state of
the Union, the state of our affairs with the government and with the entire
American population and the world. And the disrespect that has taken place in that
body at that point in time is beyond anything I could ever imagine. Nancy
Pelosi tearing up Donald Trump's speech behind him. Nancy Pelosi not applauding for anything
the opposing parties president would talk about is disgusting. Now I happen to applaud
the so called circus that took place with the Republicans. Why for the world
to see the Republican Party not agreeing on a candidate. One could take the
position that were amateurs. I take the other position, the fact that they
couldn't all agree on one candidate or not for one reason or not. Is
the American way? Dialogue, discourse, having a point of view, not
just marching to whatever tells them to do, being independent, having points of
view. I don't know who I agreed with or don't agree with. I
have him to like Jim Jordan, I like McCarthy, and then the guy
who came in in lest the week. I mean, as much as you
can call it a circus, I could call it the American way. And
I love seeing that process in place and them finally coalescing on a young guy
that they all thought could take and handle this job, the third in line
for the presidency. Now, is he prepared to be the president of the
United States. No, that's very scary, particularly when the country doesn't believe
the Kamala Harris. She's the least liked politician in this country right now.
Now we put another guy in who really doesn't have the experience to take the
mantle over a president having said it. He was young, articulate, and
energetic, and he stood up and didn't just talk to the Republicans. He
talked to the Republicans and Democrats. And he reached out immediately to that guy,
Jeffreys, and said, we can work together. We have a lot
of things to solve, we have things that we need to do together.
I'm ready to work with you. And then he started laying out those things
that he thought were important to him. And if you watched it, we
need to get spending in line. All the Republicans stood up and clapped.
Not a single Democrat, or if there was a Democrat in the crowd,
sparsely. This was the beginning of disgusting display. He said, we're a
country with laws and rules. We need a border. Republicans stood up,
the Democrats did not. He begged for people not to be partisan. He
had a point of view. Only the Republicans stood up to deploy it.
In the case of the war in Israel, all the Republicans, all the
Democrats were united. This world is watching this country, Our country is watching
this country. We know we're divided, but here we got a fresh new
start with a young, intelligent, articulate new Speaker of the House. Why
at this point in time, when we're involved in two wars, when people
are talking World War III for the first time, and I can remember when
the words nuclear are coming out of people's mouth. I want to cringe.
I can't believe what I'm hearing. They get a new Speaker of the House
and the most disgusting display I've ever seen in my life that they didn't rally
around this man yesterday. They want to talk about he supported Trump, as
you said, Jesse, and they want to talk about it he denied the
election. Look what the Democrats did when Donald Trump got elected. They denied
the election for three years. They came up with a farce. It's all
admitted now. They made it all up that he was a traitor to Russia.
Where is this hypocrisy? This was a disgusting display of our country at
a time where they all could have rallied around the new Speaker of the House.
I was so impressed with this guy, and I was so impressed with
the process until I watched it happen. It was disgusting and I hated it.
I'm so upset. And then you got the governor of California. What
a putts? What is he doing in China speaking on behalf of the nation.
He's cutting his own deals for California Governor Newsom. I don't know if
anybody ever heard him talk, but I was told when he's the mayor of
San Francisco, he ruined the San Francisco. San Francis as the city's in
embarrassment. Everybody knows it, nobody wants to say it. With all the
homeless, all the crime. Now he has the most taxed state in the
country. He keeps putting rules and regulations on everything. He is a mess.
He is the scariest thing that has ever happened to this country. He's
a handsome guy. He's well dressed, he's articulately. He cuts a dashing
figure. He could speak with authority. He understands how to run a state
unsuccessfully, but he understands. What's he doing in China cutting deals directly with
the premiere of China. It's a joke. It's great that the premiere of
China met him. I happen to agree. You've heard me talk about it
a million times. There's no reason for us not to be great allies with
China, what they've accomplished in the last fifty years, I don't know that
any country in the history of the world has ever accomplished with perhaps the exception
of the United States and what we've done. Have they done wrong? Absolutely?
Have they played with our intellectual property? Absolutely, I'm going to talk
about that tonight. And we should be close. We're our own two largest
trading partners. Now, are they scary, yeah? Are they moving at
a rapid place to militarize, yeah, But at this stage in human development,
they should be our biggest ally And this guy, Gavin Newsom is going
on the behalf of what I have no idea. So when I watch politics
and my faith in politics, I'm looking for leadership, I'm looking for direction.
This was a disgusting week in politics. This was a chance for America
to see its leaders coalesce around a new Speaker of the House. It was
a chance for the world to see that America is one nation that we are
not divided, that we know what we're doing. We have a vision and
a direction and leadership going into the future. At a time where the country's
involved with two wars. What a mess. Lead follow get out of the
way, how about some good direction. Take a break back in a minute.
Always in fashion, I spent a lifetime of my career building the van
Usen brand, and I am so pleased that they're back with us now talking
about suits. Men, we're dressing up again and it's become cool to wear
a suit. Suits can be won on multiple occasions, in multiple ways.
You could wear a suit formally to go out at night or to an event.
You can wear a suit to the office with or without a tie.
If you look closely, now fashion trends, suits are being worn with turtlenecks
or mark next. The choices are endless, and every one of them looks
right. You could really really look the part. I believe that packaging yourself
is as important does the products you package, and wearing a suit is one
of those things that make men look their best. Venues In invented a new
idea. It's called the cool flex suit. It's been engineered with stretch technology,
giving you the most comfortable fit and mobility. It's wrinkle resistant fabric,
it's cool moisture wiki. It makes it perfect for all occasions. As we
discussed just now, this new style of looking while feeling cool and comfortable is
amazing, and I'm so excited that the ven using company is involved in this
new technology and is embracing the whole idea of dressing up. Let's not forget
Van using mane It's name with dress shirts. It's only proper that the suit
business follows strongly in its way. You can find Van using kol Flex men's
stretch suits at jcpenny are online at jcpenny dot com. Guys, they're great.
You should go look at them. Welcome back to Always in Fashion.
Here's your host, Mark Webber. I'm talking about direction. Direction is more
important than speed. Direction leads direction is leadership. We all need to decide
whether we're leading or following. I wouldn't feel so bad about following now,
because all of a sudden, in this day and age, in this generation
where we are in time, being a follower is okay. The application of
being a follower has seemed to be perverse throughout our country and the world,
and I guess it's okay to be a follow up. But we need leaders.
We need people who stand up and lead our businesses, our personal lives,
our country in the right direction. And that's what I'm talking about.
Tonight. As it turns out, I've already talked about chickens, I've talked
about sheep. It's like a barnyard show. This is a farm show,
but in reality, it's about current events and what's going on in the world.
I'm going to talk a bit about distinguishing yourself, Jesse. I'll tell
you what. I'll start with you. Who are you? How would you
define yourself? If somebody asked who you are? I would say I'm a
very driven person. I'm a very people person. I'm happy, family oriented,
and I just want everyone to be having a good time. Okay,
I'm not sure I agree with the order in which you did it, but
nonetheless it's an answer. What about you? I am an independent individual who
care most about family, who cares a great deal about business and making a
success of myself, setting up a world in which my family has a chance
to succeed, being part of a country that has a tremendous reputation in the
world and does good for its people and everyone else in the world. On
a personal note, I am dedicated, driven, hard working, and willing
to do whatever it takes to do things well. But I always want to
do the right thing. I want to be able to put myself and my
head in the pillow at night and sleep soundly. That's who I am now.
In between all of that, I'm a recluse. I don't particularly like
humans, and I don't want to be with them. But if you ask
me, I know who I am, and I'm different for different occasions.
If you put me with a group of people in the family, I will
be quiet, and at times when I need to interject what I think is
the right thing for the family to do, I'll do it. You put
me in a business setting where I'm at the focal point, I am going
to lead the conversation. I'm going to be directional. These days I go
to events with you or your brother, Jared, I am not the player.
You're inviting me to an event or he's inviting me to event. You
know I'm going to show up dressed appropriately. You know I'm going to stand
tall. You know I'm going to be able to talk in such a way
as to distinguish myself and get my ideas out there. And I will be
charming until I run out of charming. And depending on who I'm talking,
male or female, whatever the subject matter is, I'll be able to hold
my own and as soon as I can recluse and go back to myself,
I'm going to do it. But I know who I am and I know
what I stand for. And why am I talking about this? I bet
you don't have a clue. I don't. I really I'm lost. I
want to talk about the new phenomenon in business, particularly luxury fashion retail business
collaborations. I got a request for a collaboration to go online and buy these
van shoes from Adidas, from this famous skateboarder. They did a patent leather
version of sambas and a first glance, I looked at them and I really
liked them. I like Adidas sneakers. But then I remembered one time before
I tried to buy a collaboration between Adidas and Gucci. They did this thing
that looked incredible, and I said, you know, I'm not a Gucci
fan, but I got to like these sneakers and I had to sign up
and I waited online for it for fifty minutes to purchase these sneakers, and
finally when the operator or when it Zabimi, turned to purchase it was shut
off and said, we're sold out, and I can't tell you how angry
I got at Adidas and how angry I am still am when I think about
it. So when I saw it got me thinking about collaborations, because why
in the world do great brands or great companies need to align themselves with other
companies to be relevant. My greatest collaborator in life was my wife. My
wife Mishi rest in peace, was beautiful. She was smart, she was
elegant, and didn't need me. When she and I went to an event,
whether it's a family affair where she excelled or a business affair where she
also excelled, we knew when we got there we'd spend a few minutes together
and then we would work the room. And whether I worked it with her
or she disappeared and met people she knew and I knew, we know at
the end save the last stance for me. I was so proud of her,
letting her circulate the room, she letting me circulate the room, and
in the end we would go home together and it was a feeling of great
joy and collaboration. We were marketing and Susan Weber, or Susan and Mark
Weber. That's a collaboration I understand, But why all these other collaborations are
going on between all these companies and I'm not going to mention them. I
don't understand it, and I don't respect it. There's all kinds of collaborations
and I see it and I understand it, and I get the idea of
these things. And it's great for followers for any Internet all these Internet influencers
bringing people to brands and selling it. I get it, but I don't
know why they need it. My view is, though, if you are
strong of mind, strong of conscience that you do what's right for your brand,
I don't know why you need it. I want to take this another
further because I'm looking at all these celebrity endorsements. Take George Clooney, He's
now an Espresso, which is a coffee company. Is anyone in the world
going to buy coffee because George Clooney is in an ad? Maybe not,
but the first thing that people will say is an espresso. Huh. Isn't
that that George Clooney thing? That's the draw. It catches people's attention.
Now you see all these celebrities. Kate Winslet for lawn Jeans is there anyone
in the world who's going to buy a watch because Kate Winslet was in their
advertising. No. Now the question is whether or not seeing her face with
that name puts a recognition factor. The next time someone goes in to buy
a watch and they see lawn jeans and they remember they saw it once before,
which brings me to I want to take you behind the scenes of runway
shows for a second. Let's say you're in Vogue. When last I looked
at Vogue, I'm going back a few years. If you wanted two pages
or that they say in the industry, a double page spread of an advertiser
in the centerfold or the front of Vogue. It's at least one hundred thousand
dollars now Vogue circulation at the time, meaning how many books they were shipping,
call it six hundred thousand. And when a magazine would ship, there's
a certain pass along effect that if you had the book in your house house
and your children came home for the weekend, they might look at it,
so you'd have some other people besides the people they said it to. If
you're in a dentist's office, you put it down on the table, a
whole lot of people. So let's say your ed in that magazine has a
chance to be shown to a million people. You spend one hundred thousand dollars
on it, You got that something in return. I take a pause now
to say the following Runway show. When it's fashion week, when anything's happening
with a brand, the first thing they do is bring in celebrities to have
them in the front row. It doesn't matter which brands you're talking about,
they all fight to get celebrities. Now, I am sure you go to
Donna Tella Versaci show and sitting there she might be surrounded by Lady Gaga,
Blake Lively. Same thing for Detone, same thing for this, same thing
for that, I would say with a certain degree of authority, those great
friends of those brands are being paid to sit there. I can tell you
uncategorically. We were putting on a Donna Karen Runway show and I was told
one of those celebrities who are going to be at that show, one of
the most famous actresses in the world. And I said to the head of
pr why is she coming to our show? She's that good of a friend
with Donna, And the woman laughed at me like I was an amateur,
and she said, you don't need to know, Mark, She's just coming.
I said, now that you said that, I do need to know,
tell me, well, we're paying her one hundred thousand dollars to sit
with us. I screamed, what are you out of your freaking mind?
How can we waste money on that? Just think no, no, dah.
And she sat me down and said, I need you to listen,
and she gave me that example of Vogue that I just gave you, and
then she said to me, you know the platform for the press at our
shows, and she was referring to off to the side by the runway,
there's a platform built that at least fifty photographers and video cameras are sitting there
representing the fashion press of the world, the world including magazines, television,
radio, whatever, the podcasts, YouTube, whatever it was at the time,
whatever it is, and they will all cover it, and they will
all post pictures of Donna, Karen or this Runway show with them sitting there.
And you know those million viewers you were chasing for one hundred thousand,
multiply it by twenty because we're going to have this brand in front of twenty
million people. With that actress in it, she's going to draw that attention.
Now. It bothered me as the CEO that my brand wasn't strong enough
that I needed this actress to help us. After all is said and done,
when you really look at what's going on in the world between leadership,
what does a brand represent versus who's following It is an ongoing battle that's going
to last the test of time. And I wanted to share that story with
you. We'll take a break, we'll come back and talk a little bit
more about direction and leadership. Always in fashions, I've been shopping for fun
lately, and while I'm out, I always look at men's and I look
at women's what's going on And I was particularly interested in dk Y because of
their sponsorship of the show. I went downstairs at Macy's thirty fourth Street to
look around and I saw dk Y Activewear. And I promise you, ladies,
it is sensational. From the sports bras to the crop tops, to
the leggings and the sweats, it really is a great look. And dk
Y had begun as an all American brand dressing casual clothes, engines and the
stuff looks incredible and right now the colors and the styles is so exciting that
I feel great about the company. I always do. I wear the men's
where all the time. I've had situations where I've gone to big events and
been interviewed and the TV or the radio, and someone comes up to me
in the microphone and like they always do, who you're wearing? And here
I am, this big shot with big company and they say, well,
I'm wearing a DKY and they laugh and say, no, you're not.
I actually have one on the internet where you could see me. They asked
me what suit I'm wearing, and I say d and why and open it
up and there's the DKY label. Great fashion, it fits well, it
looks right. It's designed to make you comfortable in the city, goes from
day and tonight. You could wear it in the morning, you wear it
in the afternoon, and you look cool at night as well. It's great
for the office, it's a great for leisure. But I'm talking about the
DKY activewear. The first time I really became aware of that, Jesse and
I were up at Sirius Radio. He was doing a job for Serious He
does Dan Abrams show, he fills in on the Potus network, and we
were in the lobby and this hip hop group came up with this really great
looking Latino singer girl Young Beautiful, and she was wearing a DKY sports bar
and I said to myself, this is amazing. Actually went to Macy's to
see it, and I'm excited about the brand. And I tell you what,
ladies, DKY always has great fashion for work, always wonderful dresses and
things that you'd wear. Their accessories are great, the shoes are always very
cool. But active wear in particular right now looks sensational and being that everyone's
ath leisure and active wear, it's a great time DKY go take a look.
As one of the world's most celebrated fashion designers, Carl Lagafeld was renowned
for his aspirational and cutting edge approach to style. His unique vision of Parisian
shit comes to America through car Lagofeld Paris. He has women's collections, men's
collections, ready to wear, accessories, shoes and bags. The fashion house
car Lagafeld also offers a range of watches, I wear and premium fragrances.
You can explore the Carlagofil collection at carlagofelpowers dot com. But it's more than
that. I, for one, love to shop. I love going around
and seeing what's happening and what catches my attention, what would make me feel
good to wear now. I don't wear the women's wear obviously, but I
can appreciate it, and they look amazing. If you want to look right,
you want to have clothes that fits you well. You want to look
like you're wearing something that's very expensive, that's exclusive for you and yours.
You can find it at very affordable prices at Macy's Orcarlagofel dot com. Paris,
the women's ready to wear fashion is extraordinary, as well as the handbigs
and the shoes. I for one, wear men's clothes, unlike my appreciation
of women's clothes. I'm a modern guy. I want to look current.
I want to look the way I want to feel. I go out at
night, I'm in black and Carlagofel is my buddy clothes are great. They
fit great, and they have little tweaks and touches, whether it's a stripe
on the sleeve or button at the neck or on the shoulder. There's a
lot of details that go into Carl Lagafel because he's always been he always had
been one of the world's great designers, and this legacy and goes on and
on. I can't speak enough about it except to say to you, you
want to feel good about yourself. You want to know that you're dressing properly.
You want clothes that fits you well. Carl Lagafeld, Paris at Macy's
Orcarl Lagafel dot com. Welcome back to Always in Fashion. Here's your host,
Mark Webber. I'm talking about direction. Direction is more important than speed.
Direction leads direction is leadership. We all need to decide whether we're leading
or following. But in the end, I thought it's all about direction,
having a point of view, knowing which way you're going, and everything good
or bad will come from that. In this country right now, I need
to see leadership. I was incredibly disgusted and disappointed when we named a new
Speaker of the House and the entirety of that body didn't stand up and applaud
for everything he said and didn't come together. At a time that our country
is involved in two wars, I'm questioning whether people have leadership and government leadership
and their brands, leadership in general. I had a plan to talk to
you a little bit about a intellectual property, why people are fighting over items
that both people seem to own, and I guess I'm going to have to
do that at another time, but I leave you with the following. I
don't care where the next great idea comes from. I love to lead,
but I'll follow. I love to lead, but I'll take direction. I
love to see people leading. I love to see people that are smart with
a view and a focus. I don't care how long it takes to get
the right answer, because I know direction is better than good night.