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 tenor or iHeartMedia. Who is
Mark Weber. 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 Webber.
Mark Weber. I started the important part of my week with someone, my
son, namely, telling me, you know, daddy, you're never satisfied.
You're never happy when you should be. I got that right away,
and yes, it got me thinking about myself, whether I take the time
to enjoy what I have done, what about wanted? At work? I
was never happy when I should have been happy. I guess I never enjoyed
the joy. It was never enough, never fast enough. I was moving
so fast, never stop to enjoy the moments. In hindsight, I should
have known better. Yes, I always wanted more, But why at the
expense of appreciation, said, I don't want to have conversations, some stories,
the most important business wants. As my hair turns gray, it comes
with some wisdom. Mark, take a moment, take a second to celebrate.
Tap yourself on the shoulder for a job well done. Easier said than
done. Particularly now in life, so much has happened so fast. It's
really a blink of the eye. And here I am. I always at
work, suffered from wanted, wanted. Perhaps I'd never have come so far
without this crazy drive. Who knows where the road would have led should I
had not felt I could do better, better than those next to me,
better than those above me. I wanted more. It wasn't money, though
I wanted it. It wasn't glory although I wanted it. It wasn't perks
although I wanted them. It wasn't ego, though I had a big ego.
I wanted to achieve, and I wanted to be defined by those achievements.
I wanted recognition, And as I think about it, I wanted to
reminisce someday about all the good, the bad, and the ugly and achieving
when I needed to. I wish I appreciated what I achieved it each step
of the way, But alast no, I suffered from wanting, wanting more,
wanting it faster. I wanted what I hadn't gotten when I had just
gotten what I wanted. I'll say that again. I wanted what I had
I had gotten when I had just gotten what I wanted. It's really a
shame. Although it was a path at work, I want to talk about
wanted. Did you ever want something so bad you can taste it, you
could feel? It made me crazy how much I wanted success in the company
I work because at one time a blight went off. I realized I could
do this career, that my life would be changed instantly. I was surrounded
by very smart people who knew what they were doing and shared a clear vision.
I watched them. I knew I wanted to learn. I knew I
would learn. It began with the first interview. I wanted that job.
First lesson of tonight Rule number one in interviewing. Get the job, whether
you want it, whether you think you want it, you don't want it,
No, no, no, no, none of that matters. Get
the job and decide later, I'll tell you what happened to me. I've
told the story that I met a headhunter named Julie Pepper. He set me
up for the interview. He pretty much grilled me and gave me the questions
that would be asked and gave me the answers to go along with them.
For example, Mark, how much money you want to earn? You know
I would say, oh, fifty thousand dollars. No, he said,
money's not important right now. What's important is I work for a company that
will teach me and help me and guide me in the right direction, so
I a cagreer could grow money will take care of itself. I had all
these questions, I had all these answers, and I show up for the
interview with a fellow named Sid Goldman, who was vice president of merchandising.
But mister Goldman was busy, and he said, you know, Mark,
until I'm ready, I'd like to spend some time with Alan. I'll be
finished in a little while and then we'll get together. And this was a
chance encounter with a fella named Alan Flusser. Alan Flusser was back in the
day what you would think of Tommy Hill figure. When he just started out,
he was a stylist or a designer for the company. He was very
well dress very smart. He looked apart, acted the part now with us,
and went on to be a pretty heavyweight guy in the industry, made
millions, had his own business, retired with dignity. He wrote a couple
of books. But here I am with him when he was first starting out,
and I was sitting in his office, said look, I can't really
give you attention that I would like to unpacking to go to Europe. And
I remember saying, oh, that's great. My friends all went to Europe
on vacation. I wish I could go. So where you go on vacations?
No, no, no, I'm going on business. And now he
caught my attention. I said, what do you mean you're going on business.
I'm a designer for the company. It's called the Stylist. I go
to Europe. I look for ideas. I look for different things by shopping
and being in these countries, and I bring back these ideas for our collection
here in the United States. And I look back and I remember exactly how
I felt about what he was telling me. First of all, looking him
up and down. I thought he was a sharp guy, a smart guy,
but no smarter, a sharper than me. And I said, if
he could do it, I could do it. Then I started thinking about
traveling to Europe on business. The company's setting it up, and can you
imagine me doing that? And then I asked them, how long did it
take you to become a designer at this company? Said about fifteen months.
I was here, I learned the ropes, and then they gave me a
chance to do it, and I've been doing it. Right then and there,
I wanted to do it faster than Alan Fluss. Right then and there,
I realized I wanted this job. Rule number one, get the job.
But now I had rule number two be smart enough to get it because
I was convinced there was something that was so good going on here and I
wanted it, and I got it, and I began my career. So
when I think about wanted, that's the first story that comes to mind about
my life and the wanting business. From there, it changed. There are
different things that I wanted as I went along the way. Oh but I'll
tell you what I wanted more than anything so bad You're not going to believe
it. Some of you, I'm sure, feel this way. Some of
you have no choice. But I will take a moment to tell you about
my really most driven moment when I started working in my first job at PVH
SHILPSA and use it. I grew up in Brooklyn. To get to work,
I had to walk to the bus stop at half a mile figure ten
minutes. I took a bus twenty minutes to the elevated platform on the subway
or the D train, and the D train would either go direct or have
to change trains. In Jamaica, that was an hour and a half.
I get there. I am thirty four straight out of work from sixth Avenue
to Fifth Avenue thirty seventh Street another ten minutes. All in all, between
an hour and a half an hour and forty five minutes to get to work
each direction every day. But I also remembered the train subway, and those
days were either too hot or too cold. I'm in an office sitting with
titans in the industry, smartest people I can met, making big decisions on
multimillion dollar deals. I'm part of this common thread and now I'm a common
man. Now I have no problem being a common man, the man of
the people. I grew up in the city projects, but I can't help
remembering the heat on the packed subway car, sweating, no air conditioning at
the time. Yeah, it's ancient times, but packed together. I remember
carrying a briefcase, letting it go by the handle, but it wouldn't fall
because the people so closely packed together. I wanted out. I wanted to
drive to work. It took me a year found out that if your company,
if we worked past seven point thirty, they would pay for you a
taxi to go home. I changed that taxi into money to park because I
was working every day at that time, or at least three times a week
that way. So parking was always part of my tremendous wants. And as
time went on and I negotiated parking into my compensation in one form of another.
Now I'm talking here once and how much I wanted things that I wanted
different promotions, more responsibility, new areas to learn. And then I got
to a point when I wanted to be a vice president. I wanted to
be a vice president of a company. At the time, I wanted to
be vice president more than life itself. I had done everything I had worked
smart. I established myself as a winner. I showed them that I knew
what could do. I showed them no matter what they threw at me,
I can handle it. Nothing was too big, too small. I was
on top of my game, and I remember how much it meant to me
at one point to become a vice president. You see what was going on.
All the people around me were becoming vice presidents. I remember traveling in
Europe. I get a text at the time, call back, we have
great news. I called back, senior vice president, executive vice president President
Company on the phone, Mark, we have great news for you. Really,
what's the great news? And they start to illustrate to me that everyone
working around me has just been named the vice president. And I'm listening and
I'm thinking, okay, when are they going to tell me? They said,
Mark, we wanted you to know it. We're very proud, We're
happy. I hope you're happy, and we'll see you soon. I said,
well, wait a minute, wait a minute, am I becoming a
vice president? They got quiet on the other end. President Company said no,
and I lost my call and I started cursing, how the F could
you tell me that I'm being a vice president all these other people. What's
the good news? I can't believe you mean vice president? Blah blah blah
blah blah. Well, what that did for me is taught me a lesson
the hard way. For I almost got fired because the president company said,
if that's the way you feel, come back on the next plane and we'll
talk about it, which meant they were going to get rid of me.
I had the presidence of mind to hang up the phone. I was with
a young lady who I worked with. She said, do you realize she
just resigned from the company. What are you talking about? Is that's what
they think by the way you answered them. So I had the presence of
mind to call back and beg them to take me back and tell them that
I just felt bad about it, please forget me, and blah blah blah.
Years two years of my life I was in the doghouse. I wanted
to be a vice president, and I behaved myself and I got to a
point where I became a vice president. One of the proudest moments of my
life. I was thirty years old. I never thought, never dreamed about
having roles and big companies like this, and here I was. Now I'm
a vice president. But the interesting thing, like I said, I always
wanted the minute became a vice president, I wasn't happy. I wanted the
next thing. I'm looking around, I'm seeing people that were vice president now
senior vice president. But one unique thing was going on at this particular period
in time, all the large promotions were given to sales executives. For whatever
reason, at that juncture in time, sales executives were seen as the key
players for grooming in the apparel industry. Now I've seen to change as time
guns on. I've seen financial people step to the front. I've seen operations
people step to the front. I've seen marketing people step to the front.
I myself, as I grew up, I was an op sky running the
sourcing and merchandising operations. I had a great feel for advertising in marketing.
But this time you couldn't get arrested with those skills, and everyone in sales
were getting the big jobs vice president, general managed, senior vice president,
general man or from sales. And finally I went to my boss and I
said to him, look seems to me, if I'm going to remain with
this company, I have to be with sales. No matter what I do,
I'm not being recognized. I'm unhappy. You know what I want to
do. You know I want to grow. So if I can't get in
sales, one of two things are gonna happen. I'm gonna have to leave
the company or are you going to find me an opportunity that's outside, that
is in sales. And he looked at me said, Mark, you're right
to ask. I understand what you're saying. Let me get back to you.
And the following day I found myself in the office of a gentleman,
Robert J. Solomon, who turned out to be one of the great mentors
in my life. He said, Mark, I understand you want to join
the sales team. I respect it. I love it. I came from
sales, that was my background. I love selling, and then I became
a merchandiser. You're a little different. You're in merchandising. Now you're telling
me you want to be in sales. What's going on now? I got
to tell you I never wanted to be a salesman. I respect salespeople for
what they could do. It's not my temperament. I can't ask for orders
it's just not my nature. I want people calling on me and asking me
for orders. But I remember my conversation with Robert J. Solomon because it's
a great one and a night where I'm talking about I wanted. I wanted
into sales because I thought that was the ticket to the top. But here's
what he taught me, and it's a great lesson for anybody listening tonight.
Robert J. Solomon looks at me and he says, Mark, I may
ask you a question. You want to be in sales, but I got
a couple of questions for you. He said, are you good at finance?
I was quiet for a minute. I said, well, I understand
the numbers. Yeah, I'm okay. He said no, But I asked
you if you're good at it? Said yeah, are you great at it?
I said no. You know, these finance executives we have in these
companies extraordinary. They're trained, they're skilled. This is what they do.
I can't con be with that. I put that off this side. Are
you good at operations? At the time? Operations was the detail work in
the designing part of the business. How much to buy? Went to plan?
Went to buy? I said, no, I'm good I understand the
system. I understand the calendar. He said, But I asked you you
good. I said I'm yeah, I'm pretty good. He says, you're
great. I said no, I'm not great. That's not my forte.
Then he asked me, would you be a good salesman? I said,
yeah, I could be a good salesman. I know how to dress,
I know how to talk, I'm personable. I think i'd be a good
salesman. And then he asked me, would you be great? I said,
let me think about that. And then he asked me, are you
good at design? I said no, I'm great at design. Are you
good at merchandising? I said no, I'm great. He says, what
do you mean you're great? He said, I'm one of the best in
the company. I know you can't comment whether I am or not, but
I really feel that I am one of the best. He said, no,
I can comment you are one of the best. But let me ask
you a question. Mark, this is what you need to think about.
You said you might be good at sales. You weren't sure if you want
to compete in this world with people who are great. Don't you think you
ought to compete from an area that you're best at. My advice to you
is staying design and merchandising. And he looked at me, he watched me
processing, He understood what I wanted, and then he said, right now
we are hiring sales executives and we are promoting them. But that doesn't mean
that will go on forever. You stay great at what you do. Who's
going to be able to compete with you? No one, and you'll get
ahead. But I'll tell you what I'm going to do. Mark, because
you're here and because we respect you and like what you're doing, I'm going
to get you trained in sales. You're not going to give up your job,
but we're going to get you trained in sales because I understand what you
want and what can be more important on a show we're talking about wanted than
understanding who you are and what it takes to get to the top. Back
in a minute. Always in fashion. As one of the world's most celebrated
fashion designers, Carl Lagefeld was renowned for his aspirational and cutting edge approach to
style. His unique vision of Parisian shit comes to America through car Lagofel Paris.
He has women's collections, men's collections, ready to wear, accessory,
shoes and bags. The fashion house Carlagofeld also offers a range of watches I
wear in premium fragrances. You can explore the car Lagophl collection at car Lagofelparis
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 Carlagofel dot com Paris. The women's ready to wear fashion is extraordinary,
as well as the handbags and the shoes. I for one, wear men's
clothes, unlike my appreciation of women's clothes. I'm a modern guy. I'm
gonna current. I want to look the way I want to feel. I
go out at night, I'm in black and carl Lagafel is my buddy.
Carls 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 Carlagafel 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 to clothes that fits you well.
Carl Lagafeld, Paris at Macy's Orcarlagafel dot com. My favorite brand has always
been ISOD. My company at one time bought that brand. The CEO of
the company handed it to me and said, you better make it work.
And I put everything in my career to make ISOD work, and I fell
in love with that brand, and to this day it is one of the
most exciting endeavors I've ever gotten involved with. Isod is an incredibly strong on
golf brand. If you play golf, if you play tennis, for that
matter, they make a great polo shirts. I mean great. They're fit
perfect. The material is unique because it's a PK fabric that waffle weave you
see, and it's made of a blend of cotton and microfiber that allows you
to stretch. And very often they are treated with solar protection as well,
so they stretch, they're comfortable, and they breathe well. And one thing
about Isac they always fit. They'll never tug on you. You put it
in your waist, they'll fit you great. The colors, patterns are sensational.
Now I will also tell you Isaac makes great shorts and great golf pants.
If you're a golfer and you want to look good, you don't have
to think about how do I look. You want to think about how you
play, not how you feel. Isaad is the brand for you. I
know I was there when it was created. The strategy behind that brand is
brilliant. It's one of my favorite brands. While I talk about it,
I should tell you about the men's sportswear. ISOD wasn't enough being a golf
brand. It wasn't enough being just great polo shirts with logos, without logos,
incredible branded story and history. ISOD makes salt weather programs. They have
great printed woven shirts, short sleeves that look excellent with colors, excellent with
shorts, excellent with cotton pants, of which they also make this whole salt
order relaxed line from ISO, whether it be fleece, cotton sweaters, knit
polos, woven shirts and pants of a range of colors and fabrics that are
perfect for a guy wants to go casually in the spring and summer of this
year. And here's the thing, ISOD is affordable. Everyone listening to me
talk about this brand can afford to buy it, and know that there are
a lot of the brands that also have a look like ISID. Although I
don't believe it's fun as Isaida is. The brand has a lot of energy
in it, but at the price points no one can compete. You can
find eyaad at your leading retailers and online at isad dot com. Talk to
you later, guys. I wish you. I'm very happy spring in summer,
and I help you by telling you if you were isaid, you're going
to look great. Welcome back to it always in fashion. Here's your host,
Mark Webber. It's true and my son stopped me this week and started
telling me, I was never happy with what I got, never satisfied.
I always wanted something else. Didn't I enjoy myself. It's true. Every
time I got promoted, every time something good happened to me, it was
never enough. I wanted what I hadn't gotten when I had just gotten what
I wanted, never satisfied, never appreciated it, and I always knew that
there was something else out there. I looked across the table with the people
I work for. I looked to my right, to my left, the
people I work with, and I said, I thought I could do better.
And I was never ever happy. I never enjoyed the ride. And
I should have had this crazy, great career, and I didn't enjoy it
and didn't stop to smell the roses along the way. I wanted to be
a senior VP. I wanted to be EXECUTIVEP. I wanted to be a
vice chairman, a president, and so on and so on. I wanted,
I wanted, I want. I was always waiting and life was good.
I had my ups, I had my downs. I have a story
to tell you. It's an interesting story because one time I wanted out.
I was sitting in my office one day, November twenty seven, four p
forty pm. I get a call come down to the chairman CEO's office with
the president. I go down there. I had become the president of the
and ANDUS Inshirre company. Did it for a year already a year and a
half, had a great run so far. I was excited to be in
the job, proud to be in the job. To go from clerk to
the president of a company, not corporate president. But it was something that
was very meaningful to me. And they looked at me and said, we're
going to move you, Mark, I said, well to a different office.
No, no, We're going to ask you to relinquish your presidency and
we want you to start a new division for the company. No way.
I love what I'm doing. I thank you anyway, but no, no.
And the CEO of the company, chairman, he said, I don't
think you understand, or maybe I haven't made it clear, but this will
make it clear. You're no longer the president of the venues insured company.
We've decided to give you a new job in the corporation as vice president of
communications and product development for the company. I said, but I don't want
that. He said, I didn't ask you what you want. This is
what we're doing. And he explained to me that we're about to open hundreds
and hundreds of outlet stores. Actually he had a vision of three thousand outlet
stores over five different brands. And he said, we don't have the product
development skills. We don't have the ability to source those products where great dress
shirt providers we understand suits, we don't know anything about bathing suits or sweaters
or sports where we need someone to take charge of those areas. Build a
design team that can pvide insight and product to the company, and then go
ahead and go over Asia and source them and bring it to us at prices
that we can sell in our outlet stores and make a lot of money.
I said, but I don't want to do that. He said, you
don't have a choice here, Mark, Now he's getting angry at me.
My boss was the president of the company, not the CEO. He said,
Mark, you and I will talk after. There's a great opportunity.
I said, okay, thank you. They gave me a raise, they
gave me a bigger office. They said, you know, we're announcing that
you're a corporate officer. Blah, blah. I was miserable. I was
heartbroken. It's not what I wanted. It took from his side and he
said, listen, you have no choice here. This has been decided.
You're going to be given an opportunity. I said, who's going to work
for me? Is you bring your assistant? IM my assistant. I have
like five thousand people in my division. He says, Yell. Now with
you and her, you're going to go to Asia. You're going to determine
whether or not we as a company could acquire all these products will need to
fill those stores. Then you're going to determine what you need to design it.
And the administrator, you're going to present this with a strategic plan,
and we're going to support it. We'll I have questions to ask, but
we're going to give you the financial support to do this. I was devastated,
and I started this job in my corporate title, and I started to
build out what was in theory a design and sourcing on for the company and
its retail stores. And because I had nothing else to do, and because
since I was working directly with retail, I got an education I had never
suspected that I would have. I started to learn about retail, not from
a distance where you talk to Macy's about what they're doing, but hands on
your store. How does it plan? How do you break down the assortments
between different products? What is your average transaction in the stores? How many
dollars and how many units do people pay we're in their stores? What is
the markup you're making? And I became a retailer. Now this is relevant
because up until that I was what you call a wholesale people made products and
sold them to retails. Now I was wearing another hat. I had a
whole new set of skills I had never had. We started this division.
I recruited the best people from all walks of the industry. We had a
great lifestyle, The company was incredibly supportive, and after all, at the
time we had five hundred stores, so we had built in customer base these
people would buy from us. First year were supposed to do fifteen million dollars,
we did forty five. The second yeard to do forty five to one
hundred and five, and the third year we didn't ever planned that far.
We're doing four hundred million, and we were threatening to capture all the sourcing
of the whole company. We wiped out all the third party supplies that the
company. It all came into us. That things were rosy until the chairman
of retail had a problem with us being so successful. You see, I
sold the goods to our own retail stores. With a small profit margin fifteen
percent. We became the most profitable division in retail. And to his credit,
he said, their entire function of this division, which was called PVHI,
I named it Phillips Venues in International, which I was named the president.
Back to president took two years, was making all this money. That
money is really retail money, and it should be given back to them.
It had been given back to them. The problem is he wanted total control
over it, and he felt having it as a third party me who was
really not working for him, was a bad form, and he wanted to
move PVA into it. Went to the chairman of the company. He said,
they made a decision to disassemble pH International, have it broken into groups
into the various different retail divisions, and have it support retail within retail.
They called me in the office the same way they called me into giving this
job mark. We're going to have a new assignment for you. We've decided
we want to support the chairman of retail. We're going to move PVHI into
retail. It makes sense to have it there. Everything your company has done
is for retail. They think the profits should be shown there. They think
they'll have better control, better synergy if they move it. Okay, you
know this has become personal for me. I have one hundred and seven employees.
We're doing four hundred million dollars worth of sales to retail. It looks
like we'll do close to seven hundred this year. There's a wild success.
Why do you want to do it? Is Mark, This is not a
debate. We're moving it. Okay, So what am I going to do?
We don't know. This is what I'm going to ask you of the
next eight to ten weeks. I want you to transition the business into retail.
Give them anything they need, deal with the people that you have in
your employ make sure that this is a smooth transition and everything they need to
do. You're going to make it easy for them so that when you bow
out and the division is broken apart and the number of people that handle them
using it to be in ven used and dressers or in sports where or wherever
they're needed. Do this, and we're going to watch very closely. We'll
find something for you. Five weeks go by, no job. Eight weeks
go by, still no job. What's going to be in me? I
remember going home and telling my wife, I don't know what's going to be.
I think I'm gonna be fired. They can't find anything for me.
As luck would have it, my boss, my present is being honored.
Everyone's invited. I'm invited with my wife. We get there, I'm looking
for my table. I'm not sitting at his table, which I would have
been in ordinary times. I'm not even sitting in a table in close proximity
to him or to any of the other power plays. I'm in a table
right by the door. And I realized right then and there my career with
Philips venues and was over. That night, I went home told my wife,
this is going on too long. They don't have a job for me.
Tomorrow morning, I'm going in and resigning. This is what are you
crazy? I said, well, I'll work out something. They'll pay me.
So the following day I went in, talked to my boss and said,
look, I love you, I love the company. I've done everything
I can to make it successful. Last night was an embarrassment to me.
I was an afterthought. Nobody cared whether I was there, and let alone
know that I was there. I was on a table right by the doorway
at the exit. It's a clear indication of what I felt for the last
eight weeks, that nobody cares what happens to me. Which, by the
way, I still don't have a job. So what I'd like you to
do is work out a package for me so that I could leave with dignity.
I don't want to do this anymore. Apparently I shocked him. He
called in the head of our industrial psychology department, someone who shrink our brains
and knew the pulse of everything going on in the company. Sitting in my
office upset, I can't believe I'm no longer going to be with the company.
He walks in and closed the door. He said, you're not leaving
the company. What we want you to do. Look around the company,
tell us which job you want. We're going to do whatever you want.
We don't want you to leave. If we can find a job that's reasonable,
after you come to we're going to give it to you. Later that
day, I realized that the presidency of Venues in my former role, was
vacant. There was a vice chairman who was overseeing van ues and as well
as the other businesses as vice chairman, he was looking for a president.
I went back to my boss. I said, you know, I want
it out, but if I could stay, I'll stay. The presidency of
Venues and is open. I want that job. And he looked at me.
He said, you know, Mark, you and his name was Alan
have not had a very good working relationship, and now you're asking to work
for him. I don't think he's going to want you. I said,
you know, if he doesn't want me, I don't blame him, but
let me go talk to him. I went down the hall to see Alan.
I said, look, Alan, I don't want to leave the company.
It looks like I may have to unless you and I can come to
an agreement. Said, you have the opening for Venues and presidency. I'd
like to come back and work for you. I know I have not been
fair to you. I know i've been disrespectful. I know I haven't treated
you like an equal. All I can say to you is that I regret
it, that I want this job. I'd like to stay with the company,
and anything you would do and speak up and agree, I give you
my word. I will never be disloyal. I'll do everything to make the
division successful. I will report to you. I will never go around you,
will never go above your head. If you give me this job,
you will have my undying loyalty. He said, thank you, walka let
me think about it. Here and my boss met. They decided to give
me the job, and over time I did have an amazing working relationship with
Alan, who I consider to this state to be one of my great friends.
I wanted it. I wanted out, then I wanted this. When
you think about wanting, that might have been one of the times in my
life. I was grateful. I appreciate it. I realized how lucky I
was to get a chance to stay with the company. Take a break.
We'll be back in a minute. Talking about wanted. Always in fashion,
spent a lifetime of my career building the Van Useen brand, and I am
so pleased that they're back with us now. Talking about suits, men were
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, to 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 as the products you packet,
and wearing a suit is one of those things that make men look their best.
Venusin 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 sharp
while feeling cool and comfortable is amazing and I'm so excited that the van using
company is involved in this new technology and is embracing the whole idea of dressing
up. Let's not forget venues and made its name with dress shirts. It's
only proper that the suit business follows strongly in its way. You can find
van Ues in cool Flex men's stretch suits at jcpenny are online at jcpenny dot
com. Guys, they're great. You should go look at them. Dkn
Why Donna Karen, New York. Donna Karen began a career is one of
the finest, most successful, powerful women in the fashion industry. She developed
a collection aimed at the luxury market for women on the go, women who
were powerful in their workplace, women who had lives that extended beyond the workplace.
And her clothes went from day and tonight. An extraordinary collection. But
the interesting thing Donna Karen had a young daughter, and she had friends and
they couldn't afford to buy the Donna Karen collection, and Donna invented dk NY
Donna Aaron, New York. It's an offshoot of the Donna Karen collection.
The same concept a lifestyle brand. Now we talk about lifestyle brands, what
does that really mean? Simply what they say, there are brands that follow
you throughout your lifestyle. You get up in the morning, you start to
get dressed. Donna Karen decaan why as intimate apparel, as hosiery, as
all those products. You're getting dressed for work. You get accessorized shoes,
handbags and it takes you through the day. The remarkable thing about DK and
Y clothes for work, they work into the evenings. This is the suits,
the pants, the sweaters, the blouses, extraordinary clothes at affordable prices
that go from day in tonight. Part of your lifestyle is active. You
have weekends, you have events, you participate in sports. Donna Karen's casual
clothes did that under the DK and Y label. A vast array of casual
sportswear that make women look great as they navigate their busy lives. Whether you're
going to soccer games for your children, or whether you're going out to the
movies, whatever you want to do, DK and Y Jeans, dc Y
Sportswear is there for you. That's what a lifestyle brand is. And I
need to mention DKY active Wear, which is extraordinary, the leggings, the
sports bras, the sweats. You can wear DKY active Wear certainly in the
gym, certainly when you're working out at home, and certainly if you want
on the street, because it's that well done. The quality of DCAM why
is nothing short of exceptional, and why shouldn't it be because it was born
from the idea of luxury made affordable for women of America. DK and Why,
a true lifestyle brand that takes you from day and tonight, from the
week into the weekend, DCN Why. You can find DCN Why and Macy's
DKY dot com. Welcome back to Always in Fashion. Here's your host,
Mark Webber. Tonight, I'm talking Wanted. I must admit that this week,
if you're just tuning in, I mentioned that I never seemed to be
happy whenever I got what I wanted. I wanted what I hadn't gotten.
When I had gotten what I wanted, it was never enough for me.
It was never quick enough. It was never and it took away a lot
of the joy. But I thought it about it and decided that tonight I
would talk about Wanted. Now I have a little something else called I Wanted
the Truth. J C. Penny, who I have been a long admirer
of, was back in the day company that didn't have brands, but we
did at venues in a secret deal with J. C. Penny, one
hundred million dollar deal at the time. They wanted the venues and brand wanted.
We're talking wanted. They wanted that brand more than life itself. They
felt that venues And at the time was the number one shirt brand in the
world, if not the world, certainly in the United States, and they
felt if they could get a premium brand like venues And in the store,
it would elevate their entire assortment, but even more importantly, that other brands
equal in value would come and want to sell J C. Penny. So
we were a great win for them when we decided to do this now,
Venues And we were thrilled. This was an extraordinary opportunity to channel our business
to one of the largest change stores and national change stores in the world.
We were going to build this large opening business and perpetuity with jcpenny, and
we hoped that it would grow dramatically. Now I could tell you thirty years
later, it's still there. It's still important. Would it be bigger and
better if I was there? Yeah. Problem is with this whole story,
my predecessors thought that J. C. Penny needed van using more than they
needed wisdom, that they needed venues In more than they needed merchandising sense.
And the way the deal was constructed it was to maximize profits for our company
without an eye on what was happening at J C. Penny. We had
a pre ticketed solid white Venues and dresser at twenty five dollars. The sell
price to J. C. Penny was twelve fifty. In our vernacular,
that's a fifty percent markup. They want our they'll sell it at a regular
price. Our CEO said, they want our brand, they'll pay what we
tell them to pay. The only problem was at the other end of the
wall. Macy's also had the venues and white dress shirt pre ticketed at twenty
five dollars, but they sold a significant portion of those shirts, maybe most
of the time, on sale at twenty five to thirty percent off at eighteen
ninety nine or seventeen ninety nine. They would advertise it. Jace Penny kept
coming in and asking, how can they do that. We'd say that I'm
making as much money. We can't tell them what to sell it for.
The best we could do is ticket price it. It's illegal to tell a
retailer what price they must sell at. The best we could do is manufacture
suggested retail price, and that's what we did, and both of you do.
Jac Penny was scratching their heads. The reason why, unbeknownst to them,
we were selling the same shirt for nine dollars, So Pennies was paying
twelve to fifty Maceys were paying nine dollars. Our view all fair in love
and war. But as time went on, J C. Penny who bought
five hundred thousand dress shirts and the first order only sold sixty five thousand of
them. They had eighty five percent of those shirts unsold. So what happens
the next season? We're expecting an order for five hundred thousand dress shirts.
When the team get there, the orders total up to sixty five thousand units,
not five hundred thousand. Now why am I telling you this? I
was named president, as I told you in the prior segment, for my
second time at the venues. Insured company came in. I told you tonight,
I'm discussing wanted what I wanted coming in after hearing what was going on.
I'm responsible for selling five hundred thousand dress shirts to jac Penny. They're
only buying sixty five thousand. I'm saying to my so of what's going on.
They tell me the story, which they called the great lie. Nobody
had the courage to go to our chairman or our president tell them it wasn't
working we have an agreement. The greatest story I ever had in my life
is on the words. So I went to the company and said, I
have a contract. You know what my boss said to me, So we
mean so, so you have a contract. I'm a shock. He said.
Everybody in the world can sue anybody forever what they want. You don't
like it, sue us, We'll see you in court. Nobody wanted to
tell the CEO. Nobody wanted to tell the president that it wasn't working.
I'm just named to the president and I am the one to have to deal
with this, so it's my responsibility to tell them what's going on. They
call a meeting and I tell them we have a problem with JC Penny chairman
says to me, we don't have a problem. There's a guarantee we're going
to get one hundred million dollars. Well, they're not buying it. We're
gonna miss up of one hundred million by tens of millions of dollars. The
problem is we force them. Prior to me, we sold them the shirts
are twenty five dollars pre ticket for twelve fifty, so they're obligated to sell
them to make the margin they needed twenty five and they are selling sixty five
thousand. But Macy's and the rest of them down the all that don't have
contracts are paying eight dollars and nine dollars, and they're selling the shirts at
eighteen ninety nine and seventeen ninety nine, and they're knocking the heck out of
Penny. He gets really angry at me, and we have a deal.
You just got back in this job. You're here, you're telling me.
Two weeks later, I said, I'm only telling you this because it's a
real problem. So he says to me, put something in writing. I
want to see it. Read. Tell me what's got I want to read
it. I put a document together outlining all the facts dealing with J.
C. Penny, the numbers, the dollars, the cents, the problems,
and what I suggest we do now. Obviously, when you sell them
the shirts at a lower price, you're going to make less money. But
in the end, if you allow them to make money, they're gonna support
it. They'll get to where they promised them. They'll even grow it.
I put it together. It was one of my greatest pieces of work.
And that Friday we have a meeting I hand him the document. He starts
to read it. He slaps it down on his desk. He's angry.
I have a deal with them for a hundred million dollars. They're gonna buy
one hundred million dollars. Blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah.
This is Mark. I'm disappointed in you. I can't believe you've written
this. I have to wonder why we made you president if this is the
best you can do. I go home that night tell my wife the story.
I said, I finally reached the point where I don't believe I'm going
to have a career. Cheers me. Did I do a good piece of
work? I said, it's a great piece of work. Doesn't make sense.
It makes all the sense in the world. But you know, we
have to be prepared when I go into work Monday that I won't have a
job. I get an O from the CEO that night on Friday. Is
the biggest piece of crap I ever read in my life. Shame on you,
Mark. Saturday morning phone rings and who is it? The CEO?
And he says that, I quote Mark, I read the document that you
prepared. On j C. Penny, and I have to tell you it's
the single best outline of a plan that I've ever seen in my life.
He says. You are outlined and articulated the problems. You made it clear
that it wasn't working. You also made it clear that if we didn't change,
our future with J. C. Penny would be in jeopardy. It
was brilliant. I'm going to share it with the board. I called you
today this morning, on Saturday morning, just to let you know how proud
I was of what you did and how I'm going to support it. And
he hangs up on me. I wanted the truth, I gave the truth.
I got the truth. I wanted my job, and I kept it
back in a moment. Always in Fashion US for over one hundred and fifty
years now, has been a mainstay in American fashion. This brand that was
invented for dress shirts was given to cold miners when they exited the mills,
dirty and dusty. The Phillips venues and company Phillips families there to give them
fresh, new shirts that they could wear at home and feel their best.
Over the course of time, venues and dress Shirts grew and grew and grew
to suit shirts and ties for the dress up, but now sportswear has become
a dominant part of the venues and collection. You can find these products including
sweaters, polos, quarter zips, trousers and even the best of fashion has
to be preserved. I don't know if I ever mentioned to you the advent
of the men's necktie. There's nothing better in a men's necktie business than the
business lunch because guys would go out, they'd have their lunch that have their
salads or their beef and potatoes, and snow stout about it. They would
always stain their tie. And therefore the business grew and grew venues. And
today doesn't want to make money on your hardships. They want to do it
and prevent you from having to go through that. And they invented stainshield.
It's the technology that was invented to protect your favorite items. The Stainshield collection
provides extreme defense against water based stains by causing spills to beat up before they
can be absorbed into the fabric. This collection, by the way, in
addition to regular fits, is also often in all body sizes, including big
and toll. You can find vanues and Stainshield and the great venues in styled
sportswear at vanues In dot com. That's Vanusen dot com. 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 Carlagofeld Paris. He has women's collections, men's collections, ready to wear,
accessory, shoes and bags. The fashion house car Lagafeld also offers a
range of Watchers eyewear and premium fragrance. 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. Calls 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 Lagafelt, Paris at Macy's Orcarl Lagafel dot com. Welcome
back to it. Always in fashion, here's your host, Mark webber Tonight's
show is wanted once again I started this week by my children saying, I
had this great success. I never enjoyed it. You're a curmudgeon, You're
never satisfied. You don't appreciate what you did. It seems to me you
were never happy with what you had. And I started thinking. I said,
what do you guys doing to me? What do you want from me?
Since you do it all the time, you're not happy. We don't
understand it. And it's true. I wanted what I hadn't gotten when I
had just gotten what I wanted. But I have to say, what did
I really want in life? I wanted success for my family. I wanted
them to be proud of them. I wanted to be a role model.
I wanted my wife to know she made the right decision in marrying me.
I wanted people to recognize that this guy came from the city projects and turned
his life around. I wanted success, and I must admit I wanted the
recognition. But more than anything else, I worked to get the boot off
my neck. When I talk about this company, when I talk about my
career, yeah, it turned out great. It was never easy for me.
I always had peoples over me. As I said, stepping on my
neck, with their boots keeping me down, telling me what I was wrong
with, telling me how I needed to approve, telling me, telling me,
telling me. But I sucked it up. I learned what I could,
I accepted what made sense, and I made a success out of myself.
But I wanted more than anything else was money. I wanted to get
in a position that I could do what I wanted with my life. And
on a night when I talk about wanted, that's what became of me.
I left van Us and I've wanted to work again for prestigious company. I
work for Louis Vuitton Moennessey, and Chapter three is a culmination of a life's
work and career. I'm on the radio talking to you. I'm on podcasts
talking to you. I've written two books. I'm talking about things that I
wanted desperately in my life. And the moral of the story is one you
should try and enjoy whatever you win, whatever works for you, should try
and enjoy it. I didn't know how I wasted that time. You should
also know what you want and begin with a plan in mind, begin with
the end in mind, know what you're trying to achieve, and then go
after it. You're entitled to want what you want. The heart wants what
the heart wants, You're entitled to do that. I can tell you whether
I enjoyed myself or not, whether I ever received a degree of few money
that I want. I only know that I manage want on a night that
a show is called wanted. Good Night,