This is a noncore performance of Always in Fashion. This show is produced and
hosted by Mark Webber. The show is sponsored by G three Aparol. I
view is expressed in the following program are those of the sponsor and not necessarily
the opinion of seven ten wor 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 Weber. Mark Weber,
did you miss me? Did you realize I wasn't here? That's the issue.
I took a vacation, repeated a former show last week, but no
one reached out and said, we miss you, Mark, unless what's bothering
me? Something's been bothering me. I keep talking about it. I feel
it every day in one form or another. I know it's not my imagination.
The feeling is too strong. I'm intuitive, I can read people,
and humans have decided I'm no longer important. I'm not relevant as I'm matured.
My hair has gotten grayer, but it's come with some wisdom. A
keen sense of the world has provided me with a new degree of clarity.
I see the world for what it is, not what it professes to be.
I used to see people. Now I see right through them. I
know what you're thinking. I've become more diverse in my interests. And while
I've always known a little of a myriad of subjects, I now know a
great deal. I have a point of view, I have insights. I'm
older, but I promise in many respects I'm sharper, smarter, and funnier.
Yeah, I still like myself. I've noticed, though, a new
creativity in everything that crosses my path, particular those things that interest me.
Look in many respects, I'm not the same I have. I was going
to say less patience, but in complete honesty, I have no patience.
The drive to win never goes away. But I recall a well known men's
model on set in California. You're telling me Mark, you won one what
Tyler the game of life? So I don't need to prove anything, and
I don't need anything. Therefore, the hunger is just not there as it
was. I'm not in the city projects any longer. My reality in many
respects. The clarity has made me better, but I've mellowed with age.
Age brings wisdom and experience. There's not much I miss, but I miss
being important. I'm in this culture, but people don't see you when your
hair is gray. It's like, I guess you're not there. Maybe I
should Rob Banks. The camera would pick me up. I'm invisible like Pierce
Brosnan's Aston Martin. I deal with a lot, but being relevant not so
easy now. Having said this many times, my children go to great lens
to tell me, you're not thinking straight that you're important to us. Your
family thinks you're important. We need you. I'm blessed. My children want
to spend time with me. They like hanging out with me, They want
to they appreciate me, in spite of being an acquired taste. They like
me. They want to go on vacations with me. I'm thinking it's not
because I pay for everything, but hmm, I know they love me,
that's for sure, and that's priceless, and helping them is priceless. Now
forgetting this touchy feely stuff. There's another side to this coin. Once you
breathe the clean air at the top of the mountain, it's difficult to breathe
the polluted air down below. Consequently, I think the fact that I used
to be important is weighing heavy ar on me. Then it ordinarily would anyone
else. You have to raise the question should we be judged by what we
do rather than who we are. That's not smart, that's not fair,
that's not enough smart out there and fair. As for kids, fair is
a nebulous concept. They say you are what you eat. Interesting and clever
and probably true. But in this life you're defined by what is your vocation.
Titles matter, Being the decision maker matters more. Recognition for those decisions
perhaps matters most. Inclose you are evaluated for results. However, I'm Mark
Weber, CEO of Louis Viton mohed Hennessy is quite different from my Mark Weber
radio broadcast host. Just the way it is, it is what it is.
I'm not embarrassed. This is chapter three of an incredible run. CEO
of fashion and retail, CEO of luxury and now producer write a talk show
host. But I used to be important Okay, I'm not complaining. I'm
stating the facts. And if I could put substance to this statement, this
will be a great show. And whether I feel important or not, I
strive for great good. Isn't good enough and I know that. And here's
the plan I intend to share with you my thoughts. Starting out, I'll
explain the triumphs and rewards. I'll make the comparisons. You get to be
the judge, I should point out being important and tasks with important requirements and
not delivering is no fun. So if you want to be important, it
comes with a catch responsibility. Unlike me, who used to be important,
the very important, relevant political and legal commentator, my son, my lawyer,
my co host, Jesse Weber. Now Jesse, just to stay focused
because you are important. Let's start with the most important, if not important,
controversial Roe versus Wade. Before we even get to Roe v Wade,
did you miss me? Did you miss me? Because let me tell you
something, the repeat show we did last week, I wasn't even on that
show. And I'm not complaining. You don't see me saying hey, audience,
I don't feel loved and I wasn't even on the show last week.
You're such a cry baby. I like to make an impact. Okay,
I'm invisible. I get it. Let's go to Roe versus Wade. I
don't understand why in God's name, and that's what they're using. I think,
without saying it, they decided to overturn the right for women to get
an abortion. It was fifty years of an uneasy piece, but there was
peace. And furthermore, when all these new Supreme Court justices, in fact,
when any Supreme Court justice is named, they're asked their opinion on Roe
versus Wade, and the newest crop of judges seem to have said they do
not anticipate dealing with this, and they would not or they didn't agree in
any way send any signal that they would overturn it. What is going on,
all right? So let's break it down in a very simple way.
First, let's be very clear, although these justices, these conservative justices,
are quite religious and have certain religious backgrounds, there's nothing in their decision that
says they made this decision on religious grounds. So let's be clear about that.
People suspect that's why they did it, but they didn't say anything about
religion. What they said was is that abortion, unlike other rights that are
protected, is not that kind of fundamental right that's been protected in America for
as long as we remember. You may like freedom of speech and due process,
your innocentence will proven guilty. Some things have been around and it's always
been protected and it's always understood to be protected. Abortion. Back when the
and I'll explain this in a second, back when everything was going on,
they said, Look, abortion was always a divisive issue. It was criminalized
in certain states. Unlike other rights, it's dealing with human life. It's
different, they said, it's different, and it's different because of the interpretation
of what is life. Is life created a conception, or's life after a
certain period of time, when the baby's cooking. That's what this is about.
Correct, Well, they didn't even address the answer to that in their
decision. They didn't make an answer as to when life starts. That's a
separate question that's going to be now up to the states to determine how they
want to regulate it, how they interpret that. They base their decision on
a legal interpretation of the Constitution. And the way they did that was back
in the day in nineteen seventy three when Roe v. Wade came about the
Supreme Court said that under the Fourteenth Amendment, and the fourteenth Amendment says that
the government can't restrict your life, liberty, or property without due process,
that you have certain protections under the law, and you have certain procedural safeguards
put in place that the government can't intervene in your life without certain things that
are done. You could just look at that language and say, Okay,
I get it, that makes sense. But the Supreme Court over the years
looked at that language and said, you know what, the Fourteenth Amendment actually
protects other rights that aren't even in the Constitution, that weren't even originally foreseen
in the Constitution. These are fundamental rights, things that are not black and
white on the Constitution, that are not written there, but they're protected nonetheless.
That this Fourteenth Amendment protects things like your right to privacy, your right
to private decisions, personal decisions over your body, things like a right to
an abortion, right to same sex marriage, right to use contraception in married
couples. And we've seen a number of different cases over the years that have
protected these rights. And then all of a sudden, this decision comes out
last week. And the Supreme Court said, nope, abortion is not a
fundamental right. Sorry, we're going to kick it back to the states.
They're going to decide whether or not to ban abortion, to regulate abortion.
It's not a federally constitutionally protected right. And the problem with that interpretation is
now, and particularly after Justice Clarence Thomas wrote this in his concurring opinion,
Well, can't they now look at all of these other rights that were protected
by the fourteenth Amendment, like same sex marriage, and say let's throw that
out too. Let's leave that to the states to decide. They open the
door. Now, what are they going to do next? And although the
majority of the Court in their opinions said, don't worry, we're not talking
about those other rights right now. This has no effect on them. Well,
how can you trust them on that exactly? And you know what the
liberal justices and their dissenting opinions said, we don't believe you. After you
did this, what's next? And so everybody's very concerned with what this opinion
means moving forward. Well, that's pretty clear and unclear at the same time.
I just don't understand why they're involved with us in our bedrooms well,
state governments believe they have a right to get involved. So with abortion right,
they say, we have a right to get involved because you're dealing with
human life, ending human life, and sometimes these terrible we have to step
in. We can't just let people do what they want. It's the same
thing back in the day when the government wanted to restrict same sex marriage,
they said, we have a right as a moral duty to get involved here.
We have to protect what it means the sanctity of marriage in this country,
in this state. And so they get involved in these decisions. They
think they have a right to get involved. So the federal government and the
Supreme Court determines what an overall point of view would be for the country,
and that supersedes what a state might think. But in this case, the
giving the rights back to the states. Why because the Supreme Court is saying
there is no federal right protection to abortion. This goes back to the states
who have already had laws in their books about abortion. They already have regulations
put in place about abortion. This is going to be a state issue,
so it's being treated no differently than a speed limit. The speed limit in
Virginia might be seventy miles an hour, and in New York it might be
sixty. The federal government doesn't get involved, but the states do. Yeah.
I mean, look, when you're dealing with speed limits, you're dealing
with local government, not really state government. But yeah, think about it
like that. It goes back to each individual state within their borders about how
they want to interpret abortion. It's very confusing, it's very concerning. This
was, as I said, it an easy piece. And I don't see
why they had to get involved now and do this and create havoc in our
country. I just don't see it. I've said it. I'm a stocked
Republican when it comes to international affairs and monetary affairs, but I lean left
unless when the left gets crazy. But I am not in favor of telling
a woman what to do with her body, just not. And I'm troubled
by this whole thing and where it can go from here. And having said
that, on a night we're talking about it used to be important. The
question really is is the Supreme Court important any longer? I think that's the
wrong question. It's not if they're important anymore, it's did they used to
be trusted? And are they now, Wow, of all the things,
all the institutions in this country, in the world that were Sancho sacked that
no one would ever question, that people believed was apolitical, that the rights
of individuals were protected, that we could sleep well at night knowing that the
Supreme Court would always do the right thing. We go to sleep tonight wondering
why the Supreme Court did this and whether or not they'll be important any longer.
Take a break, We'll be back in a minute. Always in fashion.
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 Lagefeld Paris. He has women's collection, 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 Carlagofil collection at Carlagofelparis 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 Lagafeld, Paris at Macy's Orcarlagafel
dot com. Fall is now upon us. Spring is gone, summer is
over, and I'm tending to be a little upset, except the fall brings
new challenges and new differences and a great new environment for us to thrive and
enjoy. I, for one, love the change of the season is because
of the new fashion, and I am excited about my favorite brand, Eyeson,
and what they bring to the party. When I used to work at
the company and we were reinventing Izon, which had always been a golf and
tennis brand, we brought it to new heights, new dimensions. I thought
Isaac would be practical in skiing, not necessarily for on the slopes, but
for EPRISKI What do people wear when they're relaxing, when they're in those hotels?
What are you doing when you're at home? What are you wearing to
the movies? What are you wearing to go out at night when you're no
longer wearing your spring clothes? And here we are in full and I can
tell you what it is. Polar flees, French dairy, different kinds of
fleeces, color block, colors, sweaters, great, great long sleeve items
come into play. And with Isaac they were always about color and being colorful.
I love what the brand represents, whether we're talking about color block or
solid colors. Always with the logo, Isaac brings a dimension to sportswear fashion
at affordable prices that you can't find anywhere. And at the same time,
it's all color related, from the woven shirts, from the knit shirts to
the matching sweaters or the sweaters that will look great layering over these shirts.
Always matching pants, beginning with the core color of khaki, working into the
navies and the blacks. ISOD is a spectacular brand all about colors and launching
in full of the new fall shades you'll see in the stores. Listen,
guys, Isod's a great brand. It's energetic, it's fun to be around,
and it makes you feel and look your best. And now there's a
color palette change and you get to change with it. ISOD. Come take
a look JC Penny Cohal's and online. ISID What a history, how much.
I enjoy this brand. Welcome back to it always in fashion. Here's
your host, Mark Webber. Something's been bothering me. I keep talking about
it. I feel it every day in one form or another, and that
feeling is really strong. And I've decided that humans no longer think I'm important.
They don't think I'm relevant, and it's something I've been struck with and
I've been thinking about a great deal and that's what I've been broaching tonight.
And one of the subjects is is if you're not important, is it possible
to be important. I can't be what I was. I was a master
of the universe. I was one of those guys that everybody was listening to
that couldn't make many decisions. Until I showed up, I was identified as
who I was. But I'm not any longer. And I've realized that I
live a life that I can be important where I want to be and I
should be. And part has to do with the way I behave at home
with everything I do. A great story, and that's where I want to
talk to you about my other son, my eldest son, and I have
an ongoing debate at home, and it's about do you negotiate with everyone providing
goods and services? Where do you accept the prices they offer and sleep well
at night knowing they'll come and they'll treat you with a priority. Now'll hold
it for second. I've always been good at putting a scene together. I've
always been good at understanding who I really need, what I really need,
and making sure to those people I'm recognized and I'm important. We have a
local mechanic at home. I'm a car guy. I have a bunch of
cars. Even if I wasn't a car guy. You need tires, you
need a inspection, you need to get things done. And I have a
bunch of cars, and I have this guy and he is extraordinarily to me,
and on top of that, to Jesse, to my other son,
the whole family. Anytime we call him up, he takes care of us.
One day I was with him and I said to him, am I
your best customer? And he laughed and he said, you're one of them?
I said, why is that? Because I have so many cars?
He's know. He says, you never question me on the price. He
asked me to do something. I'm always there. Whenever it is I'm there
and You never once ask me what it costs. You always accept that.
I can't tell you what that means to me. I once was in a
gas station about three miles from where his offices, where his building is,
where they do the work, and my car the battery died right at the
pump. I called him up five minutes later, who was at the pump
with his tow truck and a charger, And they started me up and brought
me right into his place. And I believe it's what he said which brings
me back to my son and I are always arguing and debating about whether or
not you should negotiate with everyone who shows up to do work in your house.
My son lives down the street and we have this debate. And in
business, the lesson here is money flows to where the opportunity is. If
you can earn a higher profit on Madison Avenue than Fifth Avenue, where would
you put your store. If your profits are higher at Macy's than Coal's and
you have limited inventory, who will you ship that inventory to? Stan The
reason business goes where the money is used to be important into some I am.
I'm still important to my favorite restaurant in New York city, or I'm
still important to the where I live because I go a lot, they know
when I walk in. I became a fan of Ralph Laura, and after
I semi retired, I went into radio. I could never wear it before,
because in the past I should always be wearing my own brands from the
companies I work into, and Ralph very often as logos. I could wear
somebody else's logo, I wouldn't want to. But I've come and buyer of
the company, and now when I walk into the mansion, they know who
I am. Or my walk into my local store where there's a Ralph Lauren
store, they know who I am, which reminds me by the way of
a great American Express commercial that used to be out there. Do you know
me? Would you believe I'm Bugs Bunny? I'm also the voice of many
other cartoon characters put in here. They don't care if I'm Elm or Fudd.
So I carry you an American Express card, the one card I need
for travel and entertaining, for business and pleasure. But without this, the
only way I'd get any attention is by saying the it's all so to be
important, you can be and you have to know where you want to be
important. You want to fish where a fish is swimming. And while I'm
at it. Once you're a customer online from our brand, they'll focus on
you. Stands the reason your time is best spent with people are inclined to
buy your product. That's common sense. But here I am with my son.
Were negotiated and how to negotiate for good services. We live in the
same neighborhood. But I want to hold that thought. My wife lover,
she believed in tipping generously. She would say that money means more important to
the people they're tipping than it does to you. And she would tell me,
you just give them the right tip, or I will. So when
we went out to dinner and the check came, I always told her I
gave her more than I should have, which is what she wanted. But
I actually gave less than what I thought was fair. But I have a
great story. We traveled a lot, and my wife believed in being important
to certain people we try now. I stopped traveling with my wife because I
didn't think it was smart. We had two small children. We shouldn't be
on the same plane. One day, I'm dropping my wife off at Delta,
and as we get there, it's packed with a million cars dropping off.
I didn't even know how I would get over to get a baggage guy
for her. And there were only four guys on baggage checking and we're one
of a thousand people. And she says, don't worry. My guy Carlos
is there. He'll take care of me. And I looked at it.
I said, you have a guy, Carlos who's a bag checking guy.
Now I'm listening to this, I don't believe a word she's saying. So
I pull in. We're surrounded by a million people, and there's my wife.
She gets out of the car. I'm almost not even stopped yet.
She stands on the ledge of the car where it's a jeep, and she
waves her hand and signals this guy who literally drops the suitcase he's carrying for
another couple and comes running over to my wife and he goes, hi,
missus Webber and takes a luggage incredulously. I almost faint. I can't believe
what I'm saying. My wife kisses me goodbye, says he's taking me to
the gate and dropping the luggage right inside, so I don't have to worry
where it is. It doesn't stay on the street. I'm going to guess
that wasn't a dollar a bag situation. Now when I get to Vegas the
next night, I asked my wife about the tip. She goes, it's
none of your business. She's looked at me, and she says, by
the way, what was it worth to you? She asked me. I
said twenty dollars. She gives me one of those. You know, you're
an idiot. It'd still be In New York. Steve Martin has a movie
called My Blue Heaven. It's one of his best movies in my opinion,
and he has a line in there, I want to play for you.
It'll be twelve dollars, okay, and keep the change please. Oh we're
not allowed to accept tips. Not allowed to accept tips. Oh your change
is eight, Thank you, thank you, bye you tip a flight attendant.
I dip everybody. That's my philosophy. See, actually it's not tipping.
I believe in it's overtipping. I love it. I don't believe in
tipping. I believe in overtipping. Now back to my son. This all
started this week with my son negotiating with a service provider. Now, negotiating
is a nice word, this time for an all out big argument, because
what happened was the guy did a thousand dollars work around my son's house and
told his wife it's one thousand dollars. He wasn't home and never explained it
and never told him what it would cost, and he got crazy. Now,
to protect the innocent, I want to make sure I say this clearly.
This is not necessarily the gardener not necessarily, the pool man not necessarily,
the phone company not necessarily, the security company not necessarily, the garage
man not necessarily, the sprinkless service not necessarily, the burglar alarm not necessarily,
pest control, water electric, blah blah blah. It doesn't matter.
But they charged him a thousand dollars. They told the wife one thousand dollars.
They didn't explain what it would cost. And my son called them and
had a big argument. And right away the guy says to my son,
I hate doing business with you people, Jesse. What do you think you
people sounds like to you? That's never a good phrase to use. It
could be a religious slight, It could be wealth slight, could be anything,
could be race. I don't know what it means, but when anybody
uses that, it's not good. So my son says to him, you
people. Now you're right. In a political correct world, you don't say
you people. So the guy turned out he's self corrected right away. He
says, I can't stand rich people in this rich neighborhood. My son's saying,
don't come here. Then my son, during the so called negotiation,
got him to admit that for the same work in another neighborhood, he charged
significantly less. And let's just say they agreed to move forward. So there's
a story in all of that about tipping. There's a story there about negotiating.
There's a story there about life, but a funny thing about negotiation.
I want to share it with you. From a business point of view,
I was an expert in buying manufactured products in Asia, whether it was textiles
or finished garments like shirts or sweaters or suits, whatever, I was an
expert. I was an expert because well, not because I was smarter than
the guy across the table, not because I was purchasing vast quantities of product,
not because it was prestigious to have our brands in their factory. So
when other customers came in, they saw my brands and they would do business
with them. Not because our company paid its bills on time, which we
did. I was an expert because I understood every component of the coursting structure
in the manufacturing process. When you understand the cost of labor, when you
understand the cost of raw material, when you understand the cost of oil,
the cost of cotton and the cotton crop, when you understand the strength or
weakness in the marketplace, you understand supply and demand, you are a great
negotiated because you know what you can pay for a garment manufactured by those people.
However, from a business point of view, the guys or gallons across
the table are also smart people. They should be. They're the one manufacturing
the products. They too know their cost that's their lifeblood. But they also
know who they're selling. They knew what the buyer from Kmart could afford to
pay. They knew what the buyer from Macy's could afford to pay. They
knew what they could ask Sachs Fifth Avenue to pay. I'm a DKY,
I'm a big shot, I'm important CEO, but they knew what I could
afford to pay. So there's a lesson here for the same item. No
matter how great a negotiator you are, if you work for Macy's, you're
gonna pay less than sex. And your job is to get the best price
in your zone. So back to my son and the lesson here. When
you're in your neighborhood, you need people to come pay them whatever they want.
So they come like my guy and the coming to me and the guests.
They should have charge my car when the battery died. But wait,
I want to just counter that. Okay, Sure, the opposite argument is
you're gonna get taken advantage of No. You know, you're gonna pay what
you have to pay living in this neighborhood or whatever neighborhood you're living in.
You live in Manhattan, you're gonna pay more for goods and services than if
you live in Brooklyn. I thought everything was open for negotiation. Wasn't that
the rule? Yeah, but you're not supposed to fight about it. What's
the difference between negotiating and fighting? Okay? Last year in the winter,
my son's pipes froze. Remember they left the garage. They're open in their
pipes froze. They would pay anything to get someone to come in here and
change those pipes. You want to negotiate that. My point of view is
like my she believes not in tipping, but in overtipping, like Steve Martin,
I don't believe in tipping. I believe in overtipping when it comes to
service. When it comes to people who are making a living the hard way,
pay them what they're worth. That's how you're important in this world.
I'll take a break. We'll come back in a minute. Always in fashions,
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 were
dressing up again and it's become cool to wear a suit. Suits can be
worn on multiple occasions in multiple ways. You could wear a suit formally to
go out at night or to an event, 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 this is important. Does the products you package,
and wearing a suit is one of those things that make men look their best.
Venuesing 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 WICKI 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 ven Using
company is involved in this new technology and is embracing the whole idea of dressing
up. Let's not forget Venues and made it's name with dress shirts. It's
only proper that the suit business follows strongly in its way. You can find
Vanues 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. Welcome back
to it always in fashion. Here's your host, Mark Webber. I used
to be important. I used to be a master of the universe. I
know what that feeling was like. I also know what it feels like now
not to be important. Nobody cares what I have to say, maybe on
the radio, you do, we'll talk about that in a little bit,
But certainly my everyday, day to day life, nobody cares what I have
to say. Now, if I sat alone at home all the time and
I didn't go to various different places, it wouldn't matter. If I wasn't
involved with my elder son in the fashion business, or I wasn't talking about
it in some shape matter of home, maybe I wouldn't care as much,
but sort of related. We all get to find by what we do and
what do I do talk on the radio. It eggs at me. The
debates I get into. No longer is my word final. Everything is a
conversation. I could say, maybe it's ego, but money aside. I
used to ask myself, why do I want to be important? Why does
anyone want to be important? And I know for me, I used to
sit across the desk from other people. I used to listen to them present,
I used to watch what they do. I used to be taught by
them. And I said, uncategorically, with two exceptions, in my entire
life, I can do better than these people. I could be better at
what we need to accomplish. I have the talent, I have the wherewithal
I have the drive, I know what needs to be done. I'm working
for companies. I could make them better. And it didn't matter whether I
was at my desk or in the boardroom or on a podium making a speech.
I thought perhaps I was smarter, but I knew that my results would
be great. And I often thought about what it felt like being important,
walking into seven hundred restale stores around the country and having my picture in the
back, and knowing that when I walked in they would find out who I
was or k who I was. Coming big feeling to the various different offices
around the world, making speeches, whether it's in China or in Hong Kong
or in the New York Times Building, people sitting there waiting to hear what
I had to say. That was a great life. By the way,
you know what I'm gonna do now, what I'm gonna pay people at like
Starbucks when you walk in to be like mister Webber welcome. That's funny.
You know, maybe I'm whining too much, and maybe that's what I'm up
to, but I promise I'll even talk about that when the time comes.
So I guess The issue is is what is it like not being important to
a certain degree, It's not as much fun. But here I am,
I'm on the radio. I get a chance to try and talk about things
that are important to you and important to me. And I wanted to talk
about inflation. I filled up my car yesterday one hundred dollars. It used
to be a struggle to fill my car up. It was thirty dollars,
maybe one hundred dollars. Inflation is crazy. Wait, you want to hear
something really crazy? Yeah, I was in Montalk this past weekend. Seven
dollars for what a gallon of gas? Oh? Yeah, they got you.
You can't go anywhere else. How are you going to get home unless
you pay for the gas prices? But that's what I want to talk about,
actually, supply and demand. Prior to COVID, businesses were doing extraordinarily
well, and people were vying for workers. You couldn't get workers why because
everyone was willing to pay more for them than you were. And this whole
conversation about a fifteen dollars minimum wage, which I do not believe should be
regulated from the central government. I think it should occur naturally. You have
people in Walmart making fifteen dollars an hour. You have people in Amazon and
the warehouse is making far more than that. Why, Because it's supply and
demand. You want workers, you're going to pay for them. And now
inflation comes. What is inflation? The technical definition is the gross national product
is down for two quarters in a row. And whether that is a good
definition or not, we're going into a recession. That's what the definition is.
And inflation. Everything is expensive, and there are a lot of reasons
why everything's expensive, but the number one reason is mismanagement at the federal level.
And that is all about excuses and it's being sand blasted. Now,
this is not the first time I'm going to refer to my book Always in
Fashion. The opening page in my book, the prologue, is called human
Nature, and I talk about the fact that I went on a trip with
my wife to Egypt, and during that trip we went to all the different
monuments that survived three thousand and five thousand years whatever it is, and one
astute tourist asked the tour guide, why is the name on all these monuments
of the same pharaoh? And the tour guide laughed and he said human nature,
and he said, all the prior pharaoh's names were sand blasted when the
new pharaoh came into power, and the last pharaoh's name therefore is on everything.
And in modern times, I would tell you that John Kennedy said,
success as many fathers, and failure is an Often the federal government, the
current administration is sand blasting. What's going on. They messed up where energy
independent, They gave it away, business had less regulations, gave it away,
tax breaks, gave it away. Nobody could trust where the government's going
based on their behavior. And all you hear is excuses, and the rhetoric
is being changed from the reality. And this inflation. Everything is more expensive.
And here's the problem. When you're a CEO of a company, when
you're the president of a company, when you have your own company, when
you have promises out there. Public companies have promised this shareholders that if you
invest in me, I will make money and get you a good return and
the price in the stock will go up. You don't invest in a public
company to feel good. You want to feel good, you invest in something
like your bank. They pay you interest rates. By the way, a
lot of money now in the banks and interest rates and in federal securities,
Treasury doubts, But you invest in stock because you believe that the company's going
to do well, and you believe that the chairman and president and chief financial
officer of those companies, when they tell you they're going to do something,
they're going to do it. And the only way you stay employed when you
are a CEO, or you're a president, or you're a chief financial officer,
is if you deliver on those promises. Now we have inflation. So
what happens. Products become more expensive, and what products become more expensive,
you sell less of them. Let me make it simple. I like shirts.
I grow up in the shirt business. I need a black shirt.
I need a navy shirt. I have a new black suit, a navy
suit. I like matching shirts. But you know the truth is I already
have a few black shirts, so much more expensive. Maybe I'll just stay
with the black shirts I have because I really can't afford to buy a new
black shirt. I'll just buy the navy one. I'm going to buy less
because before I buy shirts, I need to spend money on gas. Food
is more expensive, and everything is going more and more, and the government
step sentences. Wait a minute, inflation. This is no good. We
have to slow down these price increases, and in order to do that,
we're going to raise the price that people pay to borrow money, and in
so doing that will slow down to demand. So those people who buying houses
the mortgages going up will sell less houses, will sell less of everything.
The problem is companies can't make less money. And that's where you and I
come in to play. The first thing that happens when profits are under attack,
company looks at their expense structure and they say, what can I afford
and what can I not afford? There are things if I could afford,
I would have. There are things that I could afford I should have,
and there are things that if I could afford, would be nice to have.
All of a sudden, you're getting rid of the nice, You're getting
the rid of the wood, and all you're doing is dealing with the things
that you should have. So very often people cut back on advertising. You
cut back on advertising saves money, You start to weaken your product, and
all the people in the advertising industry start to falter. But I'm not worried
about them, because I'm worried about you. I'm worried about me, because
the biggest expense to any company is people. Now you have rent, you
can go to your landlord. The landlord will never give a rent reduction.
Ever, you're going to have to pay your rent. The government's not going
to tell you you don't have to pay your water. Then I gonna tell
you you don't have to pay electricity. Then I can tell you you don't
have to pay your heating. People are commodities when times get tough, and
those people getting fifteen to twenty dollars an hour, they're not going to get
it anymore. Now let's say you have a slow down in business. The
first thing that happens, you're gonna have a slow down in people. Either
gonna put a hiring freeze on immediately so the work market gets tougher. We
we're gonna start letting people go. People are gonna lose their jobs because of
inflation. I'll tell you what else is gonna happen. Raisers are put on
hiatus. Nobody pays raises like they were paying. When the government gets in
and the economy doesn't work, we're gonna go from fighting to get workers to
fighting to pay for workers. We're gonna be dealing with workers without work.
When there's a slow down in growth, there is no slow down in company
earnings. It's not allowed. I'm already hearing in the fashion and retail luxury
business inventories building. Therefore, cancelations are taking place. People are canceling orders
overseas, people are canceling orders for manufacturers. Inventory is starting to come a
problem. Now. The good thing about it is you're gonna be able to
buy more stuff cheap if you had money to buy with, Prices will go
down. Now. What's not going down are delays. What's not going down
are the shortages. Nobody can help with that. But what is happening across
the board with inflation thanks to our management and the Democrats management, frankly of
our economy, which I said, social issues. I'm with you guys,
except when you get really crazy. But I trust the Republicans when it comes
to managing the economy. But inflation is here. It's getting worse. Interest
rates are going through the roof. This is the way the Fed believes they
can control inflation. Make it more expensive to get everything. Therefore you'll need
less, people will buy less, and therefore this will all come around and
it's not a good time now. If I was important, I know how
to manage this, but I don't have a chance to say it. I
know how to run a company when times are tough. I know what to
do when times are tough, and people are doing it now. Cutting back
on people, cutting back on expenses, cutting back on inventory, cutting back,
cutting back, cutting back, make more money with less. That's what
we're confronting going forward. So this is not a happy time for our economy.
The only people that will do well are the people who have money to
invest in treasury bills in the banks. But these are the people had money
in stock market who lost a fortune. I got a question for you.
Yeah, people who were laid off as part of a giant corporate restructuring or
a giant corporate layoff, given what's going on, how should they be thinking
about it? Because it's not as if they were called into an office individually
and said, your work products is not paying off, you're not doing a
great job, we have to let you go. If they're one of hundreds
of thousands of people who are laid off, how should they be thinking about
it? How should they think about it? It's good in this sense that
they didn't do anything. It wasn't their performance, that they were earn't up
to snuff and doing their job, and that gives them some consolation. But
people need to make money, and there is a safety net in social security,
and there's a safety net in social programs, including unemployment insurance, but
you can't match unemployment of people's wages. It's a scary, scary time in
the country and it's only beginning, and hopefully the federalill get it under control,
because the one thing companies won't do is make less money. They just
won't and if they do, they're in trouble. And the more under attack
they offer earnings, they're going to take it out on us because it's the
only place they can come and take it out of. Look when COVID came
out, there were layoffs, people deferred, They were told that they may
get their jobs back, and there were people that completely let go and never
got their jobs back. Companies took that opportunity to streamline their workforce. I
answered your question, you got another one for me. While we're if a
recession hits, is there anything people could do now to protect themselves. I
think it was Jack Welsh, the famous businessman who said, I plan for
the worst and hope for the best. People should not have credit card debt.
Those are you who do? They should pay it off. I happen
to believe that is a safety net. Every single individual out there should have
at least a year's worth of savings for just this reason that if they get
laid off, they don't have a job, something goes wrong, they could
live for a year on what they have saved. Hopefully it never comes to
that, but that's what I would think. But from a business point of
view, you're going to make all the ugly, nasty decisions you have to
make, which begins with stopping and advertising I said before, But then it
gets into cutting muscle, not fat, and people, unfortunately, are the
biggest expenses I said, in companies. So I'm not happy with this.
I used to be important, I suppose right now I'm glad I'm not important
because I don't have to contend with what's confronting us. I am hoping there's
a lot of smart people in business that can fight their way through this.
But more than anything else, challenge your elected officials and don't forget to vote
for the right reasons. Take a break, we'll talk some more about not
being important 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 DKY active Wear, 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 were all
the time. I've had situations where I've gone to big events and been interviewed
and TV or the radio, and someone comes up to me in a microphone
and like they always do, who you 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, DK 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. It 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 at 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 car lagofl collection at car Lagofelparis dot com. But it's more than
that. I have for one, love to shop. I love going around
and seeing what 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 Comparis, 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 carlago Felt 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 carlago Fel 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 Lagafel, Paris
at Macy's Orcarl Lagafel dot com. Welcome back to it Always in fashion.
Here's your host, Mark Webber. Well. If you're just joining us.
I'm talking about I used to be important, and for whatever it's worth,
I'm not. And I am finding it difficult to cope with that. What
you really are is a cry baby. That's what you are. After this
whole hour show, I still am left with you just whining and whining about
not being important, even though you really are important. You started the show
by saying you're important to your family, which, at the end of the
day, what's more important than that? So people don't call you every day,
you don't walk into stores and they don't know where you are. Who
cares? First of all, I don't want anybody calling me. I don't
like people. I'm a reckless and when I walk into the stores, they
take my money, don't they. So there you go. It's better for
you. Yeah. I love, by the way, when stores call their
clients their customers' guests. If I was a guest, they wouldn't charge me,
would they. I love when companies call their people family. If they
were family, they would never get fired. You'd make as much as you
want, you'd come in and go as you please. Hey Dad, Hey
Mom, I'm gonna come today. I'm taking off It's Friday. Yeah.
Family, well, the nonsense. Look, I used to be important.
I was a big shot. I had lots of power, lots of responsibility.
I got all of that the hard way. I earned it. But
the truth is, when I went through the toll booth into Manhattan, they
still made me pay. I still need a reservation to get into a restaurant.
I still wait in line to get in the movie theater. Everything I
do gets charged money to me. I paid all my taxes. No matter
how important I was, my ac count charged me plenty amount to do my
taxes. So how important in reality is important? Jesse said it. My
family loves me. My children want me to spend time with them. They
want to spend time with me. They want to go on vacation with me.
I have one son here shares a radio showing podcast with me. Now
I'm told this show breaks through. I know my book Always in Fashion broke
through. I can't tell you how many people told me that. After they
read it, they gave it to their children as a bible on how to
get successful. Things you should think about. I know this show breaks through.
I know that it entertains, and at the same Todd teaches. So
all said and done, just maybe maybe I'm still important but in a different
way, and that's priceless. Good Night,