Act As If, Then You Are

Act As If, Then You Are

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This show is produced and hosted by Mark Webber. The
show is sponsored by G three Aparo. 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 Webber. He's a self made business executive here
to help you find your success, from the New York

(00:21):
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 his classic
proof that the American dream is alive. And well, here's
your host of always in Fashion, Mark Weber.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Mark Weber. The other night, I walked into a restaurant,
ABC Kitchen. It just opened in Dumbo, which of course
is Brooklyn, down under the Brooklyn Bridge. I walked into
the restaurant. It was packed, and yet there were tables open,
and I noticed I wanted a particular table. I had
the presence, the prison of mind to scope out the restaurant.

(01:02):
In zero seconds. I knew where I wanted to sit,
and I told the maitred d. I pointed to it.
I said, I want to sit at that table. The
first thing he looked at me and said who am I?
And I remember he sized me up and in a moment,
maybe a second, he decided that he would give me
the table that I pointed to. And in my view,
it had all to do with presents. It had to

(01:23):
do with one of the recurring themes that I've always
had on the show is that packaging yourself is as
important as the products you package. And while this area
of Brooklyn is very casual, I seemed to dress more
severely than most of the people around. In fact, I
was a little woman who was dressed completely in black.
I was dressed completely in black, and we had a

(01:45):
look we belonged, and it got me thinking. Hold that thought.
Before COVID, I did many interviews on the show. I
interview people who were players, important players, to name a few,
Harris Faulkner from Box News. I met her in an event.
I asked her to come on the show, and she
came on and we had a two hour show I
spread over a two days. Gilbert Harrison, a very powerful

(02:08):
investment banker who founded the firm Financo, Danielle Vitali, CEO Varney's,
John Arvedo's designer, Tommy Hill figure designer Liz Rodbell, CEO
of Lord and Taylor at the time, and I guess
there's a bunch of others, but that's enough to make
the point. But one of the women I did interview
was an industry woman that the name was Karen Murray,

(02:30):
but at the time she had been president of Liz Claiborne.
When I met her, she had gone on to become
the president of Norte because she had a number of
very big jobs. During the interview, I asked her about
certain things and how she navigated through the difficult issues
that confront us all in business. And I said something
to her that I was curious about. I wanted to

(02:51):
hear what she said, and I said, I don't know
about you. And there's sometimes I'm a meeting and I
have no idea what's going on. I have a feeling
I should know, but I just don't. And I asked
her what does she do and she said something that
will remain with me forever. She said, act as if

(03:15):
and then you are, which is basically, if you make
believe you understand what's going on, people will automatically assume
that you got it. And I told her I'd never
give a credit for it. But here I am giving credit.
But over the course of the time in my career,
there have been many instances where this has happened. You know,
it takes financial people. I'd grow up in a financial guy.

(03:36):
I learned it along the way, and even what I
learned it can't be expert in finances the way I
compete with guys with MBAs who'll have financial training. But
we'd sit around and talk about deriveters and all this
other stuff. And I'd be there and I'd be in
these meetings talking and because I'm a CEO president company,
I don't know everything but to talking about. But I

(03:56):
would shake my head, make it like I nodded, not
my head, smile and make sure that they thought I
was in the loop and understood it was acting. And
then and then then I was. I started thinking about
that restaurant the other night, and having the presence of
mind to get what I wanted. I thought, tonightyd be
an interesting night to talk about this topic of how

(04:18):
to behave when you don't necessarily know what to do,
how you behave doing the right thing versus the wrong thing?
In general? Did that end? I have a great story
about Albert Einstein. I don't know if it's true, but
I love this story. I want to tell it to you.
Albert Einstein was on a speaking tour, a driving tour.
He was with his chauffeur and they drove from location

(04:38):
to location. Albert Einstein made his speech to various different
schools and business forums, and in one particular time, one
particular evening where he had to speak, he was tired,
wasn't feeling well. It was considering canceling the performance, and
he said to his chauffeur, I don't feel very well.
I think we should cancel tonight. The chauffeur looked at

(05:00):
him and said, don't do that. I could do this tonight.
And Albert Einsen looked at his chauffeur, so what are
you talking about now. The chauff happened to have also
long gray hair, dressed similar to him, but he said,
you don't have to cancel. He said, after all of
these nights of me being with you, I know of speech.
I can deliver it to you. You don't need to cancel.

(05:21):
So Albert Einstein looked at his chauffe and said, okay,
we'll try it, and they went to the packed auditorium,
and his chauffeur got up and sat down and went
to the podium and introduced himself as Albert Einstein, and
he said, it's my pleasure to be here now. Of course,
in those days there wasn't as much television, there wasn't

(05:42):
no utube, there wasn't the internet, so the sky passed
for Albert Einstein. He got up, he made the speech,
and he was brilliant because he was Albert Einstein, act
as if. And then you are at the end of
the speech. The chauffeur decides to take questions as they
usually would, and someone in the audience stands up and
ask him something about relativity, some crazy question. He said, listen,

(06:05):
you know this stuff is very complicated. Is there any
way that you could prove that it's simple? Could you
make it simple for all of us to hear? It's
so complicated, And the chauffeur said, absolutely, it's simple. There's
no question I can make it easy for you to understand.
In fact, my chauffeur is in the audits. I'll explain
it to you. And of course Albert Einstein was sitting
there and it was wonderful. He got up, he gave

(06:27):
great examples. He answered the question, and that proves that
you can act as if and then you are what
I want to talk about tonight. But before I go there,
i'd like you allow me a little poetic love too.
And I want to tell you that I miss Diane Keaton.
I'm cented by her passing. I suppose I was never

(06:48):
really a fan of hers. She was in The Godfather,
she played her role, but I was not emostly attached.
I wasn't a Woody Allen person. I never paid much attention,
and I didn't like the way she dressed. I thought
she was too eclectic. It wasn't my thing. And then
one day i'm home, I don't remember what it was,
and I saw this movie called a Baby Boom. She

(07:11):
played a career, were vibrant in a career, I had
a master of the universe, active driven, and she reminded
me very much of myself because although she had family,
she had a young daughter. Through an act of faith,
a relative of hers died and asked in the will
that Diane Keith would take care of the baby. She

(07:32):
didn't want it. You push it away, but at one
point she realized she was forced to take over the
little girl and act as a mother, be her guardian.
And at the beginning, she tried to keep her job.
She was a powerful executive and the parent to the baby,
and it just didn't work out. And I watched her
acting and I felt for her, and I was so

(07:54):
convinced she was living this role. That really started to
impress me. And she ended up moving into the middle
of nowhere. And because she was a world beater, she
was prepared to just take care of the little girl,
but something sparked her. I don't recall what exactly. She
was buying apples and she said, you know what, I'll

(08:14):
make apple sauce for the baby. She made this apple
sauce and it was delicious, and she decided, you know what,
I'm going to package some of them and I will
sell him in the local shops. And the next thing
they know, the business takes off like crazy. And in
the meantime, as she's doing this, she meets a man,
a doctor, who she falls very much in love. But

(08:35):
she hadn't been with a guy in a while. I
remember when he gave her the first kiss, she like
fainted over back was her arms splayed out and he's
kissing her and he's looking at what's going on here.
He's just a good country guy. And if you think
about him, think about Damn Shepherd, who it was in
the movie Carry Grant kind of guy and it was

(08:55):
very cool. And he got a family of two children
in and she needed to bunce her lives. I at
the time, I was working like Craze. I was competing
with people who has simple titles to mine. We split
the company between us. And he never worked as hard
as me. He just had a different life. He seemed
to just not be as driven. I remember coming home

(09:17):
one night and talking to my wife and he said,
this guy never works hard. I'm here all the time.
He's such a lazy mother. You know, I don't get it.
And she said, Mark, no, you don't get it. Is right,
You're wrong. He understands that he has children, he understands
he needs balanced in life. He has a family. He
understands a company has a place. You don't you want

(09:40):
to think about it instead of criticizing him, you want
to be more like him. And of course at the
time I blew her off, but not forever because like
many cases, women know more than we do. And she
was right, And here I am back of this movie
with Diane Keaton, and it taught me to deserve very
impressive things with women in their careers. How they they

(10:02):
have to do everything that men do, and then they
have to go home and be mom and a wife.
I have to cook, they have to do all this stuff.
And I had a tremendous respectful women and what they
have to do, single moms even more so, how complicated
their lives were, doing their jobs which were as high
powered as anything. And then in turn, be a woman,

(10:23):
we get home, man and we go to sleep. Anyway,
I learned balance from these people and Diane Keaton in
the movie, and at that time, after that movie, I
learned to love her, and I never thought about her
again until Something's Got to Get with Jack Nicholson, and
she portrayed herself as the worst woman in her sixties
who had a life that just didn't have everything. She

(10:44):
was a playwright, successful, beautiful home, but she was She
had friends and the daughter, but in reality, she didn't
have a man. She was lonely, and she met Jack
Nicholson and the two of them began a relationship and
found the career stuff wasn't enough, they wanted it all
and they found it. Guyane Keaton has played a brilliant
role and I generally felt attached to her, and I

(11:06):
generally related to Jack Nicholson meeting someone in the later
years of life, becoming one of my favorite movies of
all time. In fact, Notting Hill with Julia Robertson You
Grant have been my favorite romantic comedy since it came
out twenty years ago, but was replaced with Something That's
Got to Give. And I became attached and respectful of

(11:26):
Diane Keaton and I miss her. Rest in peace, Diane Keaton.
Now having said this, I think about actors and the
whole job. The whole reason for being in the workplace
is to do something and make believe there's something that
they're not. They're acting, they're acting as if and then
they are. But that is a backdrop. Let's talk to

(11:47):
business to that end. They say, you can take the
boy out of Brooklyn, but you can't take the Brooklyn
out of the boy. I spent the last forty years
of my career forgetting about Brooklyn and only revisiting downtown
Dumbo Brooklyn. I became interested once again through the eyes
different eyes had Manhattan from Brooklyn. In my early years.

(12:10):
My old focus was getting way into the city, forgetting
as much as I could about my upbring, never believing
it was a special place. Because I was in the
city projects, I knew that there was a better life
somewhere else. I just had to figure out how to
get in it. So I forgot about it. But when
I give it some thought and to be honest, it

(12:30):
was a unique experience and this prompted me. It pivoted
me to make serious changes in my style and my
work ethic to get ahead. So when I look back now,
I realize I no longer live here in Brooklyn, but
it did have an impact on me and certainly on
my career. I often talk about packaging yourself is as

(12:51):
important as the product you package. Shouldn't matter how you look,
how you speak, how you stand, how you walk, how
you stand up for yourself, but it does. We all
can't be tall, we all can't be thin, we all
can't be beautiful, we all can't be blonde. We all
can't be twenty three years old. We all can't be smart,

(13:11):
we all can't be brilliant. We can all be as
the best person we have of ourselves? How do we
be our best selves? When I begant my career with
Phillips van Usen Public Company on Wall Street, big company
season executives, and me showing up totally unsophisticated, virtually no

(13:32):
training to my credit, graduating from a school. For sure,
I went to college, but I had a desire to
be something. When I got there, I knew right away
those opportunities. I could feel it, I could smell it.
I saw the people. They were different, different upbringing. I
knew I was not competitive. I didn't know if I
had a chance or not, but I knew I was

(13:53):
going to keep my eyes open to take advantage of
this opportunity. Now, I did think I was a cool guy.
I always felt I had a cool factor. I was very,
very young, and I felt it. But when I got lucky,
when I was young, and I gonna believe what I say,
I hadn't moaned it. Yeah, I got lucky. I was
thirteen years old. My parents kept me in home in

(14:14):
those days. The doctor would come to the house every day,
check up on me, do whatever he needed to do.
I stayed at home at home for three and a
half months, and during that time I read books. I
read books. I read books. I watched movies. I watched
every movie. I watched old movies. Jimmy Kagna, Humphrey bo
got everything. And I developed a personality based on the

(14:38):
things I saw, the things I learned, and it made
me more worldly than I had ever been living and
growing up in the project. So something I had, Yes,
I had something, but I wasn't refined. I was unprepared
for Corford life. But to my credit, I smelled the
opportunity and I was not going to waste it. It

(14:58):
took me a while to realize that what I thought
was cool might have been okay for Brooklyn. Picture of
me John Travolter and staying alive. I had the hair,
I had the walk, I had the clothes. Yeah. I
was cool in Brooklyn, but not cool in corporate America.
I wasn't packaged properly. And that's what I want to
talk about for a moment. How do you act as

(15:19):
if where you know you're not prepared and even if
you're not, Tonight's act is if, and then you are
is what I'm covering. You're gonna have to excuse me
for a moment for praising myself, my point of view.
I was always self aware. I was always confident, but
more importantly, I knew what I had. But even more importantly,
I knew what I didn't have. And I looked around me,

(15:42):
and I looked at all the executives. And when I
looked in the mirror, and I was honest with myself.
While I thought I was cool, the men and women
I was with didn't think so I didn't look like them.
There was a corporate standard. The suits that they wore,
the shirts, the ties, the style of dress they were
wearing worked. I was off fashion. Now that was a problem.

(16:06):
I knew how to look good, I knew how to
dress well, but not in the environment with so much
I had to learn. I asked myself, how will I
fit in here? And I say to you, how will
I look apart and act a part? And the answer
was still and always will be. Look at the most
senior executive, Look at the CEO of the company, See

(16:27):
how he or she dresses, because she or he sets
the tone oft in the style of the company. Fast
forward in many years is very different. And I'll tell you.
When I joined LVMH and I went to the first
meeting in corporate in Paris. I do it to something different.

(16:47):
I my entire years, thirty years of PVH. I wore
a shirt, suit and tie every day. On Fridays, I
will wear a dress shirt and a tie and a
sports gun and jeans. Now, at this time I ready
learned my way and then use it. But I showed
up an lvmah. I realized that the French were different,
the Europeans were different. They wore a suit every day,

(17:08):
but they never wore ties, and what was their uniform
was always suit, no tie. And what was interesting to
me when they were in meetings, they never took off
their jacket. I had never seen that before. Then. Whenever
I went into business, because I was in the shirt
is the first thing I did was take off my jacket.
And I'd even comment, hey, I'm in a dresser Bausins

(17:29):
shop to excuse me because my guests were in suits,
I would be in the tie. They never took off
their jackets, and it was fascinating. This culture was different.
Now back to my first role, let's go back. I'm
in PVH. Every zone's wearing gray worsted wiel suits or
navy suits and penny loafers, and they looked a part.

(17:49):
I didn't look like any of them. And I realized
one night what happened. And I've told story before those
of you heard her, I apologize to your new list.
As you'll know, I went to event with a corporation.
They took a table, and that night the Governor of
New York was being on it. I wore a navy
suit with a I can't even say it, a light

(18:11):
orange Kiana dress shirt. What is Keana? Some kind of
version of nylon? And I wore it with a bright
bald blue white and orange tie that matched the shirt.
And I've had my picture taken with the governor and
they gave it to me at the end of the night.
When I went home. They took a lot of pictures
and they had them there as often happens. When I

(18:31):
got home and I looked at the picture, I was
beside myself. I said, what di f was I thinking?
I looked like a buffoon. The governor was wearing his
navy suit, white shirt, and I don't remember if he
was a democratic New York probably blue tie. I looked
like a fool. And I was very depressed, and I
realized that I've been chasing fashion and it took me

(18:54):
down the wrong street and I had to change. I
walked up the morning, I was still upset to my closet,
and I knew I needed to do something different. I
started looking through the wardrobe, looking through the wardro How
can I be more conservative? How can I fit in better?
How can I realize all these days that the fashion
I was showing was just too bold, That's not who
I should be. I was ashamed of my style and

(19:18):
I just had to package myself differently. So here I
am looking in the closet for more closet clothes, and
for the first hour, I just didn't know. I didn't
know if I was going to make it to work.
I was so embarrassed by myself. And then I recall.
I took out a white shirt. I said, Akiko roy.
I put on my white shirt, and I took out
the navy suit. I had a couple of them at

(19:39):
the time, and I said, hmm, what are the ties?
And I put a navy solid color tire. So I'm
wearing a white shirt navy tire. I put on my
navy suit. I put on my black assle loafers, and
I looked in the mirror and I said to myself,
oh my god, I look great. Now those of you

(20:02):
already laughing at me. This was just a moment in time.
I looked in the mirror and said this, he said,
either great. I remember calling over my wife and I said, suit,
please come here, and I said, yes, she's what do
you need? I said, what do you see? She looks
at me. I see you? I said, no, no, what
do you see? Just look? I don't know what you're
talking about. I see you. I said, I'm going to

(20:22):
tell you what you see? You see me. I can
never look better than this. This is the best I
possibly could look. She laughs, she's look, you look great?
And I did. And I realized, right then and there
I'd found my look. Now, as they say, I've talked
about this before, because now I knew how to look
and play the part. And from that day on I bought.

(20:43):
I can't tell you how many navy suits. I had
them all numbered. I had a number of I I said,
the shirt perssons. I had a lot of white shirt.
I had a lot of navy ties. I had a
lot of the same shoes. Everything I had was numbered.
When I worked with new people. The stuff are tell me,
but to see me every day, I want you to
I'm not wearing the same clothes. All of these suits
are identical. It's my uniform, their number, and I would

(21:05):
open up the jacket and they'd see number one, two, whatever.
The numbers had twenty of them. Since when you see me,
I'm just telling you this so you know that I'm
not sleepy in the clothes. And by the way, I
mentioned Albert Einstein before I found out later in life
he also had the same clothes every day, and his
jess was, I don't want to think about clothes. I
want to think about the important things in the world.

(21:27):
But it got me looking differently. Now. I had always
been under estimated. No matter who I was with, I
was always prejudged. They would look at me, it's a
nice looking guy in a suit, which generally means the
thinking I'm not very smart and I'm getting by on
my looks. Now, I know when I say this stuff
to you guys, maybe you don't like it, maybe you

(21:47):
don't get it, maybe you don't know the truth. But
I had to fit in to make a point of view.
I had to move on from my physical looks to
my mental capacity and by changing worrying it navy blue suit,
white shirt, navy todd black cuffs. I now look the part.
I look like a business guy. I didn't stand out.

(22:09):
I acted as if, and then I was. My entire
focus in my career went from being the good looking
guy to the guy who's most accomplished. It became about substance.
So even in the simplest thing, the way, the more
you could be known on how to play the game,

(22:29):
the better chance you have as acting the part. And
if acting the part, you win. Act as if, and
then you are. I'm back in a moment, always in
fashion van using actually the name Venues. And first time
I heard it, I thought was an old man's company.
I was in an interview and I was being offered

(22:50):
a job to work and that I said, it's old
man's company. And the head hunter who is recruiting me said,
you're an idiot. Said they're a public company. They're one
of the world's great shirt makers. And if in fact
you feel they're all, that's why they want young people
like you Mark to change the company and to bring
it into the next century. And lo and behold, I
joined them. I put my heart and soul in that company.
I did everything I can to participate in making it

(23:12):
one of the world's great brands, and it is. If
you look at Van using they called sportswear, I don't
understand the name sportswear. I don't understand neckwear when you're
talking about ties. I don't understand the name hosiery when
you're talking about socks. I'm not sure I understand the
name sportswear. When you're talking about men's clothing. Well, men's
clothing is complicated because that in the retail venue means

(23:35):
suits and sport codes. Having said that, Van used in sportswear, shirts, sweaters, knitwear,
amazing men use it as a modern approach to fashion
that appeals to a broad base of Americans. First of all,
it's affordable. You find it in stores that you visit
that you could afford to participate it. You could buy

(23:56):
multiple items that are all coordinated together. YEA. Primary colors
start with black and tan and gray and navy. They're
all salable. They make sense. The knitwear in the spring
of the year, amazing golf shirts, amazing, polar shirts in
the fall of the year. Whether it's polar fleas or sweaters,
then use It has a modern approach to fashion. You

(24:18):
buy the pants, the dress, shirts, the suits, the neckwear.
But in particular I'm talking about the coordinated collection sportswear
in venues. The styling is perfect, the fits a generous,
the design to make you feel comfortable. Not only are
in your body by the fit, but in your head.
Then using sport collections are one of my favorite to

(24:40):
this day. And believe me, I'm involved when I see
the lines. If I don't like them, I call the
principles of the company and say what are you doing?
But I don't have to do it because that taste
level is right. If you want to buy affordable men's
clothes that look right. If you're modern, you want to
get dressed for the day and look your part. You
want to go ou at night, van Using will work

(25:01):
for you. I am supporting and recommending you go see
van Using Sports J C. Penny or online at your
favorite stores. Van Usen a brand that has always been
with me and I'll always have a soft spot in
my heart for it. As one of the world's most
celebrated fashion designers, Carl Lagafeld was renowned for his aspirational

(25:23):
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, accessory, shoes
and bags. The fashion house Carlagofeld also offers a range
of watches, I wear and premium fragrances. You can explore
the car Lagovil collection at carl Lagofelparis dot com. But

(25:46):
it's more than that. I have, 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. 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

(26:07):
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.

(26:27):
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. 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
carlago Felt because he's always been, he always had been

(26:49):
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 fit you well. Carl Lagafeld,
Paris at Macy's Orcarl Lagafel dot com.

Speaker 1 (27:07):
Welcome back to Always in Fashion. Here's your host, Mark Webber.

Speaker 2 (27:12):
It's a nice show. Emulates from a woman that I
met a while ago talking corporate business and asking her
what do you do if you're in a meeting and
you just don't know what they're talking about, and yet
in the position you hold, you kind of should know
what they're talking about, because you know, all of us,
no matter how what we are, we have different things.
We're good at different disciplines. You know, I might be

(27:33):
great at at international sourcing, but I might even be
great at selling. When sellers talk about making the connection
and how to make the sale or how to clothes,
I don't have the same information as a seller would.
So how did you act? I essid She had this expression.
I'll never forget. She said, act as if, and then
you are. And what it basically meant and what I

(27:55):
did so many times in my career is I'm in room.
I'm with these financial wizards, masters of the unifor Wall
Street barons or financial analysts, stock traders, and they'd be
talking about their expertise. I'd sit there, I'd smile, I'd
nod my head, and I'd make believe I understood every word. Now,
in my case, because I was always curious, when the

(28:17):
meeting ended, I would find someone who could explain to
me what went on, so I would learn. But in
that meeting, I acted as if I knew it, and
then I was. I acted as if and then I am.
And with that as a backdrop, I wanted to talk
to you about a story I had of two friends,
very close friends, and I guess it goes under the
heading you can't make a silk's purse out of a

(28:40):
sal's ear. Now, we've all heard that expression, which really
basically means you're unable to turn something ugly or inferior
into something attractive or a value. Here's an example in fashion,
No matter how expensive a person closes, still looks sloppy.
You can't make a silk purse out of a sou's ear.
Just got me to thinking, and I have a story

(29:03):
that I want to tell. The dates back a while now.
When I was CEO of lvy H, Inc. The US subsidiary,
one of my responsibilities was chairman and CEO of the
Donna Karen company Donna Karen International, in particular, when I
was wearing that hat for ELV and H, I had
the pleasure and privilege of overseeing the dkmy company. But

(29:25):
this is not a story about This is a story
about people. My closest friend in the world at the
time was a fellow named Bill. I had met Bill
at van Usen. We became very close friends in business
confidence and we shared a lot of information. I had
tremendous respect for him. I know he respected me and
we joined each other's company. We traveled around the world together.

(29:46):
We had good business. And I'll explain. He was a
sales and marketing executive. He was great at it. He
could sell anyone anything. I couldn't sell anyone anything. And
he was a partner in a Canade He had accessories company,
and his expertise was belts and small leather goods. He

(30:08):
could design him, but boy, he could sell him. And
over the course of time, I learned that Bill worked
for a prestigious company that manufactured most and much of
their goods in Canada and also sourced from anywhere around
the world. Now, Bill, I would say, had great taste
and insight into the businesses that he was in. And

(30:29):
at the time I had taken on a care and
I was planning strategic moves for the company. I was
sizing up the opportunities. I spent time hiring consultants to
help me package everything I wanted to explain tal the image.
They had owned the company for six years, they hadn't
made money at it. They were really desperate to try
and turn this huge investment they made into marketing bonanza.

(30:52):
And they brought me in to help get it done.
And one of the things I wanted to do, having
come from the men's business, d and why I had
it good women's business, they just didn't know how to
make money at it. I wanted to bring men's business
back to DKMY I knew dkn why is a men's company.
I was a licensee, meaning I rented their brand for
dress shirts and back at PVH, we were their licensee

(31:15):
and we had one of the most successful launches and
businesses ever at PVH with the DKY Men's tress shirts.
So I wanted to bring it back and I went
to the company and I told them and I put
together a plan on how we would launch men's with
I would do shirts and ties. I would hire someone
to do sue. Then I would thought of men's sports
were business. An LVMH asked me to put that on hold.

(31:37):
They said, Mark, we desperately need to make women's business profitable.
You're with the company, you see the numbers. We're not
where we need to be. Here's what we'd like you
to do. Focus on the businesses we currently have and
when the time comes that we're up and running and
getting the returns we expect you can go into the
men's business, it'd be our pleasure. And in fact, if

(31:58):
you so choose to desire to license the business. Now,
once we're up and running and making the kinds of
profits we know you can deliver for us, you want
to go buy back those licensing business will support you
one hundred percent. So that's what was going on. And
now I have my friend Bill, and I knew he
could help us in men'swear. And I asked him if

(32:19):
he wanted to decam why men's license, and he took
it and he was excited. And that's I'll put to
the side. There was another guy that I met at
DK why we were looking to rebuild the sportswear business.
So now I'm thinking about how to build a men's business.
And I had of a friend, a close friend. His
name is Jeane Rothcoffee's a licensing expert. He was one

(32:41):
of my closest friends truly today even today he is
my best friend and a senior citizen. I always loved him.
He did many dales and I asked him to find
me someone from men'swear. I wanted to put a sportswork
company together. Lo and behold the CEO comes highly recommended.
I'd like you to meet him and see whether or
not we could do the steal. His name was Michael,

(33:04):
and I met with Michael in New York and he
convinced me that on his own back, him working the
brand himself with his other team, he would build a
brand that would last the test of time. And he
would build DKY men's wear not only in UK, but
all crons to globe, including in the United States. His

(33:25):
case level was strong, his product knowledge was strong. The
price points in Europe were higher than the United States,
so when he brought it to the United States, he
would elevate the brand. And it sounded like a great idea.
I thought it was brilliant. I was so excited what
Michael had asked me to do. I had a very
very strong deal with him, guaranteed the profitability with no

(33:49):
risk to myself in the DKY company. They would design,
we would market, we would approve their designs, we would
approve every step of the way. Now, Michael was a
little fast than yourst for my taste, and maybe because
he was an entrepreneur. His company. He owned it and
founded it. And I always found entrepreneurs fearless and more

(34:09):
risk taking than I was. I guess for me that
was corporate life. I could be an entrepreneur within the corporation,
but I always had to recognize it wasn't my money.
I had people to report to, I had responsibility. I've
had people whose lives depended on me. There were rules
in public corporations and ways to do things, and you
had to figure out how to make it fit. So

(34:30):
Michael was a little bit of Fast and the sky.
But now I have three friends. Jeane who introduced you
to Michael, Bill my other good friend, and I had
an idea. I always looked for opportunities for Bill because
I trusted him, because he had a manufacturing facility. I
decided to ask Michael to do me a favor and
at the same time Bill to do me a favor.
I said, Bill, I have this license. You met him,

(34:52):
you know who He is starting a sports wor business
and me. I'd like him to focus on men's sports ring.
You are great at belts and small other good Would
you be willing to work with him? Design product for him?
Be the DK my license he'll buy from you. Let
him ship it all around the world where he has
the expertise you'll give him an insight price so that
you can afford it. The old gravy to you, it's

(35:13):
all incremental because you're making your money in the United States.
Would you do it? Agree to do it? And I
decided to bring them together. So here we are. The
plan was use my friend Bill as a design and
sourcing arm and Michael would go out and sell it.
And I thought it would be a great idea. So Michael,
Bill and I met in London. Bill and I flew

(35:33):
to London. He brought with him his full ideas of
dkmy all the samples, all the drawings, all the qualities
for the leather, and he met with Michael, and minute
I introduced him, I accused myself. You know, in London,
I was very busy. I had to oversee Michael's business.
I am managing the Thomas Binkshirt business based on German

(35:56):
Street in London. So I disappeared and left them to
their own devices. The end of the day I came back,
I asked Bill Howard when he said, look, Michael's a
charming guy. He thinks he knows more than he knows.
I said, yeah, that's who he is. But I like him.
What do you think, He says, like I like him.
I don't know if I trust the mark, but I
trust you. I work with him on all the designs.

(36:17):
He asked me to leave him with me, and he
said he'd come back to me and give me his plan.
So I met then with Michael. I said, how to
go with Bill? He says, Bill a good company, good thing.
I think I could do better in pricing than him,
I said, Michael, I'm sure you can. He's got to
make a living also, But you don't have to invest
in designers. You don't have to invest in administrative people.

(36:39):
He's going to hand you a turnkey project. Here are
ten or twenty belts. Here's the prices, go out and
see them. Of course, do nothing, no risk. So they
agreed to work together. No. A few weeks later, I
came back with Bill to talk about how them they
were going to go forward. Once again. I was there
for these other reasons as well. Thomas Pink was busy,
We're opening store? Had what going on? What happening in

(37:02):
dkn Y. I had stores of German Street, I had
done the Karen stores, multiple DC why stores, and I
was busy. I come back two hours later and I
can tell something was wrong. I said, Okay, what's wrong Bill?
And they're in the room. She says to me, can
I speak to you privately? I said sure. She takes
me out and he says, let me tell you what happened.

(37:22):
I gave Michael all my samples, all the fabric contents,
all the ideas, the leather, all the price points. I
gave him everything. And while we were away in the
last month, he went to Asia and knocked off every
one of my belts, everyone Piece for Peace, Style for Style,
went out and purchased them himself without considering us, and

(37:44):
he cheated me out of all the work and effort,
and copied all my styles, which of course a proprietary
they belonged to me in their mind. They said, I
can't believe this. So I went back in the room
with Michael. So interest happened. So what do you mean
since you went out and copied all his styles? He said,
I didn't copy his style. He should show me what
you did. Sure enough, he copied all the side. This

(38:05):
is what do you mean he didn't copy all the stuff? Well,
he gave them to me. I said, he'dn't give them
to you. He didn't branch you this. He didn't will
them to you. He gave you these those ideas for
what he would buy and make for you, and you
would pay him to do and then look him. I
couldn't talk. What are you doing here? Well, his prices
weren't good enough. I had this conversation with him. You

(38:26):
go out and do it, you and have your own styles.
You're gonna risk the inventory, you have to design, you
have to hire people. This is his intellectual problem. I
don't think of it as stealing. He showed them to me,
he pitched them mee I didn't want to buy from them.
I said, okay, then you should have done your own
belt line, not copied is. And I said to Michael
at that time, you're a dirt bag, but you and

(38:46):
I did. I will never forgive you. So there's no confusion.
These two companies will continue to do business. You have
a relationship with d KM. Why But as far as
I'm concerned, you're dead to me. You need me call
my secret. She'll find someone else to talk to you.
You better know all the other people in the company.
But I have no reason to spend time with you anymore.

(39:08):
You disrespected my friend you disrespected me. You behaved like
a dirt bag. I tell you what, I am not
going to talk to you anymore. I thought of Michael
Corlean and shutting the door on Kate I ain't keating,
and the godfather. She had told him she had an abortion.
I had an abortion. Michael, yes, I had an abortion.

(39:28):
Now I got paid off five million dollars. He continued
to do business, but not with me. I walked out
of his office and stopped talking. I was heartbroken, to
tell you the truth, I was heartbroken because a friend
of mine who I trusted, Michael, let me down, and
in turn heard a friend of mine that I told
him not to worry. What did I do? I put

(39:49):
two friends together, and I thought by putting two friends together,
I was doing a class thing. I thought that I
was going to create some goodwill. Anyway, make a long
story short, I never saw that deal happening. I was
so hoping that this ugly thing would work this out,
but in reality, over time, Bill and Michael never became friends.

(40:11):
I eventually talked to Michael again after he apologized profusely,
but I never forgot that if you don't act appropriately,
it stays with you forever fact as if then you
are I may love you, Michael, but you're a dirt
bag back in a moment.

Speaker 1 (40:30):
Always in fashion.

Speaker 2 (40:32):
Donna Karen began her career as 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

(40:55):
the interesting thing Donna Karen had a young daughter, and
she had friends couldn't afford to buy the Donna Karon collection,
and Donna invented dk NY Donna Aaren, New York. It's
an offshoot of the Donna Karen collection. The same concept
a lifestyle brand. Then 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

(41:19):
in the morning, you start to get dressed Donna Karen
dcan 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 evening. The dresses, the suits, the pants, the sweaters,

(41:39):
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 sports where that make women

(41:59):
look 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, dkn
Y Jenes dk Y Sportswear is there for you. That's
what a lifestyle brand is. I need to mention DKY activewear,
which is extraordinary, the leggings, the sports bras, the sweats.

(42:24):
You can wear DKY activewear 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 DKY 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

(42:46):
why a true lifestyle brand that takes you from day
and tonight, from the week into the weekend. DCN why
you can find DCNY and Macy's dky dot com. I
love Pull. It's lightweight, takes colors beautifully, It's comfortable, keeps
you warm and even if it's warm out, it doesn't

(43:09):
hamper you. It doesn't make you perspire. I love Polar fleas.
I also love sweatshirts, the sweatpants, love them, love them,
love them. I'm a big fan of khaki pants and
a big fan of a golf clothes, and I'm a
big fan of Izid. I used to be the head
of Iszide. In fact, my company bought it and out
of bankruptcy, and the CEO of the company asked me

(43:29):
to come in and fix it. And he said to me, Mark,
the future of the company's in your hands. Can you
do this? And I said, I will do it. I
put everything, my heart and soul into making Eyeside the
powerhouse that it is today now. I left a long
time ago, and the company just continues to thrive. Iseside
is one of the great sweater maker's pants, make a
shirt makers, knit shirt makers, polar shirt makers. They're incredible company.

(43:52):
The colors are great, the fabrics are great. Guys, you
ever wonder what you should wear, I'll make it easy
for you. If you're going to be casual going and
look at isa Now that doesn't say that they don't
have dress shirts and they enough suits, you go find them.
Isaod is a collective brand that offers lifestyle apparel to
everyone in America. And it's true, it's a fun brand,
but it's also priced at fun prices everyone can afford it.

(44:15):
I love this brand. Of all the brands that I'm
involved with, and you can name them, think about PVH
and LVMH and all the brands, ISAOD is the one
that's most personal to me because I was involved in
crafting the future of this brand. The close of great
Fall is great. They're doing well. Isad dot com, isaadat jcpenny.
Go look for it. I think you're going to be
very happy. And ladies, those of you the shopping for

(44:38):
the guys in your lives, take a look. I think
they'll be very happy with your choices. Isaad for men.
Spend a lifetime of my career building the van Usen brand,
and I am so pleased that they're back with us
now talking about suits. Men, We're dressing up again and
it's become cool to wear a suit. Suits can be

(44:58):
one on multiplication in multiple ways. You could wear a
suit formally to go out at night or to an event.
You 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 mack next. The choices
are endless and every one of them looks right. You

(45:19):
could really really look the part. I believe that packaging
yourself is as important does the products you package, and
wearing a suit is one of those things that make
men look their best. Venues In invented a new idea.
It's called the cool flex suit. It's been engineered with
stretched technology, giving you the most comfortable fit and mobility.

(45:40):
Its 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

(46:03):
van Using made it's name with dress shirts. It's only
proper that the suit business follows strongly in its way.
You can find Van using Koolflex Men's stretch suits at
jcpenny or online at jcpenny dot com. Guys, they're great.
You should go look at them.

Speaker 1 (46:20):
Welcome back to it always in fashion. Here's your host, Mark.

Speaker 2 (46:24):
Webber Tonight, it's act as if and then you are.
We all have situations in life that we're confronted with
that we don't necessarily understand what's happening around us. We
have choices to ask questions to you don't know or
there are some times in some places I myself in business,
I've realized that it's required of me to know these things.

(46:46):
And even though I don't what to do, a woman
I met had said to me, it's your game in
this line, act as if and then you are that
if you have the presence of mine to behave in
such a way that you understand what's going on. Even
if you don't, your presence your position, you'll be respected
and people will think you're getting it. My case happened

(47:06):
many times, and what I would do afterwards is find
the person to explain it to me. But in those scenarios,
never ever ever waiver and always looked I act as
if and then lay out. One of my favorite stories
in this regard is when PVH became a billion dollar
company out of sheer hard work. The company that began
as Phillips fan used the family owned business became a

(47:28):
billion dollar company, and we didn't get their reason. We
had tremendous competition. We had to start new businesses. We
built a huge retail business in the form of outlets
and lo and behold, one day we became a billion
dollar company. And at that time I was the president
of the company, and if president of the corporation went
to our head of marketing, a gentleman named Henry Justice

(47:49):
made rest in Peace, another good friend. He went in
him and said, we want to plan a celebration. Get
with Mark and decide how do you want to do it.
Henry came to me and we agreed after some research,
that we did to invite four hundred people from New
York and New Jersey to a cruise around and Aton
Island celebrating this great company founded now in Potslo, Pennsylvania,

(48:10):
moved to New York, reaching a billion dollars, and we
planned a cruise for four hundred people, cocktails and dinner.
During the course of the cruise, we had fireworks planned
over New York City. Spectacular. We had sky riding by
jet planes over New York City congratulating. Then use it
on a billion dollars and it was amazing. But was

(48:33):
really amazing was my idea. There were six living former
presidents and acting presidents of the van using company. I
was this is the acting president at the time, and
I decided to invite all six of the presidents to
this event and give them each a chance to speak
about their experiences. The first was the guy when I

(48:57):
began thirty years earlier. His name was Stanley C. Jealette,
and I've talked about Stanley ce Jillett. He was my
first mentor. Why he had a town hall, invited all
of us from New York to come speak, and he
did a speech on behalf of the company, welcomed everyone.
He was articulate, he was dressed, brilliant, He spoke brilliantly.
He thanked all of us for being there. He made

(49:19):
it clear that the future of the company was all
of us young people. He made it clear that we
were more important to the company, and the company was
to us because we were the future. I never forgot that,
and I always used it in my repertoire. That was
Stanley Sea Jealette. I'll come back after him. Was Chuck Smith.
You've heard me talk about Chuck very often. You have

(49:40):
to swim with official swimming. They be confident, never cocky.
He was the greatest salesman. He was from the Midwest.
He was an Air Force officer, and he had a
presence that never forgot. Then my boss, my words and
music guy, the guy who grew me, trained me was
my father. If you will at work, his name is

(50:00):
Bruce Klatsky. He was just smart. Not smart, that's not fair.
He was super smart. He was the closest thing I
found to brilliant. If I haven't met brilliant, he was
the one, and his speeches were always to the point.
There's another gentleman who always been my compatriot. His name
was Alan Serkin. He had been the president of the
company for a while he was there. And then of

(50:22):
course it was me, mister Mark. Weever always underestimated, but
always overdelivered. I forget what was it might have been
the great Jack Walsheson under promise and overdelivered. That was
me and it was a amazing evening. All the speeches
were heartfelt. But I want to go back to Stangeleett,

(50:45):
my first mentor. Stangeleette was in his eighties at that time,
had been retired for twenty years. He came. He was
still elegant, still articulate, still dressed well, and very appreciative.
And he spoke and he spoke about his career and
how much he appreciated this time at PVH and at Vanues,

(51:09):
and in particular he appreciated the people, the respect they
had shown to one another, the company that we built
together that he had the privilege of supervising and spearheading.
Talked about how amazing it was that a family owned
company began, impossible Vangylvania would end up as a billion
dollar company. And he looked around and he found me

(51:33):
with his eyes and he said, I want to thank
Mark Webber for inviting me to night. He said, you know,
when you think about your career and when you get
to be my age, you wonder if you made a difference.
You wonder if what you did was appreciated. And here
I stand tonight with you all being remembered, which to

(51:56):
me is the most important thing that I can think
of that I ever accomplished in my career. Thank you
for remembering to include me, thank you for remembering me,
and thank you for bringing me here tonight to be
amongst you as you celebrate a billion dollars. Good Knight

(52:17):
was all class. Stangelette made it perfect for me. I
didn't have to act. I created a brilliant class evening.
I didn't have to act. I was good Night