I Know What I Don't Know

I Know What I Don't Know

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This show is produced and hosted by Mark Webber. The
show is sponsored by G three of Parow.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
The views expressed in the following program are those of
the sponsor and not necessarily the opinion of seven tenor
or iHeartMedia. Who is Mark Weber. He's a self made
business executive here to help you find your success, from
the New York City projects to the Avenue Montaigne in Paris.
His global success story in the luxury world of fashion

(00:28):
is inspirational.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
He's gone from clerk to CEO twice.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Mark is classic proof that the American dream is alive.
And well, here's your host of Always in Fashion, Mark Weber.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
Mark Weber.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
I know what I don't know. I also know what
I do know. I've often said I don't know if
I'm smart, that's for others to decide, But I do
know I'm well trained. I use this quote to diffuse
the discussion on whether I'm smart enough to be right,
and it helps me declare that my training makes me right. Now,
let's be intellectually honest. I've known I was smart since

(01:06):
I was a little boy. Even though i'd omit to
it just came to me easily. I was always thinking
three dimensionally. In fact, I found it scary the way
my mind processed information. I too was able to recognize
when there were people that were smarter than me. I
never feared it. I ran with it. I just kept
my mouth shut. I didn't speak when I wasn't sure.

(01:28):
I listened to learn. I asked questions strategically. I knew
that even though there was a common idiom that there
are no stupid questions, I knew there was stupid questions.
So I was careful in spite of it. I made
mistakes and asked my share of stupid No question about it.
In later life, I learned the concept of act as

(01:48):
if then you are. You keep silent, you nod your
head at the appropriate times, and people who respect you
and think based on your background, they'll presume you understood
what they're talking about. Anyway, in my view, if I
didn't understand that, then I knew I would learn it later.
Speaking of new I always knew I always know what
I don't know. It's part of being self aware. On

(02:10):
this node of act as if then you are, it
applies to carrying yourself, it applies to your wardrobe. Back
in the early days, I remember I wore Amani suits,
not all the time. They're expensive. I shopped at Barney's
when I could. All my suits were navy, so my
choices were limited when I had to buy them. But
I did have an Armania two and when people last

(02:31):
suit I was wearing, I always set our money, and
then because of that, it was presumed I wore Amani.
My first TUCKS was Brooks Brothers. I remember showing up
my first corporate black tie event. My suit was tailored
to perfection and someone walked up and say, great suit,
Mark HARMANI and I just smiled, act as if then

(02:53):
you are. Common sense and self awareness is integrated into
the concept of knowing who you are and who you aren't,
and it's an amazing place to be. What do I
know that's tonight? I just this week had a debate
on taste level. Well, I would never say I'm a
great dresser. I do believe I have impeccable tastes, just

(03:13):
doesn't mean it applies to me, doesn't mean I execute
it well, doesn't mean I look great. But I know style.
And whenever my sons, their wives make friends and their
other friends and their wives or girlfriends get into it,
with me and start to talk about fashion. Because of
my name and my show and because of what I've
done for a career, these female acquaintances, sometimes guys too,

(03:36):
try to challenge me. I have a great sneer, I
have a great put down face, and it seems to
come up automatically. You know, I know what I don't know.
But when they started me, I said to them, you
know you have your point of view, but you're wrong.
CEO of two companies, author of two books, one called
Always in Fashion, show a radio show or a podcast?

(03:57):
How can you argue with me? But they do st
ruggle arguing after that speech. So don't you dare argue
color with me? No shoes, no fit, no silhouette. I'm
an expert, and this I know having said this tonight's
show is entirely appropriately. I know what I don't know now.
Ignorance is the heart of wisdom. I'm a person who's

(04:19):
perpetually curious. I always know it's important to recognize what
I don't always know, asking questions no, I don't always know,
and life are in business, believe it or not, It's
kept this guy pretty humble. And on the subject of humility,
I want to get into it, and I want to
talk first and foremost about our president, President Trump in particular,

(04:42):
mister President, have terriffs changed, help out your approach changing.
I think you need to kill switch. You need to
tone it down, speed it up. We need clarity, You
need clarity those of you listeners out there. Trump is

(05:02):
one hundred percent right and his you on tariffs, but
he's one hundred percent wrong in approach he's taken on tariffs.
A number of people come to me yelling, telling me
my explanation on the tariff issue is quite helpful, thanking
me for clarity and offering a choice and a voice. No,
I need to explain. Once again, President Trump, you're right.

(05:25):
The idea of buy from us or we won't buy
from you perfect. Once again, you're right. You tax me,
I text you, I buy your cars, you buy my cars.
One hundred percent right, mister President. But the timetable that
has been caused is terrible. Now. It's a point of view.
There have always been imported goods, and they've always had tariffs,

(05:50):
and these tariffs have existed for thousands of years now.
While the form of tariffs and the function of tariffs
have changed over time, They've been a con sistem tool
of governments and rulers throughout history. And I thought I
would make an attempt to break down why there are
tariffs and has at work. And I could tell you

(06:10):
back into ancient times. You think back of the ancient
travel routes, they have existed. Merchants paid taxes at tolls
when entering Egypt or mesomotanean Roman empire had customs and
ports and tariffs. Now, why, here's one of the Trump's
got right. Revenue generation. Taxes provide revenue for governments. Before

(06:36):
the invention of income taxes, tariffs were one of the
main sources of government's early income. They paid for the
government political or strategic leverage. Paris can be used as
a negotiating tool or punishment and trade disputes, just as
we have going on with China right now. Then there's

(06:56):
the example of national security or self sufficiency. Governments use
these tools to protect their industries to make sure that
we have a supply of those things that we need
to supply. Now, there have always been the issue of
self sufficiency to protect industry. This is something that we
gave away. I was in the parrel business making goods.

(07:19):
China opened up its markets. We could care less whether
or not we kept factories running. Nobody told us to,
nobody asked us to, Nobody thought about it. Our job
was to make money for our shareholders, and we gave
it up, as many of the other industries have. Governments
may impose tariffs to ensure domestic supply of critical goods, food, weapons,

(07:39):
and prescription medicine for all of us who need it. Now,
if there have been tariffs on agricultural products to maintain
food security, unless but not least, tariffs have been used
for cultural associated reasons. We want to protect child labor,
make sure it doesn't exist. We want to protect industries
in poor countries. Tariffs have always been there. Now, Donald Trump,

(08:01):
our president, has brought the wide ranging issues to light.
He's brought back tariffs as a means to make money.
He has focused on government money making, not necessarily protecting industry.
Until he did. President Trump, you had a mandate from
this country. You had the country dancing, you created in

(08:24):
renewed respect for the presidency and for you as president.
You have the voice. People are ready to listen. I
have to ask you make things right again. Then you'll
be able to make America great again. You have an
audience and they're ready appropriately to support you. Make a

(08:44):
deal with China. The rest I could care less. China
has to be dealt with. You have to eliminate the uncertainty.
I know what I know, and this I know. Get
your mandate back. I'd like to continue dancing that I know.
Having said that, I thought this week that I would

(09:06):
do a show called My kill List. Now. The problem
with titling a show the kill List, I was afraid
that it would send the rogue signals. I'm not talking
about violence, I'm not talking about anarchy. I'm not talking
about anything that would representing killing. So I was concerned
and I chose to label it differently. What I am

(09:27):
talking about in this case is killing your competition. And
I started thinking about all the ways in business we
think about fighting off competition. And I have an announcement
to make huge announcement to make ready. I need a
drum roll because it's huge. There is an article that

(09:48):
was published this week in Media eight and the title
was Joe Rogan just got bumped from top of YouTube's
podcast chart. See the top one hundred shake up and
the photograph in This article has on the left Joe
Rogan sitting next to him, Jesse Weber sitting next to

(10:12):
his right, Megan Kelly, and then Tucker Calson, Rogan, Weber,
Kelly Calson. Jesse made the top five podcasts on YouTube
in the country this week. Of the millions of podcasts,
he's in the top five, not top ten. Top five.
I have an article to read. True Crime took a

(10:34):
bite out of the podcast chart this week on its
way to the top YouTube's weekly top podcast shows. Seeming
indominal Joe Rogan was wrested from its perch last week.
Joe Rogan led the Industrialized List, the inaugural list which
YouTube has started publishing as podcasts begin to dominate the platform.

(10:55):
This week, Stephanie Sues Whoever that Is? True crime and
horror storytelling show Rotten Mango searched to number one, with
CBS's long running forty eight Hours rising one spot to
number three. Law and Crime Sidebar, with Jesse Weber landing
in the top five, the only podcasts not linked in

(11:16):
the last set to break through, moving up from number
thirty two. Now, Jesse was number thirty three in the
world in the country on YouTube part of the network
created by Media It's own founder Dan AMers. The Naily
News breakdown from host Jesse Weber likely owes its ascent
to heighten attention to the unfolding Sean diddy Combe's trial,

(11:36):
which the show has covered intensively, including analysis of bench
warrants and federal raids. It's a banner moment for true crime,
and Jesse Weber is in the top five. How amazing
is that. I am so excited those of you haven't
seen the photograph conced our internet, and I am proud

(11:58):
to watch what Jesse's pulling off. And that's partially why
he's not here tonight. So in this case, Jesse kill
the competition. I don't know what I don't know. I
only know that you're doing a great job with that.
I want to come back and talk a little bit
more about it. Back in a moment. I know what
I know, but I also know what I don't know.

Speaker 1 (12:20):
Always in fashion.

Speaker 3 (12:22):
Than 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
one on multiple occasions in multiple ways. You could wear
a suit formally to go out at night or to

(12:42):
an event, to wear a suit to the office with
or without a tie. If you look closely now fashion trends,
suits are being worn with turtlenecks or mark next. The
choices are endless and every one of them looks right.
You could really really look the part. I believe that
packaging yourself this is important. Does the products you package

(13:04):
and wearing a suit is one of those things that
make men look their best. Ven Using 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.
Its wrinkle resistant fabric, it's cool moisture wiki it makes
it perfect for all occasions. As we discussed just now,

(13:26):
this new style of looking shop 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 its name with dress shirts. It's only
proper that the soup business follows strongly in its way.

(13:47):
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.

Speaker 2 (13:58):
Welcome back to it Always Fashion. Here's your host, Mark Webber.

Speaker 3 (14:03):
This week has been an interesting week, an exciting week
for me personally because Jesse became one of the top
five podcasters in the country on YouTube. Podcasting is becoming
the biggest thing on YouTube, and take a moment, Jesse
is in the top five. He sits with Joe Rogan,
somebody named Samantha Sue from a crime podcast. Megan Kelly

(14:26):
Tucker calls my own Jesse Weber, your own Jesse Weber,
my son. I was so proud having said that, I
started sending out the article in which he was named
to everyone I knew. I went through my files in
my phone, all my text and I started sending out
the article to the people I knew, and there were

(14:48):
tons of them. Very often. I talk about words and
music with my former boss BJK. I don't know if
he likes me mentioning his name on the show, but
he and I were words in music for thirty years
of our career. He was the CEO. I was the president,
and we both started as young men and we worked
away up the ladder. I often say, my children will
tell you. I often say that I would not have

(15:09):
had success without him, but we were a team and
we did remarkable things. He got it. He was so
proud of Jesse. I sent it to people I knew
in the licensing world, and as I scrolled through, I
started seeing a history of people that I met and
knew along the way. And then I came across and
named Mike Levy, who I hadn't thought of it a

(15:32):
long long while. Mike Levy worked for a friend of
mine who I was extraordinary close to, who I had
a great relationship with. In fact, to this day, he's
the only friend that I brought on the show with
me back in the days. I'll come to that in
a minute. I know what I know, and I know
what I don't know, and I don't know enough about

(15:53):
people to understand when they're said whether they're depressed. I
met a fellow named Joe. I met him by accident.
Back in the day at PVH. We had a industrial
psychologist on our team who happened to also run an
employment agency for our company. It was pretty much exclusive

(16:14):
for us. He had other clients like the New York
Giants and some other people. I was running a division
at the time that was called pH International. While we
talk about tariffs and trade, we talk about pH International
in the same breath. I developed a division, a group
of one hundred and seven people to import for our

(16:35):
growing retail store operations. That relatively short order was a
billion dollar business. You see, we grew up in the
shirt business. We had expertise in making dress shirts or
flannel shirts or knit shirts. That was our expertise. But
when you run a retail store that carries multiple products
like women's wear, skirts, blouses, shirts, whatever the case may be,

(16:57):
sweaters and men's we were doing acc of where like
you'd see today tennisware, golfware, sweaters, pants, jackets. We knew
nothing about sourcing those commodities and those items, and I
needed to put together an organization that have the ability
to design and source those items for one thousand retail stores.

(17:18):
And I started out and built an organization that within
three years was importing four hundred million dollars worth of
product for our retail stores, a remarkable achievement. It was
one of those times that I had ups and downs
and came back like a rocket ship, building this thing
from scratch and making it work. Some of the greatest
people the company ever had to help me in It

(17:39):
was really an extraordinary time for us. But when I
got the initial go ahead to build the organization after
extensive study, traveling to and from Asia, asking would it
be possible for me to source bathing suits cheaper than
the marketplace with better quality? Would it be possible for
me to find sweaters better than we knew about sweat

(18:00):
women's wear? And I did the study, and I came
back presented to the management of the company said we
can do this. I can do it if you want
to do it. They gave me the go ahead, and
I got to go ahead to hire twenty people from scratch.
I was going to hire designers and sourcing people who
travel internationally, built product for the retail stores, work in
contact with the retail buyers. And if the retail buyer

(18:21):
said I mentioned swimsuits, I love lacost bathing suits. They're
all over men love them, I'd love them. I love
Calvin Klein what he's doing in bathings, and can you
make me the equivalent of those suits? The same fashion
at a price, and the answer was yes. My retail
group was pending seven dollars and fifty cents to buy
a men's bathing suit at that time and sell them

(18:42):
for fourteen ninety nine, so they would make a fifty
percent margin on those goods. I in turn went to Asia.
My team found the exact factory in Taiwan that was
making La Coste bathing suits. I went and met with
a factory manager with my team and said, look, I'm
looking to do bathing suit. I had a La cost
bathing suit with me. I said, this is the quality,

(19:03):
this is the material, the specs I need. Can you
make it? He started to left. He said do you
mind taking a walk with me? I said absolutely not.
He gets up, He takes me onto the factory floor
and there, for as far as the eye can see,
they were making La Coste bathing suits. And he said
to me, I could make these suits for you exactly
of the same fabric. You'll have to come up with

(19:25):
your own designs. That's for them. I will not astardize
the integrity they have. If you design me bathing suits,
I can do it. So I said, this sounds amazing.
So I started to negotiate. I said, look, I'm here
to buy ten thousand bathing suits. I have the styles
of my bag. Will you watch the price for the
ten thousand bathing suit? So he said to me, I'll

(19:45):
tell you what, show me the designs. I'll price each one.
So he priced each one for me, and then he
said to me, I can give all of these bathing
suits for two dollars and seventy five cents per bathing suit.
Now I kept the cool face. I almost fell off
the chair. I knew that if I landed the bathing suits,
meaning I imported them to the United States, I paid

(20:05):
the tariffs of twenty percent. I put on a margin
of myself of fifteen percent, which was an internal corporate
load that allowed me to pay for my staff and
our expenses. I could sell the bathing suits to our
retail group for four dollars and twenty five cents. They
were paying seven dollars and fifty cents. And from there
I brought them in and were doing hundreds of thousands

(20:28):
of bathing suits. The retail division was making a fortune.
We were covering all our expenses. Everyone was happy. It
was amazing. But before I could hire the first people
I got it approved and I went to call. His
name was doctor Joel Goldberg, the head of the human
resource department in our company. He was a board member.
He was the head of all the acquiring of individuals

(20:48):
and people. He tested them all before we came and
hired them, with the idea that we wanted to be
sure the people were hiring did they understand our culture?
Would they fit in? I called them one day to
say I got to go ahead to twenty people to
hire twenty people. He wasn't there, and a young man
picked up the phone. I said, I'm looking for doctor Goldberg.
He said, my name is Joe. I said, hi, Joe.

(21:10):
He said, doctor Goldberg's not here. How can I help you.
I said, I don't know if you can help me.
You got the approval to hire twenty people. He says,
I knew this was coming. Tell me what you're looking for.
Maybe I can help you. And we started to talk,
and we talked, and for a matter of an hour
and a half, him and I were kiss met. Life
was great. This guy understood what we were needing. He

(21:32):
took this briverurial bull by the horns and decided that
he was going to help me find the people we need.
And that's exactly what happened. Doctor Goldberg told him, do
what you gotta do. Mark's an important guy. Make sure
he's happy. Let's get him the best people we possibly can.
And for the matter of the next couple of months,
we hired those twenty people and were off and running.

(21:54):
And it was all because of this fellow Joe. You see,
he wasn't focused on the money he would make. Who's
focused on finding the people getting into companies? Is is that
I'm interested in anybody works at Lacaste. I'm interested in
people that work for Ralph Lauren. I'm interested in people
that work for Nordica. They have the mindset and they

(22:14):
understand the look and quality of what I'm looking for
for the isart company in our retail stores, the golf shirts,
the bathing suits, this is what I need. And he
went into those companies and he found the people, and
he tested them before we met, and he helped me
hire not the first twenty, the entirety of the one

(22:34):
hundred and seven people that I wanted for the company.
Somewhere along the way something went wrong. I lost touch
with Joe. I spoke to him from time to time.
Remember I was seven from the company. I no longer
worked there. I managed to move on. I started a
radio show. I started working for LVMH all of this

(22:57):
going on, and after the eight years and my second
book working for elvium ah Lea Vatonm, I started the
radio showing podcast and I started to look for guests
and I called Joe. I said, would you like to
come on the show with me? He said, sure, Mark,
I'll do it. And we had and as I said,
it's the only one that I ever brought in from

(23:19):
the outside who was a friend. And during the course
of the show, it was boring. The guy I knew
to admire, love, respect had no energy on the air,
and afterwards I sent to him, Joe, you weren't yourself,
said I did my best. Mark, I said, you know,
I'm really surprised. You know, there was very little energy.

(23:39):
I'm going to run it, but I feel it wasn't
what it should have been. That's the best I can do.
I remember saying to Jesse how disappointed I was, and
I didn't give him much thought. I ran the show,
and I realized that when I started doing a lot
of interviews people in the industry tended not to be
ready for prime time. You could talk to them about

(24:01):
their business, you could talk to them about what's working,
what's not, but for a very detailed kind of report
on how is retail doing, yeah, how is wholesale doing?

Speaker 1 (24:10):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (24:11):
But for entertaining on the radio show. It wasn't right
when I interviewed Tommy Hilfiger or Harris Faulkner or John Varvados,
celebrities in their own right. These people know how to talk.
So I don't want to paint it on Joe. Because
I interviewed presidents of retail stores, CEOs of retail store
they never got the energy that I was looking for.
But I was disappointed that Joe wasn't on his game.

(24:33):
Now why am I telling you this? Because I told
you I was sending the great news about podcasts, and
I happened to be going through my list and I
came across the name Mike Levy. And the last time
I spoke to Mike Levy was probably about eight years ago,
and he called me up, Hey, Mike, how you doing,

(24:57):
Mark not so good? What's up, Mike? I have some
really terrible news to tell you. Okay, he said, Joe,
it's no longer with us. He said, what do you
mean he's no longer with us? He said, he committed suicide.
And I tell you this story because I know what
I know, and I know what I don't know, and

(25:17):
I don't understand people. I don't know enough about people
who are down or depressed. I don't want to think
about it. I don't want to comment on it. And
I will tell you. In my list of people that
I was looking for to share the chair, there were
three names of people that are no longer with us,
and it kind of blew my mind. Now. I don't
know whether it's the right thing to talk about or not,

(25:40):
but I would say to you that if you're not
happy and you're having trouble, talk to someone. Seek help.
There are a lot of people who don't want to
see anything come bad of you. I was watching an
interview with Keanu Reeves and the interview hoss to ask him,
what do you think about death? And he said, simply,

(26:02):
the people who love you will miss you. Seek help.
I know what I don't know. Back in a moment.

Speaker 1 (26:10):
Always in Fashion.

Speaker 3 (26:12):
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 to night. An extraordinary collection.

(26:35):
But the interesting thing Donna Karen had a young daughter,
and she had friends and they couldn't afford to buy
the Donna Karon collection, and Donna invented DK NY Donna Aaron,
New York. It's an offshoot of the Donna Karen collection.
The same concept a lifestyle brand. Now we talk about
lifestyle brands, what does that really mean? Simply what they say,
there are brands that follow you throughout your lifestyle. You

(26:58):
get up 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, the blouses. Extraordinary clothes at affordable prices that

(27:23):
go from day in tonight. Part of your lifestyle is active.
You have weekends, you have events, you participate in sports.
Donna Karen's casual Clothes did that under the DK and
Y label. A vast array of casual sportswear that make
women look great as they navigate their busy lives. Whether
you're going to soccer games for your children, or whether

(27:45):
you're going out to the movies, whatever you want to do,
dcn y Jenes, dcay Hy sportswear is there for you.
That's what a lifestyle brand is. I need to mention
DKY active Wear, which is extraordinary, the leggings, the sports bras,
the sweats. You can wear dkhy activewear certainly in the gym,

(28:08):
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 dk why is nothing short of exceptional.
And why shouldn't it be because it was born from
the idea of luxury made affordable for women of America.
DK and Why a true lifestyle brand that takes you

(28:28):
from day and tonight, from the week into the weekend.
Dcn Why you can find Dcnhy and Macy's DKY dot.

Speaker 2 (28:37):
Com Welcome back to Always in Fashion.

Speaker 1 (28:41):
Here's your host, Mark Webber.

Speaker 3 (28:44):
The name of the show is Always in Fashion. Tonight
I'm talking about I Know What I don't Know. It's
a concept on being self aware. Of course, you know
what you know. Everybody knows what they know, But are
you aware of what you don't know? Do you find
that it's important to understand what you don't know as
well as what you do now I do see, I'm

(29:05):
a curious guy. I'm never satisfied not knowing. I'm always
wanting to learn. And I always felt that knowing what
I don't know makes me sharper, makes me in a
better position to learn, to ask questions, to get more information,
so I could be better at what I do, whether

(29:25):
it's business or life. And I think about tonight's show.
We're calling I Know What I don't Know? I want
her to talk to you about brands for a moment.
Considering the name of the show is Always in Fashion,
I think I have a right to talk about fashion
and of all the brands that are floating around, that
are living in space, that are in the moderate world,

(29:47):
in the luxury world, or here around the world, wherever
you may be. What brand is on my mind of
all tonight is Dockers. You see, the do brand, which
one time was one of the most powerful brands in
the world, a multi billion dollar brand at one time,

(30:09):
no longer is, but it hasn't changed the fact that
it's one of those brands we all know. And Jarrett,
my eldest son's company, Authentic Brands Group, under the leadership
of Jamie Salter, the CEO, I interviewed a few weeks
back on a maiden voyage of a show called The
CEO Exchange, was onderrated. They just acquired Dockers, and it

(30:33):
made me think about brands and how important they can
or cannot be. I really want to talk about Doctors,
but before I get to Dockers, I have to talk
to you about the killing of brands and what's happening
in our industry in general. If people aren't putting the
time and effort into brands, they're failing. Some of the
greatest brands in the world have disappeared, if not from

(30:56):
us completely, certainly from our awareness and our interests. Think
about Sears. Sears was one of the largest brands in
the history of American branding that had stores in every
major sidery every small city. They were the Walmart in
their time. Sears was unbeatable. You had to take them seriously.

(31:18):
If you didn't buy your apparel at Sears, you might
buy a washing machine, you might buy tools, you might
buy anything in hard goods, electronics. They were one of
the forces to be with. They were most powerful brands
in the world. Something happened, fell on harder times, got
purchased by an investment banking consortium. See you often say,

(31:41):
you know you could pick your friends, but not your family.
You can pick your allies, but you can't pick your acquirers.
And in a company headed by a gentleman named Andy Lambert,
who I met once or twice, bought Sears. Now I
go back to my day's at van Usen. We had
an incredible business with J C.

Speaker 1 (32:02):
Penny.

Speaker 3 (32:03):
We were J C. Penny's probably largest maker of private
label because in those days J C. Penny couldn't have brands.
We had companies who made their brands for them. Saint
John's Bay, Worthington, all these brands that were endemic to
J C. Penny. Their own store brands needed to have
great fashion, and they came to the big fashion brands.

(32:24):
Is that helped me have the best dress shirt assortment
in the world, and we would make dress shirts for them.
Over time, we made a decision to sell them the
venues and brand in a huge hundred million dollar deal,
long before any other brand sold J. C. Penny or Sears,
but we were one of the first and it was
a remarkable time for us. But I remember meeting with Sears.

(32:44):
Sears was an all American company. They were traditional company.
They had roots with the oldest brands in the world,
while we were the arrogant, upcoming entrepreneurial brand. Arrow Shirt
Company at the time was tried and true American brand,
built in the eighteen fifties, always traditional, the Arrow shirtman.

(33:06):
You'd see the EDGs, you'd recognize them back in the day.
Right away had the business with Sears. But we were
fortunate at one point in time to arrange a meeting
with the head merchant at Sears. His name escapes me,
and when I say me I had the meeting with him,
I don't remember who was with me. And I said

(33:27):
to them, listen, we have this great business with JC Penny.
I don't know you care about Penny. I know they're
your competitor. I know you'd like to kill them. I said,
I know how good you are. I know how good
they are, but I also know how good we are.
We are the finest shirt maker in the world. We're
known for our fashion, We're known for our aggressive taste.

(33:47):
We're known for bringing newness to the marketplace. And I
think we could help you. And he just looked at
me as head of merchandising for Sears, and he kept
looking me. So I continued on. We're doing white collars,
nobody else was doing white calls. We're doing wrinkle free cotton.
Nobody else is doing wrinkle free cotton. We're doing all

(34:09):
these new innovations. We'd love to do it with you.
And finally he spoke and he said, to me, your
speech was excellent, but I hear it every day from
every maker. Everyone wants to sell Sears. He said to me,

(34:29):
you walked through my store. Did you see the way
we show dress shirts. I said, yes, you show them
in cubes. He said, you notice that the cubes were
six across in four deep. I said, I did notice that.
Said from floor to eye height, there are dress shirts,
and we sell millions and millions and millions of dress

(34:50):
shirts a year. And he looked at me and he said,
do you know a salesman who sells us two rows
of dress shirts? Two rows? Feeds himself, his family, sends
his children to college. He has a lifestyle on just

(35:11):
selling us two rows. So when I tell you, the
decision to sell you or anyone else buy from you,
from anyone else for those two rows is a massive decision.
And it doesn't come with just a meeting, sitting here
with you telling us how great you are and how
powerful you are. It comes over time, with understanding what

(35:34):
we need, understanding what you need, and then determining whether
or not two rows of seers inventory is important, important
enough for us to give to you. I never forgot that.
There's a powerful statement. And at the time, you know,
before the Internet, the only direct to consumer purchasing was

(35:59):
through you know, you still get them in your home
from some companies. They mail you a catalog, you look
at the styles, You either dial in on their website
or you call them in per place and order. Back
in the day, maybe back in the day before I
was shaving, Sears had a billion dollar catalog. And where

(36:21):
are they now? You'll have to tell me I don't
think of them. I don't see them. They're not where
they used to be. I don't know where they are.
I don't know what they are. Somebody somehow made Sears irrelevant.
I could say the same thing for Kmart. I could
say the same thing for Montgomery Ward. These are stores

(36:42):
you probably never heard. They were goliaths in our industry.
They were huge, they were meaningful. You can't pick your
acquirers and the founders who started these businesses. Sears. Robot
was the name of a family who developed Sears. Of
our retail groups are missing. Many of them will disappear,

(37:03):
many of them won't be what they were. Which brings
me to Dockers. You've never heard me say it because
they're not a sponsor, but Dockers is one of my
favorite brands for pants. Remember me telling you earlier that
I would wear an Armani suit. Someone would come over
me whose suit you were wearing? Armani. Then every time

(37:24):
that person I knew would see me in a suit
because it was well tailored, because it fit right, the
colors were right, the fabric was right. It could have
been any brand. It could have been Brook Brothers, DKHY.
They looked at me and said as THEMANI and I
would kind of wink or smile at KNY. I owned
a company. I was there, I worked there. I didn't
own it. I worked for it. Of course I'd make
it look like DK why if it was OURMANI but

(37:47):
they all assumed that I was wearing luxury because of
act as if and then you are The Doctor's brand
has always been an important brand to me. I'll tell
you why. Back in the day when Doctors was a
billion dollar company, Dockers became synonymous with khakis. Do you
ever think of refrigidare and refrigerator? Refrigidator was a name

(38:12):
of a brand for a refrigerator that became the name
of the refrigerator frigidaire. It became the generic name. When
you think of Kleenix as tissues Kleenex, do you have
a Kleenex? It became synonymous with tshes and it's just
a brand. There are brands that have scaled the heights,
that out performed, that are larger than the industry themselves.

(38:36):
In fashion, Ralph Lauren, In sports, Michael Jordan, they became
bigger than the sport. They became bigger than life itself.
In the sport and Dockers was that when it came
to khakis, people didn't ask for khakis, they asked you
have Dockers became the biggest brand in the world, so

(38:56):
much so that I remember getting on a plane with
my boss at the time and flying to San Francisco
going into the office of the CEO of Levi Strauss
that founded Dockers that developed Doctors, and asking him for
the right to manufacture Dockers sports shirts through a license
arrangements to PVH. I remember in the meeting he said,

(39:19):
how big you think the business could be. We said,
we think it could be over time one hundred million dollars.
He said, I don't even know what I'm doing and
I have one hundred million dollars in Doctors' tops. You
got to do better than that. We were taking aback.
We said we'd go back to the rear, but it
was clear he didn't want to license it. Docors was huge.
They were bigger than life. You know, back in the

(39:41):
day there used to be in men's at least and
probably to a degree in women's a war between jeans
and khakis. Nobody knew who would take over the war,
who would win the world because if you walked into
a gap back in the day, half the store pants
were in jeans, the other hairs and khakis. In fact,
when we bought Calvin Klein, within the Gallan Klein agreement,

(40:05):
there was something called a Khaki amendment that there was
a war between the then CEO and Calvin Klein over
the use of the brand for khakis. There was a
company called Warnaco managed by a CEO named Linda Walkman
which she signed the deal for the license. She got
the license for jeans and khakis with the Calvin Klein name.

(40:25):
When we bought the company, we needed a sportswear company.
You can't do sportswear without pants. We couldn't do gens.
How could we do the company without khakis because there
was a Khaki amendment. Over a course of time, Linda
Walker told the Calvin Klink company, I won't have a
pants business or a jean's business anymore unless you licensed

(40:46):
me khakis, and they did what was called the so
called Khaki Amendment. My first order of business, my first
priority after we bought Calvin Klein, I was sent into
negotiated a Khaki amendment between myself and Warnaco to allow
us to launch sports with the use of khakis. It
cost us dearly. There was something that was very important

(41:06):
to them, and we were gladly willing to give them
what they needed to get the rights to khakis because
the outcome we couldn't have had a sportswear business, and
we did so. When I talk about Dockers and how
important they are, how important khakis are, how my son's
company just bought the intellectual property for Dockers and they're

(41:27):
going to license it to a public company to make
and continue to manufacture Doctor's brand pants. Now, I'm a
Doctor's customer, and when you see me wearing the most
beautiful white pants you've ever seen, with a great press
in the pants, tail it beautifully, the right length, the

(41:48):
right fabric, the right shine, the sparkle in the white pants,
you're going to say to me, mark those Harmani. And
now that my son's company have bought Dockers, there are
doctors and instead of saying wow, I'm surprised, to say
those are great. Lookie, doctors pants are amazing. Now you
might ask why do I like them? I'm all about fit.

(42:12):
I am not into ballerina pants for men. I'm not
into pants to stick to your legs and tight like
women's pants. That's Jesse's game. He likes tight pants. The
tighter the better. I'm a gentleman. I like a gentleman's fit.
I like the cuff of the pant to go over
the shoe. I don't like it sitting at the ankles.

(42:33):
It's not my thing. I don't think it's a gentleman's look.
Go look at Carrie Grant, Gary Cooper, Go look at
George Clooney or Brad Pitt in Ocean's eleven. Go look
at the finest dresses in the world, and you'll see
that the pants fit appropriately as an appropriate bag. I
do not chase fashion. It's about style. Look at Carrie

(42:56):
Grant's pants if he came back today and worry, whatever
pantsy you want to do it. Doctors Classic Fit has
the right with at the bottom of the trouser. They
fit perfectly, they look great and because of that all,
if not all, let me be intellectually honest. My most expensive,

(43:18):
my most premium, my most unique pants, no belt loops,
buckled waistpants are from Ralph Laurent black silk, black wool
off white, amazing are Ralph Lauren Purple label. But the
pants you'll see me wearing day and day out at
the most finest locations. Yes, I have Ralph pants in white.

(43:40):
Yes they cost nine hundred dollars a pair, but my
doctors are fifty dollars a pair, and in their own way,
they look better and more appropriate for most of the
things I wear. The problem is somewhere along the way,
doctors became associated with older men without style, and that's wrong.

(44:03):
I just explain to you what men's pants look like
from doctors in their extraordinary I have them in black,
I have them in white, I have in khaki. I
have more white doctors pants than any store you have
ever seen, Caries white pants. They are perfect in every way.
This is not a commercial, it's just relevant for now now.
Doctors also has the tight fits that I don't like.

(44:26):
They have everyday work pants, they have every day everything.
They have all these things. The problem right now with
doctors is they have an image problem. And maybe my
son listens to this, he'll get out there and think
about how they're going to change the doctor's image. Because
doctors work for me, they'll work for anyone. They're not
for people who don't have style. They can be tailored properly,

(44:46):
they could be used and accessorized properly. And I want
khakis to work. Doctors are not your father's osmobile, I
said early in the show. I don't know if you
like the way I can tell you when it comes
to taste, I understand style. No one could argue style

(45:07):
with me. After all, as they said earlier CEO of
two companies, two books, podcasts, radio show, I mean I
have the credentials. I live in doctors. I know you'd
never guess it. You never would know that I'm dressing
up doctors to look like Europeans, certainly not fatherly. I

(45:28):
can't tell you how many compliments they get. Do I
dare say there are money or sometimes Ralph maybe I
always do. But now that my son's company has a
I'm telling you straight I love them. I'll buy them.
And I only know that if I see you and
you see me wearing, you say those pants are great. Now,
I suppose I'll admit that I'm wearing doctors. But I

(45:51):
certainly want you to understand that fashion requires time, effort,
and patience. So maybe, just maybe, in the next few months,
you'll check out doctors because I know what I don't know,
and I know what I know back in a minute.

Speaker 1 (46:07):
Always in fashion.

Speaker 3 (46:09):
My favorite brand has always been Izod. My company at
one time bought that brand. The CEO of the company
handed it to me and said, you better make it work.
And I put everything in my career to make Eyesod
work and I fell in love with that brand, and
to this day it is one of the most exciting
endeavors I've ever gotten involved with. Isod is an incredibly

(46:32):
strong golf brand. If you play golf, if you play
tennis for that matter. They make a great polo shirts.
I mean great. They're fit perfect. The material is unique
because it's a PK fabric that waffle leave, you see,
and it's made of a blend of cotton and microfiber

(46:54):
that allows you to stretch. And very often they are
treated solar protection as well, so they stretch, they're comfortable,
and they breathe well. And one thing about Isaac they
always fit. They'll never tug on you. You put it
in your waist that they'll fit you great. The colors,
patterns are sensational. Now I will also tell you Isaad

(47:16):
makes great shorts and great golf bands. You're a golf friend,
you want to look good. You don't have to think
about how do I look. You want to think about
how you play, not how you feel. Isazad is the
brand for you. I know I was there when it
was created. The strategy behind that brand is brilliant. That's
one of my favorite brands. While I talk about it,
I should tell you about the man's sportswear. ISOD wasn't

(47:38):
enough being a golf brand. It wasn't enough being just
great polo shirts with logos, without logos, Incredible brands and
story and history. ISAOD makes salt weather programs. They have
great printed woven shirts, short sleeves. They look excellent with colors,

(47:58):
excellent with shorts, excellent with cotton pants, of which they
also make this whole salt order relaxed line from isa
whether it be fleece, cotton sweaters, knitpolos, woven shirts and
pants of a range of colors and fabrics that are
perfect for a guy wants to go casually in the
spring and summer of this year. And here's the thing.

(48:21):
Ison is affordable. Everyone listening to me talk about this
brand can afford to buy it and know that There
are a lot of other brands that also have a
look like ISID, although I don't believe it's fun as
isond is. The brand has a lot of energy in it,
but at the price points, no one can compete. You

(48:44):
can find Isaac at your leading retailers and online at
Ion dot com. Talk to you later, guys. I wish
you are very happy springing summer, and I help you
by telling you if you were Ison, you're going to
look great.

Speaker 2 (49:00):
Welcome back to Always in Fashion. Here's your host, Mark Webber.

Speaker 3 (49:05):
So this is Mark Webber on a day that I'm
thinking about what I know, but more importantly, I know
what I don't know. I just want to give you,
guys a fashion tip, maybe a little women too summers here.
You wouldn't know it from the weather. Talk about weather.
It's depressing. Oh my gosh. We lost April, we lost May.

(49:25):
There's been no sun, no warmth except tiny exceptions. I'm
so discouraged. I can't tell you, but I want to
give you. I thought about doing a show called the
kill List tonight, and I was afraid of the signals
a kill list would send. But I'll give you a
component kill lists for fashion, right now, men, no more
brown shoes with navy suits. You can't pull it off. Women,

(49:51):
you have to wear shoes in the grass. It's a
summer season. There are cocktail parties, there are parties of
all kinds. Maybe some of you go to Poland matches
and you can't wear your What are you gonna do?
As far as I'm concerned. You can't wear sandals, you
can't wear fongs, you can't wear wedges. Good luck to
you men. The other day somebody asked me about where

(50:13):
can I buy navy pants. There's no such thing as
navy pants. There's no such thing as green pants. There's
no such thing as brown pants. There are jeans, white, khaki,
of shades of khaki, all the rest don't exist. If
you're wearing those clothes, you're making a mistake. White pants,
go with anything terrupted lines. You wear white pants, you

(50:35):
find white shoes are very light colored. Beaised shoes or sneaking.
No matter where you go, men, women, particularly women, bring
a sweater or a jacket. You're gonna be cold. I
guarantee it. Those of you guys don't want to wear socks, Okay,
I'll accept it. As long as your feet and your
ankles are tan. If your feet and ankles aren't ten,
you're an amateur. Those of you who wear a sport

(50:58):
coat don't be Hey, Donald Trump, I love you, mister president,
But you wear your jacket open, single breasted. There's no excuse. Never, ever, ever,
do you wear a single breasted jacket without it being buttoned,
nor double breasted for that map. Having said that, I'm
sure I could find some other things to drive me crazy,
but here tonight I tried to show you you what

(51:20):
I know and be aware of what I don't know.
I hope you enjoyed it. Good Night,