It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This show is produced and hosted by Mark Webber. The
show is sponsored by G three Aparol. I view's 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

(00:21):
City projects to the Avenue Montaigne in Paris. His global
success story in the luxury world of fashion is inspirational.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
He's gone from clerk to CEO twice.

Speaker 1 (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 2 (00:41):
Mark Weber.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere you go. Yeah,
I'm happy tonight. I have to admit I'm in the
holiday season. I'm feeling it. It's a great time of
year to be here in New York. I love it. However, yes,

(01:03):
it's beginning to look like Christmas wherever you go. I
could talk about the joyful spirit, the beautiful colors, the
amazing lights. I could talk about the importance of friends
and the gift of family. It's easy everywhere. Look, it's Christmas,
it's a happy time. The next holiday actually in line
before the New Year celebration. I could, I would perhaps

(01:26):
I should cover the nice, touchy feeling things about the holiday,
but I won't, no matter how I've tried to make
the point. This is a business show. It's always complicated.
People seem to forget. I remember one of the first
comments I ever had from one of the lists. A
truck driver called into the studio. He was traveling from
New York to through New England and he happened to

(01:47):
be listening to the station. They transcribe what he wrote,
and he said, I'm listening to the radio and he says,
I hear a lead in fashion. I could care less.
It's at the top of the hour all I hear
the opening? Who is Mark Webber. I actually started to
lean over to turn the dial, but when I heard
the announcer speak out, He's here to help you find

(02:08):
your success. Thank god I didn't switch channels. This guy
is articulate, his lessons are great, and his humility comes through.
I've become a fan. When our program director here at
wo R tells me that I captivated him during one
of the evenings, he wouldn't get out of his car
in the driveway in spite of his dinner being on
the table to hear the end of one of my stories.

(02:29):
He was captivated. I'm captivated every week someone writes that
Jessie and I taught them something, that my lessons are insightful,
and thank us for a job well done. It's personally rewarding.
Now I have to tell you, I don't need your thanks.
I don't need your approval. I don't need anything from
you because I'm not a fan of humans. But in
spite of me not liking humans, your well wishes and

(02:52):
appreciation means a lot. During this holiday season, I think
how grateful I am for the platform, for the ability
to talk to people people and talk about what I
have on my mind. In spite of my recording theme
that I used to be important, I no longer am.
I recognize I'm still making a difference. So tonight I
won't talk about good shear, I won't talk about the

(03:13):
holidays in that regard, No touchy feely holiday sentiment for me.
For us, it's business, business lessons and stories that took
place over Christmas time. I'm going to talk about my
favorite lessons from a Christmas past, but not so fast.
I want to start with a conversation of integrity on
both sides of the desk in New York City, a story.

(03:34):
But before I begin, allow me to introduce to you
my lawyer, my substitute co host, my eldest son, Jared Weber.
Thanks for being here tonight, Jared. Jesse's busy.

Speaker 4 (03:46):
Happy to be here, number one son, reporting for duty.
I'm never too busy for you, Daddy. I like doing this.
I'm happy to be here, and I'm excited for a
great show. Interesting to hear what topic it's going to
be tonight?

Speaker 3 (04:00):
Oh, okay, there you go. So anyway, I'm personally prepared
to jump on Jesse. He's been missing a lot of
shows lately, but he is so busy. The crime, the
crazy drones, the election, Donald Trump. He can't be everywhere.

Speaker 4 (04:14):
Well I can be and here I am no snooze.

Speaker 3 (04:18):
You lose Jesse's speech.

Speaker 4 (04:20):
You'll see at the end of this, Jesse, you might
be out of a job here.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
All right.

Speaker 4 (04:25):
First things first, all the joking kidding aside, What are
we talking about tonight?

Speaker 3 (04:29):
Good question, I didn't prepare you. I want to talk
about New York and in particular, I haven't talked about
Juan Soto, and I want to talk about him now.
There are a lot of lessons learned here. He spoiled
a lot of holiday cheer this season, but not mine.
I got to talk with family and friends on who
you are and who you should be as a Yankee fan.

Speaker 4 (04:50):
I love the Yankees. I only know two tunes in
this world, and one of them is Yankee Doodle. I
have been a big fan of the Yankees for as
long as I I can remember. I believe in them.
I believe in what the marketing opportunities that surround that organization.
The Yankees are the greatest team in sports. You heard
me correctly. I didn't see that say the greatest team

(05:12):
in Major League Baseball. The Yankees are the greatest organization
in the world. They're synonymous with class, winning, elegance, sophistication, fashion.
They are nothing short of fantastic, and I'm glad tonight
is a timely conversation on the Yankees, and I believe
we're going to spend a portion of that time talking

(05:32):
about an interesting player and what it transpired over the
course of the last couple of weeks. Now I will
say one thing that's important to note is the company
I work for, Authentic Brands Group BABYG. We entered into
a strategic partnership with the New York Yankees and Rebok.
Rebok one of the great great athletic brands, five billion
dollar organization, partnering with, like I said, the greatest team

(05:55):
in all of sports. We have a great billboard out
in right center field, right by Aaron Judge, and we're
very proud to be sponsors with this great organization. Three
million people attend the games on a seasonal basis, men
and women. If it's not fifty to fifty, it's close.
That they're on a global stage. And not everyone in
China knows who the Yankees are, but they know what
the symbol represents. They're there national coverage, global coverage. So

(06:19):
I'm a fan and I'm a believer in that organization
and we're proud to be sponsors with them, with Reebok
and the.

Speaker 3 (06:24):
New York Yankees, I want to thank you for that
Rebok commercial. But here we are. Are you a Soto fan?

Speaker 4 (06:30):
Let me choose my words carefully. I was a Soto fan.
What he was able to accomplish last year for the
New York Yankees, both in the regular season and the postseason,
was nothing short of fantastic. Him and Judge put on
an amazing performance, and although they fell short in the
World Series, they could hold their heads up high. They
were very impressive and they were very, very exciting to

(06:53):
watch during the year.

Speaker 3 (06:54):
Are you're a little upset with Soto, because that's where
I want to go. Look.

Speaker 4 (06:58):
I would say I'm disappointed. Sota was only with the
organization for one year and he made a decision not
to be with the organization. And I will tell you,
I think over time that is going to be a
great decision for the New York Yankees. But we'll get
to that further. So the answer is disappointed, not angry.

Speaker 3 (07:15):
I want to talk about that. This is one of
my favorite stories I've ever told, and I wrote about
it in my book, and it's a story about honesty
and integrity and I think there's a lesson to be
learned here. And the story revolves around a gentleman named
Donald Cooper. May he rest in peace. He was the
founder or one of the founding partners of shirt company

(07:38):
called Capitol Mercers, shirt company that I worked with for
a very short time. I joined them from PVH. They
recruited me. I stayed there three months. They treated me brilliantly.
Everything was great until it wasn't when I decided to leave,
and I remembered it going in and asking to meet
with mister Cooper, the founder. He brought me in, sat
me down at his desk, was very friendly to Mark.

(07:59):
What I do for you? I said, mister Cooper, I
have to stop by telling you that you and everyone
in this company has treated me brilliantly, and I really
appreciate my time spent here so far. But I've made
a decision to leave the company and go back to
PVH because that's where I began, and I missed them
and I want to return. Donald Cooper did something I'll

(08:20):
never forget. He stood up from behind his desk, came around.
I stood up. I didn't know what was going to happen.
He shook my hand and said, I want to congratulate you.

Speaker 2 (08:30):
Mark.

Speaker 3 (08:30):
I know if you're leaving, this is an important decision
to you, and I know you think they made the
right decision. I want to congratulate you. After that a
stun Mark sat back down and Donald Cooper sat behind
his desk and he looked across the table at me.
He said, now, what can I do to keep you?
And I never forgot that the way he acted, with

(08:52):
that integrity and the charm and the brilliance of being
happy for me. And that's where I want to go
with Soto. I want to try and think that I'm
happy for the decision he made. Now the problem I
have so many people are upset with one soda. They
felt they did him dirty, that he didn't treat the
Yankee fans or the Yankees correctly, when in fact he

(09:16):
only had one year contract and the idea that he
might not be there would be always hanging over and
he made a decision. I don't agree with it, but
here it is. Now, what do you think about his decision? Well,
the Yankees decision for.

Speaker 4 (09:32):
That so first and foremost I would say, I don't
agree with his decision, but you can't control other people.
And no matter how much money you have in the world,
money does not buy class. So if he thought he
had a better opportunity to go over to the New
York Mets a less class, the organization off Broadway organization,
good luck to you. You showed your true colors. But

(09:55):
I have been nothing. I could care less about the
Mets fans. They're like, with all due respect, if you're
a fan of the Mets, it's like the gum on
the bottom of your shoe. There's Broadway and there's off Broadway.
Do you want to want Soto? Nobody you talk about
it in your show. In the world of fashion, men
never look better than in a navy suit and a

(10:16):
white shirt, let alone a navy pinstripe suit. Good luck
soda looking good in orange and blue. The only people
who look good in orange are prison mates. So now
you're putting orange and blue together, the two worst colors. Okay,
put that off to the side. Number two. You played
for the greatest organization in the world, like I said
in my opening remarks, not in baseball, in the world.

(10:37):
The legacy Derek Jeter, Yogi Bearraw, Babe Ruth Have, Mickey Mantle,
Roger Maris. You had the opportunity to add to that legacy.
You and Aaron Judge were a great team, not a
good team, a great team, and you were building a legacy,
just like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, just like Roger
Morris and Mickey Mantle And what did you do? You

(10:57):
blew it up for what a suite? For what you
didn't want to be second fiddle? Well, good luck to you, Sayonara.

Speaker 3 (11:03):
No you don't feel strongly about that. Well, what do
you think the Yankees should have done with the whole
idea at the suite?

Speaker 4 (11:09):
Okay? So I'll start by saying, if I don't believe
Jan Soda wanted to stay with the Yankees, he wanted
to stay in New York, and he wanted to go
and play for another team, so he went off Broadway.
There was nothing the Yankees could have done to retain him. Now,
there was some conjecture and some rumors in the press
that Jan Soda would have stayed if the Yankees paid

(11:31):
for his suite for his family at every home game,
both in the playoffs in the regular season. What I
will tell you is, it turns out it seems that
that wasn't true. Whether that's the case or not, only
the Yankees organization would know. But if that was the case,
shame on him for not signing. Six hundred and seventy
million dollars wasn't enough money to cover a few hundred
thousand dollars a year, but put all that off to

(11:53):
the side. If that really was the deciding factor. What
I would have considered had I been with the Yankees
organization or part of the Steinbrenner family, was say, okay,
if a sweet costs, let's just use round numbers five
hundred thousand dollars a year. And this was the last point.
I would go back to Juan Soto's agent and say
to him, I can't pay for the suite directly. I

(12:15):
don't do it for any of my other players. But
what I will do is, and this is my final offer,
I will increase your base salary by a million dollars
a year for the next fifteen years. And the money
that I just increased it you can use to pay
for the suite. A million dollars five hundred thousand after taxes,
five hundred thousand dollars for the cost.

Speaker 3 (12:33):
Of the suite.

Speaker 4 (12:34):
That could have been a clever solution from my vantage point,
if I was thinking off of the top of my
feet quickly on how to try and get a deal done.
If that was the last outstanding item in the contract.

Speaker 3 (12:43):
Now here's the problem. I started this by talking integrity,
the speech was that they never give a seup to
Garri Coole Nord, to Aaron Judge, there's a saying we
all know the only secret among two people is if
one of them's dead. This would have gotten out. The
class move was to do the following, and I applaud
the Yankees for the decision making of not to create

(13:06):
a subterfuge by paying the more so in this case, Jared,
You're right, it would have been an easy solution, but
I don't believe the proper, honest with solution. What I
think they should have done is increase the salary, as
you say, by a million dollars or a half a
million dollars to pay for the suite, and in turn,
going back to Aaron Judge and say, listen, times have changed.
We want to keep Soto with us. I know you'll

(13:29):
understand we're going to pay for a suite, but in
addition to that, we're going to pay for yours going forward.
And I hope you understand and agree with our decision.
The honest approach would be the right approach in my view.
That's the class move. That's the way to have made
the deal happen, and that's what I want to say. However,
in the end, the Yankees have the right to manage
and they made a decision and I support it.

Speaker 4 (13:50):
Now, what I will tell you that is, between our
two approaches, yours is definitely the better approach. I believe
mine could have been done the same way, and I
don't think Eron Judge would have been upset. But either way,
unfortunately two weeks ago, neither one of us were in
charge and we weren't able to make that decision. Now,
with that said, hindsight being twenty twenty, I am nothing

(14:11):
short of what's the word I want to use. I
am in awe of Brian Cashman right now. When he
was interviewed by the press, he said no Retreat, No Surrender,
one of my favorite movies by Jean Claude van Dam
in the eighties, but put that off to the side.
He has been on an absolute tear right now since

(14:32):
Soto made the decision to go to the inferior organization,
the New York Mets. He has been spending all of
his time and efforts to now sign new people for
the Yankees. He just signed Cody Bellinger. I think Bellinger
is going to be an absolute all star for the
New York Yankees. Whether Aaron Boone decides to put him

(14:52):
in center field or left field or first base, he
is going to be fantastic. And the Yankees made a decision.

Speaker 3 (15:00):
It's like one big Yankee commercial.

Speaker 4 (15:01):
It's important.

Speaker 3 (15:02):
I'm glad you're a Yankee fan. I'm glad you have
a billboard for Reebok and Yankee Stadium. I forgot where
was the first time that idea came up?

Speaker 4 (15:11):
So no, you gave the first idea back in the
LVMHDKN y days and that's why the idea occurred to me.
And it's been fantastic and paid for itself in spade.

Speaker 3 (15:20):
But that inside this was a lesson about doing the
right thing. You know what honesty is considered what you
do when no one's looking. The idea of trying to
increase the salary to hide it from everyone else. The
big move was to pay judge, not Cheetah. He had
his time. It doesn't relevant Garakole. Yes, having said that.

Speaker 4 (15:38):
I will say, I'll give you.

Speaker 3 (15:39):
The last week.

Speaker 4 (15:40):
Here's the last word. I don't have this experience while
I'm married now, but I am fortunate I didn't have
this experience growing up. But some of my friends did.
It's like being with a woman who doesn't want to
be with you. That's what this felt like. Juan Soto
didn't want to be with the Yankees. He maybe used
it as a stepping stone to go to another organization
and sign the most lucrative deal in the history of
base Maybe he didn't like the idea of playing second

(16:02):
fiddle to Aaron Judge. Only Juan Soto knows, but I
will tell you life provides you disappointments. Your book Always
in Fashion talks about it. After you were fired, you
worked your way back and became the CEO of the
greatest luxury company in the world. That's what Brian Cashman,
the Steinbrenner family, and the Yankees are doing now. They
are moving forward. They're signing some of the best names
in baseball, and Juan Soto will be a distant message.

Speaker 3 (16:25):
Mister Yankee fan. All right, listen, ladies and gentlemen, tonight
just bringing it back. It's beginning to look like Christmas,
and I have a bunch of lessons and ideas that
I want to share with you. We'll take a break
back in a moment.

Speaker 2 (16:38):
Always in Fashion.

Speaker 3 (16:40):
This is Mark Webber we're living in strange times, but
nonetheless we all have to get dressed. Interestingly enough, we're
dressing differently because we're working at home and most people
want to wear clothes that they're comfortable in. And having
said that, I'm very excited to be affiliated with TK
and Y, both men's end women's, because they have some

(17:02):
of the best active wear collections that you've ever seen. Now,
this is not a time to be thinking about what's
important in business. It's the time to be thinking about
a lot of different things. We're all under the gun.
We're under attack, but at the same time, we have
to live our lives. We have to get up in
the morning, brush our teeth, get dressed, feel good about ourselves.

(17:23):
I can only tell you that DK and Y right
now has active wear that looks sensational. Now, the good
news is is as we dress up casually, we still
are working from home and working for home. You have
to believe in the adage. You still have to look
your best, particularly when you're having conference calls and video
conferences with different people. Nobody's looking at what you're wearing

(17:44):
in your pants, but wearing sweatpants from DK and Y
that are comfortable and look cool great. More importantly, the
tops let you look active, that you look comfortable, that
you look fashionable, and you don't have to give up
your style. Dky Active Weear is incredible, as I say,
both for men's and women's. And here's the best news

(18:05):
of all. This virus will be behind us. Soon We'll
be back out there making an impression, taking care of business,
going through the activities our lives and on the casual side,
whether we go to the gym, whether we go to
sporting events, whether we go to our children's sporting events,
we have to look the part. Decan Why Activewear.

Speaker 1 (18:27):
Welcome back to Always in Fashion. Here's your host, Mark Webber.

Speaker 3 (18:32):
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Everywhere you go.
It's beginning to look like Christmas. I'm in the holiday spirit.
I'm happy, I'm actually singing. I'm thinking how nice it
is to be in New York, how beautiful everything is.
And because this is a business show and not a

(18:54):
touchy feely show about the world, I want to took
business and all took lessons, and I want to talk
about the gift of Elon Musk. I read an article
the other day that he was on his private jet.
They just bought Twitter and they needed him to make
some massive changes. And on the jet he's talking to
his management team and they tell him that the changes

(19:16):
they need to be made are going to require six
to eight months. Right then and there, he turned the
plane around and said, we're going to the warehouse right now.
We're changing it right now. So but we can't, we can't.
Took his plane, landed in the airport, went into Twitter,
went into warehouse and manufacturing, and in twenty four hours
made all the changes he wanted to make. And I

(19:38):
thought that was a remarkable way of looking at CEOs
and the way they get things done, which leads me
to a story that again took place right around Christmas
time that reminded me of what it takes to make decisions.
I was at PVH at the time. I was running
all of the sportswear companies for PVH, Isa, Gan Venues

(20:00):
and Jeffrey Bean. I was a pretty big shot. I
think my title was vice chair at the time, and
I was responsible for all those operations. What I wasn't
responsible for was dress shirts, which was a huge business
at the time for our company and the GH Bess
Shoe Company. I'll never forget. I was in four h
four to fifth Avenue. I had my own floor as
a private office in the building. Everyone in the building

(20:23):
reported to me. Corporate was the twelve ninety sixth Avenue,
thirty blocks away. Nobody bothered me. I was in control
of everything. I was having the greatest time in my life.
In fact, whenever people visited our building from the corporate office,
I told everyone, tone it down. Nobody happy, no parties,
no jumping up and down. It's business as usual. I
don't want them to know how happy they are we

(20:44):
are here, although I still come and stay with it anyway.
I get a call mark, please come up to the
own corporate offices, the twelve ninety We want to meet
with you. I walk into the boardroom and there are
my compatriots, the CEO and the business heads of the
entire family, and everyone looked like their dog died. And
I walked in there and my swagger, and I'll never forget.

(21:05):
I said, man, oh man, you guys look unhappy. I'm
glad I'm not in this building. What happened to you guys?
So the CEO looks at me, said shut up and
sit down and he's my friend. He left. Okay, okay,
he said, look, we wanted to talk to you. We
have a problem. I said, okay, what the gh Bes
Shoe company is tanking. We're in real trouble. They projected
this year that they would earn fifty million dollars and

(21:25):
right now, at best that we're only going to make
eight million dollars. But we're only a toying course away
from losing money. This is something that's serious enough that
really could take down the company. The swing in earnings
is really a problem. While we won't go bankrupt to
really destroy the stock share. And I'm looking around at
all these guys and said, what happened? Said, well, the

(21:49):
products stops selling. That takes a lot of return. So
everything that you can think about it's wrong. Is wrong
with the company right now. I said, well, you called
me here for a reason. I'll give you my point
of view. He said, please, here's what I think we
should do. I think Monday morning, before Christmas, every one
of us should be on the plane to Portland, Maine,
and we should show up at the corporate headquarters of

(22:11):
JGE Bass tell them that we're here to help them
fix this problem, that our senior executives from corporate are
going to take control, that the CEO of Jge Bass
will report into us, and we are not going to
leave there until we fix this company. CEO my friend
smiles and he said, Mark, I knew you were worth something.

(22:34):
He said, and that's exactly what we decided before you
got here. The only difference is you're going to Maine.
We're going to remain here. You're going to Maine and
not leave until you fix it. I'm saying to myself,
of like Ralph Kram, then I have a big mouth.
I said, I'm not going to Maine. He said, yes,
you are. We need you to do this, and he

(22:55):
signed to me the CEO of one of the retail groups,
and he said to me, look, we're gonna name his
name is Michael. We're gonna name Michael acting CEO of
gh Bears and you're going to come there and consult
with him in whatever capacity you need to fix this company.
You and he together, he'll focus on the retail operations.
You'll focus on the product. What needs to be done

(23:16):
with the sure the shoes, what we're missing, what we
need to add, what the marketing should be. We want
to turn around this company, and we want you to
do that and not come home until you finish. I said,
you know, I have a job here in New York.
I have my own building. All these companies reporting to
me said, look, if you want one day a week
to come back and work with these people, you do it.
But in the meantime, that's what we need you to do.

(23:37):
Will you do it? Do I have a choice? No?
I said, of course, I'll do it. And I then
spent the next three months living in Portland, Maine. Just
so happens, there was a very nice Marriott hotel that
was right outside the offices are complex where gh Bess
offices were, and me and Michael spend all our time
during that Christmas season trying to fix the company. Interesting

(24:00):
thing about the Bass Shoe Company, it has one of
the greatest traditions in the history of shoes. Admiral Perry
walked in Bess boots when he climbed the North Pole. Lindbergh,
when he flew across the world, was wearing Bass shoes.
Michael Jackson in his early days was wearing Bess loafers
when he was doing his thrill before the thriller album

(24:21):
so chi H. Bess had a great tradition, but they
lacked an insight and they weren't doing the right things.
And over the course of oh these three months, I
had my hands full. It's very difficult to convince people
to change. Everyone in that room, everyone in design, everyone
in merchandising, wanted to change. They agreed they would change

(24:42):
until you gave them an idea about changing. And it
was a brutal, brutal battle. The one thing about me
is I'll never give up one thing about me. No
is my favorite word. You tell me you can't do something,
We're going to do something. So I started to tackle
bas shoes. Bess was known for their penny loaf Ofwegians.
The problem was Kenneth Cole reinvented the world with black

(25:03):
dressy shoes to wear to the office and wear casually
to go out at night, and how many do Bess
have none? And when I said to the men's team,
we need our version of these black, shiny, beautiful shoes
that guys can come and go that aren't penny loafers.
Penny loafers are on a downward spiral, and we are
good at that. But we have nothing else to speak of.
What are we gonna wait till penny loafers come back?

(25:25):
Excuse me? Could you imagine where the buggy whip people
were when people stop using horse and buggy and cars
came into play. You want to make buggy whips to
hit cars with? You gotta change. Nobody wanted to change,
So I said, Okay, you don't want to change. Here's
what we're going to do. I'm going to work with
the design team directly, and here's what I'm going to
instruct them to do. Said, those of you here, who

(25:47):
are you in design? Men's what are you responsible? What
are you responsible? What are you doing? I said, here's
what I want you to do. This is Friday. I'm
going to be back here on Tuesday. What I want
you to do is over the weekend and on Monday,
I want you to shopping to whatever stores you think
will have Kenneth Cole shoes and anyone else who has
modern shoes for the time, and I want you to
buy each of you ten to twenty pair of shoes

(26:10):
that you are inspired by, that you think look great,
whether or not they're right for GHPUs or not. I
want you to bring those shoes to the office. Sure enough,
I showed up Tuesday, and every one of the people
bought about fifty pair of the shoes in total, and
they had them all laid out on the office. And
I looked at the shoes and they were inspirational, and
they did look great, and every one of them had

(26:31):
a point of view, and everything was current, and they
were all selling like crazy. And I looked at the
team and I said to them, let's do the following.
Let's line up these shoes in the front. I want
you to pick the most avant garde shoes that you showed.
So they had shoes from Todd's, Laura Piano, Christian Lubiton.
They laid them out all and they put the most

(26:52):
avant garde in the front row. I said, now the
shows that are less so than God, that would sell more,
put in a second row. And then I want you
to take the shoes that you have here that you
think could sell a lot of them, and put them
in the third row. And they all realign these fifty
shoes and they put them in these pockets. In these things,
I said, we are in the shoe business. We are
one of the icons in the shoe business. We have

(27:14):
a right to go where fashion's going. I am not
suggesting that you give up on Penny Loafus, but I
am suggesting that we have to change the way we think.
And by the way, I want to take every one
of these shoes that we've lined up and make them
more like Bass. What would you do. You change the
sole by putting in a lug sole, You put the
inside the lining in the shoe. You put it maybe

(27:36):
a brown leather in the black shoe to make it
look different. Let's bassize all these shoes and make them right.
I'm going to give you two days, because the next
two days i'm here, I'm going to work with the
retail group. I want you to play with this. I
want to see drawings, I want to see ideas. I
want to see fifty pairs of shoes in one to
five rows. And I want to be excited, and I
want to see you excited about showing me the new Bass.

(27:59):
I came back to days later, and the company was revitalized.
Everybody was energized. They realized that we don't have to
give up who we are to be best to step
into the future. What they were missing was the big
trend was Doc Martin's and lug sold shoes. So that
weekend I sent them out and I said, BASS is
a boot company. Began in boots. Where are our boots.

(28:21):
I understand our classic boots, but I want rugged looking boots.
I want boots that we can call men at work.
I want boots that could be exciting. And I want
you to develop it, and I want to come back
next Tuesday, and I want to see your version of it.

Speaker 2 (28:34):
Now.

Speaker 3 (28:34):
I got to tell you, behind anyone with vision, they're
fifty well intentioned people undermining that vision. I heard all
the reasons why we couldn't do this. I heard all
the reasons why this is not Bass. I hold all
the reasons why we couldn't afford this. I held all
the reasons why Bass would die if we did these things.
The only thing these people didn't realize is they came
in front of an immobile force. There's no way that

(28:57):
they're going to change my mind. And I was going
to be resolute. And at the end of the following week,
we lined up five Rosa shoes from the most avant
garde to the basic to the boots, and we had
a new line that was called Bass. It was all black,
no brown. It had a different look. And I looked
at the team and I said, we have a right

(29:19):
to be in the shoe business. This is our heritage
where leaders, we have a right to lead. I did
the same thing in the kids division. I did the
same thing in the women's division. Women's shoes are more
about sexy. We were making shoes for women that didn't
shave their legs. With all due respect to people like that,
we wanted sexy shoes. That's the business. You have to

(29:40):
be represented. An end of a three month period, Bass
was revitalized. We energized. Everyone in the company was excited
and I'll never forget right. At Christmas, the weekend before Christmas,
Weeks convene a meeting with six hundred people, including the
chairman of our board, including our CEO. We invited their

(30:02):
wives to spend a weekend in Maine and on that
Saturday night, we presented the new h bess to of
the company and it included photographs and samples of all
the new shoes of men's and women, photographs of what
they would look like. We did test photography, we did
swipe photography. We showed all of these ideas as part

(30:23):
of a new advertising in the marketing campaign, and it
was a remarkable turnaround for the company. And I can
tell you the company overnight changed. But the most important
thing to me was during my presentation, I never once
said any of these ideas were mine. All I referred
to was the team. Because of the course of that

(30:45):
three month period, I realized how difficult it was for
all of them to change. I realized how difficult it
was for them to deal with someone who wasn't from Maine,
who had a different point of view, who didn't understand
the history of best the way they did. Because the
fact he is there a product development shop, all the
people sewing shoes by hand. But they all wanted a

(31:05):
future and they wanted to see the company doing well.
And during my presentation I called out names of the
people who did special work on these projects. Never ever
once did I talk about me. I always talked about us.
And right before I got off the stage, the CEO
of the company stood up and handed me a piece
of paper that I still have to this day. He

(31:27):
always wrote with read ink. And I had that piece
of paper and I was on the podium and I
opened up and looked at it and it said, Mark,
this is your finest hour. You've done a remarkable job
with Michael turning this company around, and not once did
you mention you. It was all about the team. I

(31:47):
can't tell you how proud I am of you that,
my friends, is one of my favorite Christmas stories Back
in a moment.

Speaker 2 (31:55):
Always in fashion.

Speaker 3 (31:57):
As one of the world's most celebrated fashion design and
his car Lagafeld was renowned for his aspirational and cutting
edge approach to style. His unique vision of Parisian shit
comes to America through Carlagofeld Paris. He has women's collections,
men's collections, ready to wear, accessory, shoes and bags. The
fashion house Carlagofeld also offers a range of watches, I

(32:19):
wear and premium fragrances. You can explore the car Lagofel
collection at car Lagofelparis dot com. But it's more than that.
I have for one, love to shop. I love going
around and seeing what's happening and what catches my attention,
what would make me feel good to wear Now. I
don't wear the women's wear obviously, but I can appreciate
it and they look amazing if you want to look right,

(32:42):
you want to have clothes that fits you well. You
want to look like you're wearing something that's very expensive,
that's exclusive for you and yours. You can find it
at very affordable prices at Macy'socarlagofel dot com Paris. The
women's ready to wear fashion is extraordinary, as well as
of handbigs in the shoes. I for one, wear men's

(33:03):
clothes onlike my appreciation of women's clothes. I'm a modern guy.
I want to look current. I want to look the
way I want to feel. I go out at night,
I'm in black and Carlagafel is my buddy. Carls are great.
They fit great, and they have little tweaks and touches,
whether it's a stripe on the sleeve or button at
the neck or on the shoulder. There's a lot of

(33:23):
details that go into Carlagafel because he's always been, he
always had been one of the world's great designers, and
this legacy and goes on and on. I can't speak
enough about it except to say to you, you want
to feel good about yourself. You want to know that
you're dressing properly. You want to clothes that fits you well.
Carl Lagafeld Paris at Macy's Orcarl Lagafel dot com.

Speaker 1 (33:46):
Welcome back to Always in Fashion. Here's your host, Mark Webber.

Speaker 3 (33:51):
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, all of
us in the holiday spirit. I, for one, I'm singing,
I'm happy. I love this time of year. I'm feeling
good about what's going on now. I could have taken
this night to talk about all the touchy feelings, the
friendships that you have, the family and the gift of family,
all the wonderful things taking apart in the world, and

(34:12):
I could have made it more a lifestyle show this evening,
but I chose to take the best stories I have
of Christmas and my Christmas memories and talk business. And
one of my favorite stories has to do with me
being a merchant, me traveling. I was the CEO of
Donna Karen. I was part of LVMH as the CEO
of LVMH in the American subsidiary of LVMH Leavitan moh

(34:36):
Hennessy and I love being involved with Donna Karen and
we had just built a new shop in Niemon Marcus
in Las Vegas. I had frequented Las Vegas a lot,
and it bothered me that Naga an Arcus didn't have
a Donna Karen Collection shop. And myself and the president
of the Donna Karen Collection convinced Nemen Marxus to build

(34:57):
this a shop. And I remember it's Christmas time and
I went to go there. I got off the elevator
and Nieman Marcus on the second floor where the collection
products would be found. All the other competitors, Vitone, Dior,
all the names that you had known. There was Donna Karen, beautiful,
very expensive, with the nicest color palette I ever saw.
It was all shades of pink and raspberry and burgundy,

(35:20):
off white, heather, gray, amazing colors. I couldn't believe how
happy I was to be there. And I said to
myself that this is going to be amazing for us,
and I want to buy my wife a gift. And
when I went to the shop, someone decided that would
all be novelty items, that it would all be one

(35:44):
of a kind kind of things, and I realized that
this is not going to work. When you walk into
a shop, you know, when you walk into a pick
a brand. Ralph Lauren Okay that polo shirt. If you
want to buy a polo shirt, it's going to appeal
to a lot of people if you have a logo

(36:04):
on it. There are twenty five percent of the people
won't even buy a shirt with a logo, So you
still have seventy five percent people that will be willing
to take a look. Now you're basic colors navy, white, black, red, gray.
Of the seventy five, there's a chance you'll capture every
one of those seventy five. So ten people walking in

(36:24):
if they were looking to buy a polo or you
gave them a presentation that looked well, seven out of
ten people you would have a shot at selling. I
walked into our shop and one in ten maybe would
buy one of these novelty items. And I was heartbroken.
I was desolate. I don't even have the rightful Kapri.
How disappointed I was when I saw down a Karen
and these beautiful colors, and yes some of the clothes

(36:47):
were masterpieces, but nothing I couldn't buy my wife a gift.
And I said to myself, could you imagine if I
had one of these beautiful Cashmir items in a v
Nex sweater that would be perfectly fit for a while,
and those five colors of pink, raspberry, burgundy, off, white,
or gray. If I had a turtleneck or a V

(37:07):
neck sweater, or even a cardigan sweater for that matter,
could you imagine how many they would sell? How many
gifts we could sell with the collection. I was really distraught.
I think that's what the word I was looking for.
And I walked through the collection and I was more
and more discouraged, and I remember calling the president of
Donna Aaron. I said, I have I have to tell

(37:29):
you how proud I am of the positioning and the
collection we put together Donna Karon and even Marcus. But
having said that, I am so discouraged and so depressed
because all that's here is novelty items. All that's here
is we have to cross our fingers that a woman
walks in who's looking for a dress for a specific
reason in an elegant event, would buy that particular dress.

(37:51):
We have nothing core here, we have nothing that appeals
to a lot of people, and we can't possibly be successful.
I envision a collection of Kashmir tops. I can't tell
you what they are. This is not my forte, but
I'll tell you this A turtleneck Kashmir in these colors,
a v Nex sweater Kashmir in these colors, a pullover

(38:13):
vest in these colors. Maybe Kashmere pants in these colors
or a skirt would be extraordinary. We're losing out on
an opportunity and I want to correct this for next Christmas.
She listened. She was quiet. Unfortunately, she was not one
of those fifty people that undermine ideas. She said, Mark,
I hear you. Let's work on it. I thanked her profusely.

(38:34):
I wished her happy holidays. When I came back after
January one, I went into her office to talk to her,
and she said, I gave a lot of thought to
what you said. We have a core everywhere in our line,
and if we're going to do Kashmi, we should have
had Kashmir. It's a big business. Donna Karen should own
the Kashmir business. We're putting a Kashmir collection together the
next four so I will tell you. When I walked

(38:56):
in the showroom that March ten million worth of orders
in Cashmere, I was so proud of the company. I
was so proud of Donna Karen. I was proud of myself.
That Christmas for recognizing opportunity you see in this world.
No matter how good anything makes you feel. We're in business,
and the only reason you're in business is to make money.
And if all you're doing is concentrating on novelties, you're

(39:19):
not going to make money. If Elon Musk only sold
three teslas, he wouldn't make money. He's selling millions of them.
That's where the business is and that's what we need
to do. That is one of my favorite Christmas stories.
Take a break back in a minute.

Speaker 2 (39:36):
Always in fashion.

Speaker 3 (39:37):
I spent a lifetime of my career building the van
Usen Brand, and I am so pleased that they're back
with us now talking about suits. Men were dressing up
again and it's become cool to wear a suit. Suits
can be won on multipleccasions, in multiple ways. You could
wear a suit formally to go out at night or

(39:58):
to an event, to wear a suit to the office
with or without a tie. If you look closely, now
fashion trends, suits are being worn with turtlenecks or mark next.
The choices are endless and every one of them looks right.
You could really really look the part. I believe that
packaging yourself is as important does the products you package,

(40:21):
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.
Its wrinkle resistant fabric, it's cool moisture wiki. It makes
it perfect for all occasions. As we discussed just now,

(40:42):
this new style of looking sharp while feeling cool and
comfortable is amazing, and I'm so excited that the ven
using company is involved in this new technology and is
embracing the whole idea of dressing up. Let's not forget
Venues and made its name with dress shirts. It's only
proper that the suit business follows strongly in its way.

(41:05):
You can find van Us and cool Flex Men's stretch
suits at Jcpenny are online at jcpenny dot com. Guys,
they're great. You should go look. It's beginning to look
a lot like Welcome Back Fashion. I right, I should
be talking about the holidays. I should be talking about religion.
I should be talking about all those things are important
to you and to family. But this is a business show,

(41:26):
and I've chosen to take this time to talk about
things that have happened with me, reflection points on my
career during this time of year, and one has to
do with working through the tough times. I can tell
you without a doubt. One of the reasons I'm here
talking to you. One of the reasons that I became
CEO of public companies, one of the reasons I resurrected

(41:49):
myself at LVMH. One of the reasons that I've written
books and I'm standing here with you talking to you
on the radio and podcast is working through the tough
time times. I understood that life can't always be great.
I understood that there disappointments. I understood that people got
presentation that I understood that people got. I understood that

(42:14):
people got promotions that I had hoped were mine. I
understand that I didn't get raises or compensation that I
thought I should have or was entitled to. I understood
life the hard way, But when times got tough, it's
when I had the wherewithal to realize that I had
to change or I had to deal with tough times.

(42:35):
I often talk about my American Dream speech, when I
would speak to people about the futures and careers and
opportunities and talk about how you deal with disappointments. And
I could simply say to you that there are a
lot of people disappointed this time of year, and we
all go through challenging times, particularly in your careers. But
it's what you do during those challenging times. I, for one,

(42:58):
never let anyone know how bad I was feeling when
I was disappointed. I always shook it off, at least
to them. I put a great face on, and when
I had to answer someone. If a boss was telling me,
I'm sorry, Mark, you're not getting the rays you had wanted,
or Mark, we had to choose someone else for this job,
I said, listen, it's your right to manage. I understand.
All I can tell you is that I have my

(43:20):
eye on the prize. I'm going to continue to work hard,
I'm going to learn, I'm going to be smart. I'll
do everything I can to be your choice for next time.
They didn't need to know that I was pissed off
or angry, because they wouldn't care. It would only put
my career in jeopardy. But I knew that when times
were tough, you had to work harder and smarter, And
as time went on, things worked out for me, and

(43:42):
I always understood that when things were at the point
where it wasn't what I needed, that that was the
time to get really, really tough and be a winner.
And I just say that to you. Don't wear your
problems on your sleep. It's not important. Nobody cares what
you think. Nobody cares that you're unhappy. They only care
about whether or not you're going to perform and whether

(44:04):
or not you're right for the job, and managers, and
management has the right to choose. You know, I don't
know what's going on with these drones out there right now,
but I think the government does, and the government has
made a decision of what they want us to know
and what they don't want us to know, and whether
we like it or not, they have a right to
manage this country and to keep us calm and safe
and tell us what they feel we need to know.

Speaker 2 (44:26):
I don't like it.

Speaker 3 (44:27):
I want to know, but they're doing what they believe
is right, and I want you to remember that. However,
I got to tell you that when it comes to business.
I'm here with my son Jared tonight. We both had
careers in the luxury retail and apparel business, and I
have to say that, although I had a very successful career,
my son Jared is at this point further along than

(44:50):
I was at my point. I tell you, Jared, you
and I are very similar. Maybe because I don't like humans,
make it sense that people don't like me so much,
but they like you, and I'm impressed by.

Speaker 4 (45:06):
That for the most part. Don't be so hard on yourself.
People like you mostly. I followed you and Grandpa Joe
before you into an industry where one of the great
joys for me in this career is meeting people who
you've influenced over the course of your time, your long,

(45:26):
storied career. Everyone tells me that you've always made time
for them. You've helped them, whether able to give them jobs, advice,
career goals, whatever the case may be, and it's been
invaluable in their lives and they never forget it. And
to be able to hear that firsthand from people in
the industry is very special. And I've used that as
a life lesson, given where I am in my career now,

(45:48):
to the extent that I can help people, you told
me that lesson. It doesn't cost much, just time, So
don't be so hard on yourself. You've influenced a lot
of people, and you continue to do so in the
present day.

Speaker 3 (45:59):
Wow, thank you for that. Look, my reputation was tough,
but fair, and I suppose, I suppose I'd done some right.
And you know, whoever you've met, nobody could ever say
I treated them poorly or I didn't treat them fairly,
which I think is a testament to doing the right thing.
But you you seem to like people.

Speaker 2 (46:21):
I don't get it.

Speaker 4 (46:23):
Well, godfather, what's the matter, Sonny? Never let anyone outside
the family know what you're thinking. Ever, So, whether I
actually like them or I pretend to like them, I'll
leave that up to the person. But at the end
of the day, I remember when I was an intern
at PVH and at the time, you weren't the CEO

(46:43):
of the company. You were the president and chief operating officer.
And another senior executive was in the meeting, and he
led the meeting at the time, and he screamed and kicked,
and you know proverbial, kicked and yelled at people and
everyone you could see their shoulders shrug. They were disappointed, dejected,
And he walked out of the meeting, and then you

(47:04):
picked up the pieces. You delivered the same message, same content,
but a different effect. You brought them back up, explain
to them what the issues were, what the disappointment was,
and how we could fix it collectively. And although the
message was the same, the delivery was incredibly important. And
when people left the room after you exited, they all
felt revitalized, excited, recognizing there was work to be done.

(47:27):
But it was a different manner. And the way you
delivered that message again, different styles, same message, different styles,
incredibly important. So in the end, that first executive left
everyone miserable and you left everyone smiling.

Speaker 3 (47:42):
Well, it wasn't any easier. The message had to be delivered.
But it's all about people, especially this time of year
when I think about it, leaving people happy. But the
difference between you and me, I don't like anyone.

Speaker 4 (48:00):
Well that's funny. I give everyone a chance, everyone an opportunity,
innocent until proven guilty. There's a great quote from Roadhouse,
great movie, one of our favorites, with Patrick Swayze, and
he tells his staff be nice until it's time not

(48:20):
to be nice, and they ask him when is that?
He said, you don't know, but I'll tell you. And
that's the method I've always gone about. Whenever you're delivering
difficult conversations difficult message, the end of the day, you
deliver the message. But why not, if all things being equal,
have the person who's leaving the office still have a
smile on their face.

Speaker 3 (48:40):
Well, I got to tell you. Whenever I go to
a function with you, it's funny. When you guys were
younger and I was an important guy, people used to
knock you guys out of the way to come sale
out of me. Now I go to functions with you
and then knocking me out of the way to get
to you. And it's a good thing because only a
father wants to see a man do better than he

(49:01):
and I love seeing how well you're doing. But we
got to functions together. You invite me. Now everybody wants
to talk to you, Everybody likes being around. You're actually smiling,
have a good time. I can't take it. It's hysterical.

Speaker 4 (49:12):
At the end of the day. I enjoy people. I
enjoy spending time with people, especially quality people. But there's
a difference between the people you spend time with in
business and the people you spend time within your personal life,
and at the end of the day, the way you
said that is a very indicative people. Now, if that
is the case, I can't say whether it's true or not.
I don't know. You're the one commenting on it. But
it's because I can help them, or they need me

(49:33):
for business, or whatever the case may be. In the
same hell true. So although you say and often say,
you're not important anymore, you're important to the people that
matter most to you, and that's the family. And you
never lose sight of that. You know, friends come and go,
business relationships come and go, but family is first, and
especially this time of the year and the holidays. Should
always never lose sight of that family. Nothing more important.

Speaker 3 (49:56):
That's great. I'm so happy you hear Jared. In fact,
if you keep talking about your bothered this way, I
think we could do this full time. Jesse's so busy anyway,
you know, I like hearin how good I am? That
is acidem. We take a break. We'll be back in
a minute. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Speaker 2 (50:14):
Always in fashion.

Speaker 3 (50:16):
This is Mark Weber. We're living in strange times, but
nonetheless we all have to get dressed interestingly enough we're
dressing differently because we're working at home and most people
want to wear clothes that they're comfortable in. And having
said that, I'm very excited to be affiliated with TK
and Y boff men's and women's because they have some

(50:38):
of the best active wear collections that you've ever seen. Now,
this is not a time to be thinking about what's
important in business. It's the time to be thinking about
a lot of different things. We're all under the gun,
we're under attack, but at the same time, we have
to live our lives. We have to get up in
the morning, brush our teeth, get dressed, feel good about ourselves.

(50:59):
I can only tell you that DKY right now has
active wear that looks sensational. Now, the good news is
is as we dress of casual, we still are working
from home and working for home. You have to believe
in the adage. You still have to look your best,
particularly when you're having conference calls and video conferences with
different people. Nobody's looking at what you're wearing in your pants,

(51:22):
but wearing sweatpants form DK and Y that are comfortable
and look cool great. More importantly, the tops let you
look active, that you look comfortable, that you look fashionable
and you don't have to give up your style. Dky
Activewear is incredible, as I say, both for men's and women's.
And here's the best news of all. This virus will

(51:43):
be behind us soon. We'll be back out there making
an impression, taking care of business, going through the activities
our lives and on the casual side, whether we go
to the gym, whether we go to sporting events, whether
we go to our children's sporting events, we have to
look the part. Decay Y Activewear.

Speaker 1 (52:03):
Welcome back to Always in Fashion. Here's your host, Mark Webber.

Speaker 3 (52:09):
My favorite story of the Christmas cheer has to do
with getting a call one day from my boss asked
to take a walk with me, and I remember he
and I walking to the University club. It was the
middle of the summer. What I didn't know is I
had been interviewing for a job. I've been with the
company a long time. I thought it was time to
move up and lo and behold, I was offered the

(52:30):
CEO job of Donna Karen, not the one that I
actually got. This is way before I met Elvimh and
I was interviewing for it. I was in line. I
met with their lead director. I met with the board
of directors, I was met with Donna, I met with
her husband, and I was being considered to become the
CEO of Donna Karen and leaving PVH Van using to
go there, my boss asked me to take a walk

(52:53):
to the University club. We sit down and the first
thing he says to me when we have lunch, Mark,
I'm going to make you the president of the company.
I said, where is this coming from? He says, you
don't want to be president of the corporation. I said, no,
But out of the blue, where is it coming from?
Said Mark? You and I've always worked so well together,
with like words and music. It makes me the happiest

(53:14):
in the world that me, as CEO can name you
as president. And I think this is going to be
a happy time. I need you to bear with me
for a few months. There are a lot of things
that have to take place. I have to reorganize the
rest of the company. I have to convince the board
this is the rife move to make, but we're going
to do it. And I remember saying to myself, how
in the world did he find out that I was

(53:36):
looking for a job, Because that's the only thing that
would have motivated which, by the way, while we're walking,
he said to me, and it shocked me. He said,
by the way, I need your advice today. Said what's that?
He says, I was offered the CEO job of Donna
Karen and I want to know if I should take it.
And that was shocking. And I said to him, what
are they going to pay you? And he had the numbers.

(53:56):
I said, well, if that's the case, you should take
the job. Going there and we'll sit down. So apparently
he knew I was interviewing. Over the next few months,
we're hanging out, he and I privately were talking about
becoming the president of the company. And I never understood
how in the world he would have understood that maybe
I was getting that job, or in fact, was he

(54:17):
really getting the job. And one day, it's right before Christmas,
the week of Christmas beginning, it's snowing on the ground.
He and I walked to Michaels and we're having lunch
at Michael's. It was one of those perfect little days.
The snowflakes of falling down were standing in the sitting
in the section with all the trees. Was I feel like.
It was just beautiful, beautiful feeling. And there we are

(54:39):
having a conversation and who walks over one of our
board members and the lead director for Donna Karen and
I was introduced by the board member to the lead
director of Donna Karen and he and I met like
we were meeting for the first time. It was nice.
He walked away, and I remember looking at my boss
and saying, now I know how you knew, and he

(55:02):
smiled at me and he said, after the first of
the year, you're the president. So what that is a backdrop?
This has been a wonderful night for me to tell stories.
I have my oldest son here, Jara, with me. It's
been a holiday season that I think all of us
should enjoy. If you're not happy, go look at the tree.
If you're not happy, walk outside and look at anything.

(55:23):
It's a joyous time to be out and about. It's
beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Good Night,