King of CoolBy John Brodie
Mickey Drexler took J. Crew public in 2006. Now he's taking it upscale and launching a new brand called Madewell. Downturns are not for wimps.
The abstract seems to imply that considerable attention will be on Madewell, but I could be mistaken. (I personally prefer to know more about J.Crew itself.) I actually subscribe to Fortune magazine- so I will be sure to provide the article (e.g. most likely scan the pages) for a post once I receive the magazine.
What are your thoughts on Fortune crowing Mickey as the "King of Cool"? Do you think he does or does not deserve the honor? Will you read the article when it comes out?
Will be very excited to read the article! :)
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the article will include snippets of J.Crew's recent troubles?
ReplyDeleteI just got an email about free shipping on $150+ with code SHOPFALL.
I will definitely be excited to read the article, too. I'm still concerned that Mickey intends to take J.Crew *too* upscale and leave us with Madewell...that would suck.
ReplyDeleteBtw...as I was clearing out old J.Crew boxes on Saturday, I happend to notice that a couple of my return labels were actually addressed to Madewell, instead of J.Crew. I don't normally return by mail, so I never pay any attention to the labels. However, after noticing the first one I was on the lookout and found another one...both from recent orders that were made with J.Crew. So weird...looks like Madewell may be coming out of the same warehouse? Any other ideas?
He has a good PR agent. I'll be reading this one.
ReplyDeleteWith the recent JCrew web fiasco I do not think he deserves this title....the problems are still ongoing...I have never heard of this happening with any other company...really very poor indeed.
ReplyDeleteI think he looks like a old scraggly man in that picture... and he looks a little sloppy in it. I wouldn't call that picture the king of cool. I will totally read the article though
ReplyDeleteblumre: I totally agree with you.
ReplyDeleteThe king is a fool! (in my book....)too many of my orders have been messed up and I feel royally upset at JCrew right now!
ReplyDeleteIt says he is taking JCrew upscale so that does mean things will be changing at JCrew...it will become more expensive...yes, I think FFM is right...Madewell will become the JCrew we know from the past/present and JCrew will change...however, I think JCrew's quality has gone down in the past two years...so their higher prices won't nec. mean higher quality.
ReplyDeleteI have been secretly wondering if the recent Mickey accolades are bought and paid for by JCrew to provide damage control after all the recent (and ongoing) disasters with the web and system updates. Many of the business awards (i.e., best place to work) are actually an application process and businesses essentially nominate themselves for consideration.
ReplyDeleteIt seems Mickey is taking his old employers Banana Republic, Gap and Old Navy business and pricing concepts and recreating it with the JCrew and Madewell lines. Maybe he is still bitter about being fired and is trying to prove he can do it better . . .
"king of fools" is more like it.
ReplyDeleteYou know what's cool? Not making the same mistake twice. Drexler's blueprint is clearly taking a mid-market brand and expanding it too quickly and/or trying to turn it into a more upscale brand. Does he want to be the CEO of J.Crew or of LVMH?
ReplyDeleteMadewell's designs are less expensive but also too young for me. I like luxury as much as the next person, believe me, but what I love about J.Crew is that you can have a bit of luxury at a good price point. I hope that doesn't change. I could give a rat's behind about the king of cool, but I do want to know in what direction my J.Crew is going, so I'm curious to see what the article says.
I sincerely hope Drexler does not mess up a good thing, and J.Crew, as Martha Stewart says, was a very good thing.
And yes, blumre, he does look sloppy. As a chairman of a clothing company, the least he could do is iron his shirt.
BTW, my Firefox browser is still showing an extra 30% off final sale items using EXTRA30 (while IE isn't). That website is FUBAR!
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ReplyDeleteRecently madewell1937.com was advertising the fact that they will soon have online shopping capability! I'm excited (and apprehensive). We'll see if the J Crew fiasco migrates over there as well...hopefully not.
ReplyDeleteI agree with FFM and everyone else in regards to J Crew going too upscale. I wear J Crew because I feel like I'm put together without trying to look like I'm 20 and not spending a fortune. I'm a 31 SAHM and I want to dress nice. I would be so sad if I had to only shop at gap and Old Navy because I could no longer afford J Crew. MICKEY: I love love love J Crew, don't take it away from me!!!
ReplyDeleteAlexis, to avoid any potential copyright issues, I would suggest that rather than scanning and posting the article, you instead provide a link to the online version on Fortune's website when it becomes available.
ReplyDeleteCass: That is a good point. :)
ReplyDeleteI will be very excited to read the article. I do find it very interesting that suddenly we are seeing much, much more of Mickey being portrayed in a positive light. Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has seen the article, it does touch on the web issues and his apology email, but it's more about his business model and the current economy. It also has some interesting biographical info and is a pretty good profile. There's stuff you've heard before and a few things you may not have. Whether you love Drexler or hate him, it's a good read.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous at 3:26 AM: That is so great that you read the article already. :) I can't wait to read it now hearing what the article covers. :)
ReplyDeleteI was hoping to hear more about the system upgrade situation. I think they really should disclose what is happening and the plans they have to repair it.