J.Crew Freshens Up the Classics

There is a great article over at Wall Street Journal/ MarketWatch (click here or here to read in its entirety) that interviews J.Crew's Jenna Lyons.

Giving Classics a Fresh Look at J.Crew
By Elizabeth Holmes
February 14, 2011

Wall Street is closely watching J.Crew's CEO Millard "Mickey" Drexler as he prepares to take the company private. But attendees at New York Fashion Week have their eye on Jenna Lyons, the president, executive creative director and face of the preppy apparel brand.

During the recession, Ms. Lyons became the envy of many retailers with her designs that attracted two highly sought after groups of consumers: the older luxury customer seeking lower-cost alternatives and the 20-something aspirational shopper looking to trade up. Sales rose to nearly $1.6 billion in 2009, an 11% increase over the year before. Profits more than doubled.

But as consumer sentiment strengthens and spending returns, the brand has shown signs of weakness. Mr. Drexler reported "softness" in the women's business in November as the product, such as embellished T-shirts and ruffled tops, grew stale.

Ms. Lyons, 42 years old, joined J.Crew in 1990 as an assistant designer and rose to creative director in 2007. Her big break came more than a year later, when now-First Lady Michelle Obama wore a J.Crew yellow pencil skirt and cardigan during an appearance on "The Tonight Show," pushing the brand into the spotlight.

In late 2009, J.Crew gave Ms. Lyons a $1 million bonus that she must pay back in full if she leaves the company before fall 2011 or by half if she leaves the company two years after that. Last July, the company made her president, in addition to her creative duties.

In an interview, Ms. Lyons talks about making khakis look exciting and what she watches for at New York Fashion Week.

WSJ: How does the rising cost of raw materials, such as cotton, affect your design?
Ms. Lyons: When we're selecting fabrics, we are conscious of what we're doing and we think about the overall line. We've actually gone out and secured cotton. We've taken more strategic positions with some of our vendors.

One of the things that Mickey really instilled in us was to design it, create it and then look at it and say, "How much would you pay for that? What is that worth?" Instead of saying, "I want you to design a $48 T-shirt," which is not very inspiring.

You might question, why is a J.Crew shoe $225? Well, we want you to understand why it's $225. For the quality and the level of detail and materials we put in it, it is actually an incredible price because we don't have a double markup structure the way another department store might. We're not just sort of going to the lowest common denominator and saying, "Commodity prices are going up. We are going to make everything cheaper."

WSJ: What about the collection resulted in softer sales last fall?
Ms. Lyons: [The customer] was sick of ruffles and so were we. There are always cycles where things sort of ebb and flow and all of a sudden that thing that you loved you now hate and that thing that you hated you now love. You've got to just keep moving forward.

WSJ: How do you keep basic items, such as T-shirts and jeans, exciting?
Ms. Lyons: One of the things that I think is unique about what we do is the way that we present the clothes. Sometimes it's a little kooky—sometimes it's too kooky—but it's this idea that you can make it your own. Wearing that stripe with that stripe with that check with that belt. We're not saying you have to walk down the street like that, but what we are saying is you can have fun with it.

How do you take that thing that is a staple in somebody's wardrobe and help them reinvent it? For instance, we have a "Jackie" cardigan. It's a twin set, it's classic. When we get to the catalog, how do you make that thing look new? You show it with shorts, maybe you show it with a bathing suit, maybe you show it with high-waisted skirt, maybe you show it with a skinny pant.

At a very base level, there is a lot of effort that goes into quarterly earnings calls. It will be nice to not have that quarterly distraction. I don't think it's going to change much for us, other than that.

WSJ: How do you design for both trade-down luxury customers and younger aspirational shoppers?
Ms. Lyons: That's actually always been the goal, to provide clothing that anyone can wear. This is a J.Crew double-faced cashmere sweatshirt [points to what she is wearing.] I got one for my mother. My mother does not wear it like I do, with silk sweatpants and spiky heels. There's a girl in the office who wears it upstairs. She's so classic, in crisp white shirt, perfect little trousers and loafers.

We strive to provide a high-low in the core things that we do, like a chino. What's going to make that chino feel really luxe? Do we throw a little sequin jacket over it and a little tank top? It's really about how we make the line feel complete and rich as opposed to sort of thinking about a specific person.

WSJ: Last year, you were inducted into the Council of Fashion Designers of America, led by fashion heavyweights Diane von Furstenberg and Vogue Editor Anna Wintour. What has that been like?
Ms. Lyons: Interestingly enough, she [Ms. Wintour] and Diane have been incredibly welcoming. Shocking, not because of anything other than the image that's out there—I just had no idea of what to expect. I mean, it's Diane von Furstenberg, she's a legend. She's been painted by Andy Warhol and hung out in Studio 54 and I mean has the best legs I've ever seen. And Anna Wintour? It's like—oh my god.

WSJ: You've been spotted this season at shows by Jason Wu, Prabal Gurung and Derek Lam. What do you look for at New York Fashion Week?
Ms. Lyons: By going to shows, I get to step out of my daily job and fantasize about fashion; the hair, the culture, the makeup, the music, the styling and the energy. That in itself is inspirational.

In another life, I would love to be a magazine editor, because when the music comes on and the lights go up and the models come down the runway, I'm like: Ohhh! I love it.

I really enjoyed this article/ interview. Lot's of interesting tidbits about quality in products and stagnant sales. I also thought that some of the quotes related to the topics discussed frequently on this blog. In particular: (1) The quote about ruffles was funny as it is often discussed here. I do love me some ruffles, but you can only put ruffles on so many things before you ruffle-out. ;) (2) The quote about presenting the clothes. Many of us wonder about the occasional "too kooky" looks and it's great that they are aware of it.

What are your thoughts on the article? Did you enjoy the interview? Any parts you found particularly interesting?