Mickey Drexler | Source: Bu

Lunch with the FT: Mickey Drexler (FT)
“My lunch with Millard S. Drexler, the 67-year-old chief executive of J. Crew, the American clothing brand made world famous by its First Client Michelle Obama, turns out not to be a lunch. Or to be more specific: not just a lunch. It’s lunch, followed by a short walk, a couple of emails and two phone conversations… Typically I find that chief executives of $1.7bn companies such as J. Crew… Are happy to give you the allotted hour and a half or so, then cross you off their to-do list. But Drexler, it turns out, is very consciously not that sort of chief executive.”

Readjusting Our Eye, Again (On the Runway)
“We have at the moment a strong crowd of designers not merely believing in clothes with a modern attitude but also showing us what they mean — and without turning craft into some fetishistic pile of stuff that no intelligent person would consider wanting for a second.”

Online shoe store Spartoo.com projects €100 million turnover this year (TechCrunch)
“This ‘Zappos of Europe’ was founded in France by three young entrepreneurs in 2006, and is now active in 20 countries, including United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands. Today, the company revealed that its internationalization efforts have led to significant growth. In fact, Spartoo.com says it sold more than one million pairs of shoes in Europe in the first months of 2011 (the company offers about 15,000 models and 400 brands).”

Why are we so cuckoo about Coco? (FT)
“There is, it appears, an endless appetite for Chanel (and I am not talking about the quilted bags or the tweed jackets, though those are very covetable) – one that is exponentially greater than for any other fashion designer… What Chanel has that other fashion designers don’t is as basic as the little black dress: a really fantastic narrative. And if history teaches us anything, it’s that narratives – stories that can be passed on through generations – are what lasts.”

A Golden Touch Without the Glitter (NY Times)
“Rather, the shy woman with enviable rocker-messy hair who was sitting, largely unnoticed, in the NoHo restaurant the Smile on a recent sunny Friday morning is Charlotte Ronson, the clothing designer, who in the last few years has quietly and somewhat surprisingly evolved into one of the most successful retail entrepreneurs of her generation.”

Lanvin Autumn/Winter 2010 Detail | Source: Style.com

Africa’s influence in the fashion industry (FT)
“A long way from the World Cup epicentres of Johannesburg and Durban, catwalkers in New York and Paris are already marching to an African beat… chiming with the prevailing mood makes economic as well as sartorial sense.”

Will Last Century’s Styles Open Today’s Wallets? (NY Times)
“Brands are combing their archives in the hope that old clothing styles with a classic feel will assuage consumer anxiety in shaky times… — and help pry open shoppers’ wallets.”

E-commerce: Innovation brings a touch of class to online shopping (FT)
“Fuelled by a resurgent interest in the consumer web, a raft of technological advances, and evolving opinions of the web itself, companies such as Ike Behar, Burberry and Thomas Pink are discovering ways to reach consumers without sacrificing brand integrity.”

European M&A: Economic woes may herald slew of deals (FT)
“The conviction that the international success of groups of brands such as LVMH and PPR could be easily replicated, and that luxury is an easy industry for new entrants such as private equity [is false].”

Mickey Drexler: Retail Therapist (WSJ)
“No one understands shopping like J. Crew’s Mickey Drexler. With three successful turnarounds under his belt — Ann Taylor, Gap and now J. Crew — the ‘merchant prince’ is on a roll.”

Mulberry Spring/Summer 2010 featuring the Alexa bag | Source: Mulberry

How Mulberry bagged success in the battle for affordable luxury (Guardian)
“Many women spending nearly £1,000 on a handbag may salve their conscience by telling themselves it is an investment. But is it? ‘I am rather keen on the idea,’ chuckles Godfrey Davis, the chief executive of the fast-growing luxury brand Mulberry.”

Mickey Drexler Has Yet Another Reason to Be Giving High Fives (Vanity Fair)
“The Fenton/Fallon partnership is the latest example of J. Crew’s increasing focus on affordable luxury… those who recently previewed J. Crew’s Fall 2010 line said the collection was as good as anything they saw walking down the runway during New York Fashion Week.”

Wealthy become bored with frugality (Wealth Bulletin)
“After two years of enforced austerity the wealthy appear to be getting bored of their wardrobes. In the latest – and perhaps most visible – signs of a recovery, the well-heeled have put frugality behind them.”

LVMH cautions Q1 sales growth might not last (Reuters)
“French luxury group LVMH cautioned it might not sustain the powerful first-quarter growth that sent its shares close to a 10-year high this week.”

Social Media Worth $3.60 Says Everybody, Nobody (Brand Channel)
“What is the dollar value of a single Facebook “fan” to a brand? Five dollars? Twenty? A nickel? Stop wondering because Vitrue has ‘developed the first-ever published Facebook fan valuation.’”

Mickey Drexler is probably the most famous merchandiser in the fashion world. Merchandisers are known for their magical ability to combine art and science, analytics and gut feel, experience and predictive skills.

Over twenty years, Drexler built the Gap into a bonafide worldwide business from a struggling 400-store regional chain, using his product and merchandising skills and a 20-piece wardrobe that he kept on a list in his drawer while middling it out in other roles that didn’t inspire him.

I came across this conversation from earlier this year between Mr. Drexler and Charlie Rose, one of America’s most respected and talented interviewers. Charlie Rose says he “wants to go to school” on Drexler’s experience — which exactly what he does, getting underneath the mystery of merchandising through a series of stories and examples from Drexler’s career.