Mickey Drexler has redefined the retail trade by re -making Gap and J.Crew re -creating and working with Steve Jobs to guide the creation of the Apple Store. Now today, Drexler assesses some of the biggest stories in the retail trade, the weight of paralyzing rates and the American skepticism to the controversial American Eagle campaign with Sydney Sweeney. As always, Drexler shares his unmistakable vision of work in the office, the limitations of AI and why leaders should follow their belly or avoid them.
This is a short transcript of an interview from Quick responseOrganized by Robert Safian, former editor -in -chief of Fast Company. From the team behind the Masters of Scale Podcast, Rapid Response offers candid conversations with the best managers of today through real -time challenges. Subscribe to a quick response where you get your podcasts to ensure that you never miss an episode.
In many ways you helped to create the modern Playbook at GAP, at J.Crew. What is your assessment of what the state of the retail trade is now?
Well, I’m a very serious critic forever. I now find the retail trade, it is a completely different world. I think the trader went out of the company a bit. Many people who lead the companies in my opinion are not true sellers. It is about figures, it is about income, but in the end the most important issue in every company is the product, the goods. And I don’t think that many people really pay so much attention to the goods or are in fact not familiar with the goods. And with investors it is all about income, everything about the money, mercenaries in terms of money, money, money.
The irony is that your approach has always been just as good about getting the style as about the mechanics of the company, and yet that has led to more profit and more money, right? Just as the search for money does not necessarily lead to that money?
Not at all. I think it is true for every company. Now I am not an expert in all these things. I am an observer of the world. And you don’t have to be an expert to be a customer or an observer in the world. I look at the cars that are there. I loved cars. At the moment I can’t see the difference between the brands. And if you don’t have creativity, you can’t make a progress in the company because creative is inventive.
You always loved walking through physical stores. I remember you took me. We went to a J.Crew and a Madewell, and you point out why some displays worked and what things didn’t, and how sometimes you saw the product even differently as soon as it was on the floor. Nowadays so much happens online in these direct-to-consumer channels. Does that personal experience still matter in the same way? Can digitally be just as effective?
It’s really a good question. The store is simple. I go inside, it takes a while to know if we look good or not. I think online, and I always complain about many things, but I notice that websites never ends and that a customer does not need so many choices. What do you like? What message do you want to give?
And being a trader is just as well about trusting your stomach. It’s like being a curator, right?
Beyond the right. I recently had a big debate. There were 10 of us during dinner and the subject of AI came up. A woman was on Ai’s plate and they were all my friends, but I am a bit passionate and my wife says, “Calm.” They said, “Well, it will cost a lot of jobs. This is what this is going to be, this and doing that.” I said: “I am not really worried about AI. I don’t think AI will be able to choose colors. I don’t think AI will know how to invest in merchandise. I don’t think AI will know how to negotiate a factory owner worldwide.”
And then the fireworks started. And do you know what I said? I gave it up after a while, but I knew none of them were creatives. And when you work with creatives such as Steve Jobs, which was the best in the world, you have to say to yourself: “I love that idea. I love this. I love that.” The instinct and the intestine for me drive the company. And I’m wrong. Who is not wrong? You make mistakes, but that’s my feeling. My best friend is what I feel.
You mentioned Steve Jobs. You worked with Steve while he grew Apple in a Juggernaut. You have been on the Apple Board for more than ten years.
Sixteen years old, yes.
What do you think Steve would think of today’s AI -Rage? Would he be in it?
I think he should be in it. Steve saw the future and he died far too young and the world misses Steve, but what he wanted to do, then his last thing and then he died, he wanted to do an electric car and he wanted to design him. And when he brought up the first Tesla as an example, the ugly two -seater, and I said, “Steve, that car is really ugly,” he looked at me with contempt, which I loved when he got angry or whatever, disagrees. He said, “It’s not about the design of the car. Everyone can design a nice car. It’s about what’s in the bike.” He was just smart, really smart and not easy, but I don’t know any real bosses who are easy. If they are easy, they are not great bosses. Requiring that you have to do better and be as competitive as everyone in the world.
I now want to expand a bit to the leadership landscape for CEOs and others in business. CEO’s sales statistics are quite high, perhaps higher than ever. Has the role of a CEO become harder and riskier in 2025?
Well, I have an opinion about CEOs and boards of directors. Everyone – your best friends – can qualify as an independent director. When I was on the board of GAP, I had no voice, except when I invited Steve Jobs to the board, we closed a deal. I wouldn’t go on his plate, I was stupid. After a year he said to me, I will never forget this: “You go on my plate, I will become a member of the GAP board.” And I said, “We have a deal.” And he lived to be Steve Jobs.
He was irreverent, critical. Today’s business world is, I think it’s like a club of friends. A CEO. . . I understand that they don’t want someone who will give them a hassle. There is a company, outdoor voices, I was chairman of a year between J.Crew and Alex Mill. I [told the board]: “This would be a Lululemon Competitor.” And I said, “You have to apply a management change.” They didn’t care. Didn’t care. Really, someone should not have a course on nonsense.
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