“The world could use more micromanagers running companies.”

This weekend I took some time to catch up on my TiVo queue, which included CNBC’s excellent documentary on J. Crew’s CEO, the infamous Mickey Drexler, titled “J.Crew and the Man Who Dressed America.” If you like fashion (which I am assuming you all do since you’re reading this blog) and the business of making fashion then you really should try to catch the program. It is mostly a one-on-one interview with also some following around of Mickey while he visits his very modest childhood apartment in Queens as well as J. Crew stores in NYC and holds meetings with his HQ employees.

Over the years it has come to my attention how extremely difficult it is to be successful in the highly competitive retail industry (the “fashion” industry as most of us know it). It shocks me how good the cheap stuff has gotten from Target to H&M and Forever 21 over the past 10 years, making it all the more difficult for more expensive middle-range retailers to compete. Because really, how do you get America to shell out the cash for quality clothes when design is so good at the bottom tier? It baffles me how much cashmere J. Crew is able to sell at Christmastime. Who even buys cashmere anymore? J. Crew customers, that’s who.  J.Crew seems to really have figured it out as they are able to thrive in this economy while hardly ever putting anything on sale (that clearance rack in the back is sooooo tiny compared to most stores). 4 Days ago, J. Crew reported out earnings for the first quarter of the year and they nearly doubled their earnings over the previous year and saw a 23% increase in revenue. Dude, people, that’s huge.

While I have been paying attention to J. Crew for a while and like to think I have figured out a little bit how they do it, this documentary really made it clear to me that their success is really driven in full force by their very involved, obsessively detail-oriented CEO. Mickey is known to be a difficult micro manager. He has a very clear vision for his business and personally makes sure that vision is carried through all the way to the end. And guess what, his vision is pretty much right on, so this strategy works for him and the business. Mickey is a Merchant at heart with a keen eye and defined taste and he is able to stay ahead and continually evolve his business. He tells us what we want. And we all buy.

One thing I think is amazing about Mickey (that they didn’t go into much in this documentary but I have heard and read about other places) is that he is very dedicated to staying on top of what is cool all around him. He is able to be laser focused not only on his own business, but on everything else going on in the retail industry, big or small. He travels the world regularly to see what’s going on out there and make sure he stays on the pulse. Case in point: I read on Michael Williams’ excellent ‘A Continuous Lean’ blog that after he was profiled by the New York Times me as part of their “New Breed of Bloggers” series, Williams got a personal email from Mickey congratulating him. I am pretty sure most CEOs aren’t on top of all of this – they probably hire someone to do this. But there is something to be said for having someone at the head of the ship who is all-knowing. It’s interesting to me because this particular CEO strategy is not exactly the most practical –  we all learn the value of good delegation early on in a career – and it didn’t work for him when Gap, Inc got too big. But J.Crew is the perfect size for Mickey to perfectly engineer it all (and he has chosen to expand at a snail’s pace  -they have a pretty small overseas presence despite the international brand clout- but again, it’s working for them). It’s all very fascinating if you ask me.

All this did make me wonder what role exactly Jenna Lyons has played in the success of the brand over the years. While I do not doubt her talent and genius styling abilities, I do think a really good boss can take you very far. Jenna does make a cameo, p.s.

Guess who also makes a cameo? The Anna Wintour is who, calling the J. Crew “a force to be reckoned with.”

Check out the preview here and the schedule for the repeat airings here. And be sure to let me know what you think in the comments too!

 “The gut is important: you see it, you feel it…. get all the information that’s out there and then your gut becomes a much wiser decision maker.”

-Mickey Drexler

*images via jcrew.com