He visits every office, store and distribution center, and makes an effort to meet every new employee, although he's always Mickey, not Mr. Drexler. He'll notice if light bulbs are too dim, or how long the water cooler has been broken. And it's up to him to remember his cousin's birthday, although one of his assistants jots down the note once he says it aloud and she'll gently remind him later.
There's no ivory tower surrounding J. Crew CEO Millard "Mickey" Drexler.
There have to be some perks to being in charge of a company that has steadily gained style cred since Drexler took over in 2003. It's also expanded from its signature prepster khakis and T-shirts that launched 30 years ago as a catalog-only business to a high-design collection of casual and dressy clothes in bold colors and prints in 287 free-standing stores, including its Madewell label, and is available in 103 countries online.
Michelle Obama famously told comedian Jay Leno on his talk show during the 2008 presidential campaign that she would order J. Crew clothes online late at night.
J. Crew lands in China this fall with its first retail presence outside North America in Lane Crawford department stores.
The company even previews at the upcoming New York Fashion Week, sandwiched on the schedule between Tory Burch, Badgley Mischka and Vera Wang.
Under Drexler's leadership, J. Crew has carved out a place in the fashion hierarchy that's just between trendsetter and accessible, and he seems to like living in that space.
His name means something, and he can get a reservation at any restaurant he wants, but, he says, he'll judge that hot, hip eatery by how they treat people on his staff when they call for their own table.
"I used to be not me, 'Mickey Drexler.' I was me, just regular Mickey Drexler, the rest of my life, and I remember that," he says.
It takes a little effort to keep up with Drexler, 68, who previously served as CEO of Gap Inc. and is a director at Apple. He jumps from topic to topic as if he's playing pingpong but never seems to take his eye off the ball.
He gives more than a cursory glance to an email blast about the brand's new ironless shirts for men. The pitch is good, although he personally isn't completely sold on the ironless shirt — he is, after all, in a slightly rumpled pinstripe button-down that is part of his daily uniform with dark-wash jeans and a navy single-breasted, double-vent Ludlow blazer — but, he rationalizes, it's what some customers want. And what customers want, he tries to deliver.
He's been known to personally respond to a letter from a shopper who has a problem or a suggestion. "People think it's special if we respond, but it shouldn't be that way. For us, it all starts at the store and with our customers."
It nags at him that a sales associate reported moms have complained about the scratchiness of some embellished shirts in the company's children's line.
Drexler seems to be honest and candid with his employees, sometimes resulting in criticism but more often he'll give a happy shout-out.
During a recent tour of a J. Crew store in the Union Square neighborhood of Manhattan, not far from company headquarters, the staff isn't surprised to see him. They tell him the new bridal salon in that location is doing well, better than J. Crew bridal was doing as a stand-alone shop on Madison Avenue.
When it comes to light that the Goldsign Jenny-style skinny jeans (with a $288 price tag) are popular with shoppers, he calls the office to congratulate the denim team. "Put me on the loudspeaker," Drexler says.
He makes regular announcements at headquarters, sort of like the principal of a school. "When you say something and a thousand people are hearing it, you hope you leave an impression. I'm also sort of advertising."
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