If you've been following the news lately, J.Crew as a business has been struggling. The company announced its earnings last week and the verdict was unanimously that the brand is in a slump. Sales fell 10% and overall revenue dropped 5%. Since the announcement, all eyes have been on the brand to sort of diagnose the issues that are plaguing the American giant. The best analysis of the situation comes from The New York Times' Dealbook, which posits that maybe Drexler, the same man who changed the way the world dressed, could be the source of the problem. So, Jenna Lyons' personal brand is safe?
Apparently, it's called the "great man" theory of business and basically posits that because Drexler is the man who built J.Crew into the success it is, he's the only one capable of running it well. The piece dives into Drexler's dealings with stockholders and taking J.Crew private—you know, all that business-y stuff—but it also touches on the fact that J.Crew has built itself upon the appeal it has to a wide range of consumers. Meanwhile, it has also tried to be a success on the runway and to the fashion set as well, which is what Jenna Lyons has been the champion of. It's tough to do both at the scale that J.Crew tries to. Longtime customers are now revolting against the company and, as a result, the company let its head of women's design, Tom Mora, go and also laid off 175 employees. Dealbook says that J.Crew is so tied to Mickey and his prowess that it could be a serious issue in the long run. Maybe more changes are in the pipeline. We'll have to wait and see.
