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Thank you to Shira Suveyke Snyder for stopping by TheBoldWay!
Shira is the CEO of Proenza Schouler, one of the houses that helped define American luxury. Before taking the reins, she spent more than 25 years learning the industry from the ground up: a first job at 13 in a flower shop, a stint in finance at Merrill Lynch, then Macy's, and above all, J.Crew alongside Mickey Drexler, the "merchant prince," years she describes as her real MBA.
Today she walks us through the most delicate undertaking of her career: navigating the transition of founders Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez and appointing Rachel Scott as the new creative director, all without breaking the brand's DNA. We talk about what truly makes a brand, that dual obsession with product and customer, her conviction that the industry has lost itself in the "musical chairs" of creative directors instead of thinking about the customer, and how a house can become bigger than its founders.
Timeline
02:30 : Origins & education — childhood in Philadelphia, Boston University (economics/business), first job at 13 in a flower shop
05:00 : College life — work, social life, and a sorority; the networking spark that opens the door to her Merrill Lynch internship
08:00 : Retail jobs & the drive for independence — Lord & Taylor, Cacique, learning on the floor and the desire to stand on her own
10:00 : New York and the Ralph Lauren era — "the opportunity," settling in, and immersion in a lifestyle brand
15:00 : Macy's, then the return to J.Crew with Mickey Drexler — leaving Macy's after two years to seize the chance to work with the "merchant prince"
22:00 : Her successive roles at J.Crew & The J. Crew Liquor Store in Tribeca — men's direct, factory, and retail; the years she calls her "real MBA"
28:00 : The 2008 recession & the digital shift — watching careers collapse, and her conviction about curiosity and flexibility
32:00 : Editorializing current and previous-season fashion — the idea behind The Outnet and Net-a-Porter: creating the same desirability as luxury
45:00 : Shopbop & the Amazon ecosystem — the new launches and projects within the leadership team
50:00 : The advisor's craft & meeting Jack and Lazaro — diagnosing, problem-solving, loving change; the introduction through the Net-a-Porter "family"
56:00 : Proenza Schouler & its customer — a global, individual customer who is never "label-driven"; "who's your competitor?" → "the whole world"
1:02:00 : The founder transition — the first 100 days, organizing the exit of Jack and Lazaro, launching the search for a creative director
1:08:00 : The brand's history and DNA — the PS1 and the It bag, the awards, the obsession with craft and materiality, the retail strategy
1:18:00 : Industry vision & the future — the critique of the "musical chairs" of creative directors, choosing the new creative director (cultural fit, entrepreneurial spirit, American DNA), storytelling vs distribution, and the conclusion
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Nb: TheBoldWay ou The Bold Way, anciennement connu sous le nom de Entreprendre dans la mode ou EDLM , est un podcast produit et réalisé par Adrien Garcia.
Hébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.
France