Mickey Drexler

“If you don't care about the lapel or the buttons or the fit, then you are doing a disservice to the consumer. We're all inside the tunnel, speaking the language of business, but we need to speak the language of customers.”

“Everything has a trend to it; I don't care if it's appliances or engines. I always ask, 'What has a company done in the past five years that somebody's noticed?'”

“If you get someone right out of college - and I meet a lot of them - you're not going to get a lot of experience at all, so you have to feel the ambition and desire, which is based on a lot of factors.”

“I'm looking forward to partnering with TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners. This transaction is a clear endorsement of J. Crew and the hard work and dedication of all of our associates.”

“I've yet to see a correlation in my industry between great social media and great numbers.”

“The first thing you see when you walk into a store is color.”

“I hire a lot of waiters, waitresses. Someone who's successful has a background that's not predictable.”

“There are too many retailers. There are too many brands. There are too many designers. There are too many discount stores, and the predator online companies are selling discount like crazy.”

“I love to work. I have a passion for what I do.”

“Customers don't just want to shop: they want to feel that the brand understands them.”

“I think it's in my mind, and it's driven me my entire life, and it is to offer customers tasteful clothes at good value, meaning it lets the world - or more of the world - afford to dress well.”

“I consider a merchant someone who has a certain intuition and instinct, and - very important - knows how to run a business, knows the numbers.”

“Christopher Columbus discovered America in a blue-and-white sailor shirt, and since then, men have been wearing blue and white shirts.”

“My management style is there is no such thing as non-important people in the company.”

“Creativity runs on automatic, no matter what's happening in other parts of my life. I can't help myself. It's been in me, and it evolves in me over the years. It's a condition in me.”

“I think I was the youngest, fastest-promoted buyer in the history of Bloomingdale's.”