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Staycation

Aug 31, 202454 min
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Transcript

Speaker 1

This show is produced and hosted by Mark Webber.

Speaker 2

The show is sponsored by G three of Paro.

Speaker 1

The views expressed in the following program are those at the sponsor and not necessarily the opinion of seven tenor or iHeartMedia. Who is Mark Weber. He's a self made business executive here to help you find your success from the New York City projects to the Avenue Montaigne in Paris. His global success story in the luxury world of fashion is inspirational. He's gone from clerk to CEO twice. Mark

is classic proof that the American dream is alive. And well, here's your host of Always in Fashion, Mark Weber.

Speaker 2

Mark Weber.

Speaker 3

This week, I was a participant. This week, this participant was an observer. I do find the world fascinating. Nature is beautiful, Humans can be amazing creatures, life is exciting. Mix it all together. It's a wonderful world. I don't think I'm getting sappy here. Nature is great when the sun is out. Raining is clearly a mood runer. Humans talk about moon runer. I'm not a fan big egos, bead dressers, bead attitudes, entitled, undeserving, classless, and oblivious all

their way or the highway. Yet they have moments of brilliance, particularly in sports. Now there was a lot to do and a lot going on, and I did it this week. In fact, there was a vacation week, however, a vacation with a twist. I took a staycation, a vacation without getting on a plane, a staycation based in New York. And I took this staycation with my son Jared. We hung out for eight days, playing golf, the Yankees, the

US Open. Lots of talk, life, politics, business, father and son, best buddies, always helping each other, always comfortable, always having fun. Even talk some politics, although I've been avoiding. This country's popularity countes. God forbid. We would talk about the issues and the policies, the track records. God forbid. Someone would speak the truth. God forbid. Any official would accept responsibility for anything. There's mostly failures in this government. I get it,

But some honesty, please. The spin is everywhere, lying, retelling stories, bad results. The story of Raschiman. I don't know if I ever told you the story of Raschiman. It's an ancient story, a proverb perhaps about three famous Sami warriors. Each warrior tells his story of the great battle, and each warrior was the one who saved the shogun. The problem is only one man saved the shogun. So how could three people tell the same story with a different result.

How because one of them is telling the truth, the other lying. This is what's going on here? Who's telling the truth? In politics, they hate Trump, but you gotta love what he accomplished. They like smiling Kamala, who I point out in the primaries for the Democratic election when she ran against Biden got one percent of the vote, she had to walk away and give up. She was the first that was eliminated, of course, until Biden made

her vice president. Now Biden and company, in my view, have failed at about, well just about everything in their presidency and vice presidents. They inherited COVID, but they force fed in mandated vaccines which are now turning out to be a bane of existence. Now I am and was still a believer, and I'll still take the shot, but

it was ugly. They inherited a pent up American demand for everything, consumer goods, experience, the wanting to get out and live again, and they turned it into a disaster. Inflation high course on everything. Trump two dollar gas went to Biden four dollar gas. Afghanistan shamed America. They left people behind, and eighty billion in weapons. I've read that the Taliban has become one of the world's leading arms merchants,

selling our American weapons. And let's not forget. And the way we walked out in the middle of the night, thirteen American service people were killed. Who knows how many others. The border built a wall, illegal immigration was under control. Trump got Guatemala, Mexico and Al Savador to stop the trains of people because they were protecting their relationship with the Trump administration and they were concerned if they didn't behave immigration became legal again. Now, whatever you say, this

one was on Harris. She was responsible for the border. Did nothing made it worse. Let eight million people intenly one number, Nope, or you get a spin with they the Biden Harris administration had done great with you know what, they're really great with, you know what, the rate of building crime. Let them argue that one. But politics is very funny. If you listen to the Democratic Party, they'll tell you there's no crime, it's not growing, it's deceasing,

it's almost gone. And where are we now? Yes, I'm leading towards the presidential candidate that's from the Republican Party. While I believe the Democrats have some right ideas when it comes to certain social issues, I trust internationally with the Republicans, and I trust them with the future of the business in the country. And where are we now? Politics has become a popularity contest. Are we crazy? The next generation is going to pay the price? But forget politics.

I'm not interested. All I'll leave it was is are we crazy? Now? I've said often I'm an acquired taste. I'm not easily appreciated. So in order to have friends, I made my own two sons who I'm blessed with, who like hanging out with their father. My boys and I have traveled the world together and apart. This time, Jared and I decided to take a vacation and we stayed together here, out and about. In our case, we took it easy. We traded luggage and air travel for

car trips, a staycation. Loved living it, loved observing it. Now this is usually where I introduced my son, Jesse, my son, my co host, my lawyer. He was busy, he couldn't get away. He's been very busy until this week. He's taking a trip with his wife, going on vacation to Europe. Trader, he picked his wife over his brother and father. You wus so instead joining me tonight my elder son, my number one son, He's here to continue are hanging out? Hey, Jared, do you like hanging out with me?

Speaker 4

I love hanging out with you, but first and foremost, Jared Weber reporting for duty number one son.

Speaker 3

Sorry, Jesse, you know you snooze. You lose. What can I say?

Speaker 4

And to be intellectually honest, not only do I love hanging out with you, but when I have the opportunity to go to sporting events fashion shows, I often choose you as my date versus my wife. And thankfully I have the world's greatest wife understands our bond together and recognizes that our bond's inseparable, and not only does she not get jealous or upset, but she appreciates in values that special bond we have.

Speaker 3

Together makes me happy, makes me happy. So Jared, let's talk a little bit about us staycation.

Speaker 4

Of course, I like spending time with you, and I loved our staycation out and about New York, New Jersey and let me not forget. Lots of birthdays this month, and when there are birthdays, there's lots of shopping, and in that this show is called Always in Fashion. I know that you want to use this time to tell a particular shopping story.

Speaker 3

Yeah, I do have one. Do you like Madison Avenue?

Speaker 4

I love Madison Avenue, and in particular I love the Ralph Lauren store on seventy second in Madison. There is no place I enjoy spending my time more when it comes to shopping than the Ralph Lauren flagship mansion on seventy second in Madison.

Speaker 3

Sounds like a commercial.

Speaker 4

It is when it comes to me, I don't know that there's many people in the world that can sell Ralph Lauren better than I can. For the last fifteen, maybe twenty years, I've been shopping at that store. It is merchandise to perfection, the product, the way the floors are set up, the merchandise, the music, the mannequins, everything everything from tailored clothing, dress shirts, dress furnishings, footwear, sportswear, accessories, and all the different labels there, whether it's Ralph Lauren

Purple label, whether it's Polo, whether it's doublerol. All these different lifestyles afforded to you in one store. It's the perfect shot.

Speaker 3

I like, I love, and I agree with you completely. But what's with the fancy words. What does tailored clothing mean? And what does furnishings mean?

Speaker 4

Sharry industry words. So tailor clothing is suits and suit separates meaning blazers, sport coach, dress pants. What you'd wear when you wear a suit and tie or casual with a dress, shirt and dress. Furnishings are shirts and tie, and then accessories are belts and cuff links and YadA, YadA YadA. But also there's a cool place across the street in the women's store. They have a great cafe that you can sit outside, you can eat, spend some time,

catch some sun. It's great, great experience. The men's and women's store are kitty cat corner across from each other.

Speaker 3

Well, you know, as I said, it sounds like a commercial, but you're right. The issue is maybe they'll get us into the Polo Bar. Now, then we go there. All they have to do is hear this show and you talk about them.

Speaker 4

Are we pretending that we're not connected at.

Speaker 3

The Polo Bar? Well, without getting into it. Yeah, that's what we're doing. We're pretending we know no one. But anyway, back to Madison Avenue. I raised the issue because we went there, we shopped there, and I have a story that I want to tell. But Madison Avenue is one of my favorite streets in the world. The women on Madison Avenue, women young or old, they're put together so well.

They look so great the stores themselves, whether dress codes are called out or just understood, the women look great on Madison. Even the men make an effort on Madison. The unspoken truth, you're supposed to look the part when you live and walk and hang out in that rarefied air of the Upper east Side.

Speaker 4

When you're walking, it makes a big difference whether you're north or south of sixtieth Street. The men are put together particularly well. Whatever brands they're wearing, it looks like Italian fashion. It looks like the streets of Milan, and the women too. To your point, now, I'm not coming from a creepy factor like you are, but I'm coming from a pure appreciation of aesthetic. The men and women are dressed impeccable, and I believe they're buying a lot of their clothes on Madison Avenue.

Speaker 3

You know, it's interesting you say that because a lot of streets, even in Manhattan, on one end of the street is slum and the next it could be a luxury. I mean, the streets of Manhattan, the way they're lined up are very unusual. But having said that, you're right, I think sixty isn't up is a regional barrier, and everything above starts to get more luxurious. Which brings me to what I wanted to about. Bruno Cucinelli on sixty third Street in Madison.

Speaker 4

Or Brunello Cucinelli, depending on whether or not you're exciting the brand from Brooklyn or from New York.

Speaker 3

Thank you for the correction. Brunello Cucinelli. They make luxury Italian men's and women's clothes. It's amazing. I do have a story to tell. First of all, everything is handmade in Italy. Secondly, when you read the articles from Kuchinelli himself, he tells you he pays his workers more than anywhere else in the world because he appreciates the work, understands they have lives to lead, and want them to be in good position. So they're clothes incredibly special. Jared and

I were hanging out. We're shopping. It's birthday week in the family. There's a lot of things going on, lots of birthdays, and we took a walk into Kuchinelli to see what was going Jared tied on this jacket incredibly expensive, that's important, incredibly expensive. But he tried on a forty eight and I said it was it's too big, said you can't buy. You need to try on a forty six. So I asked the guy who was handling Jared, the seller, you have forty six, he says, go in the back.

He goes in the back and he looks, we don't have a forty six, but we can order you one. So I said to him, I don't get it. How many other stores do you have in New York? He say, wh we have a few. Well, why don't you call him and see if they have a forty six? So he looks at me like I have three heads. I said to him, I assume if you sell a forty six from the other store, you still get credit as the seller. He said yeah, but that's not the issue.

I said, well, why don't you check? So he comes back ten minutes later and he says, we don't have it in our stores, but we do have a concession shop in Bloomingdale's. Jared, you want to explain what a concession shop is.

Speaker 4

First and foremost, I need to give one point of clarity for those viewers that don't understand the Italian sizing. A forty six is not a forty six in the US. It's a thirty six in the US. So I have to give that point of clarity before your listeners think that based on my height, I'm overweight. So the answer is there's a different sizing. So after that point of clarity, concession shops are shops run by the brand within a store.

It's a shop within a shop. Now in this instance with Sacks, not Bloomingdale's, one point of correction, but essentially Brunello Cucinelli has a mini store within Sacks Fifth Avenue, where it's Brunello Cucinelli's own inventory, it's their own employees, and they're paying Sax rent for the ability to have a small store within a store within Sacks. That is what the definition of a concession is.

Speaker 3

Thank you, thank you. So the guy says to us, SAX has the forty six there. So I said to him, great, why don't you tell Sax to bring it over here? So he says, well, we can't do that. I said, what do you mean you can't do that? He says, well, there are only two people in sacks. I said, unless there's a storm going on and the people are flooding this department, get one of the people in the shop to take an uber over here. We're ten blocks away. Let him bring the jacket. We'll buy it. That's it.

Let him try it on. Because we can't do that, I said, what do you mean you can't do it? It makes no sense. This is something we don't do. I take him aside and I said, in front of him and Joy, I said, listen, it's a very expensive jacket. I don't know how many of you sellers stay. You got one ten blocks away. You got a customer who's ready to buy it. He's not going to buy the forty eighty, has to try on the forty six first. Well, I don't know what to do, so I said to one,

why don't you send someone from this store to do it? Hey, you got ten people floating around, nobody's working. All they're doing is listen to me. Make a fool of myself, but I really don't think they think I'm making a fool of myself. He said, let me see what I can do. So he goes and makes a phone call, and he comes back and says, give me an hour. We'll have the jacket here. I said to him, this makes no sense. I could walk back and forth from here myself and get the jacket back in less than

an hour. You gotta do better than that. Disappears again. He said, we're gonna get the jacket here, but you may take forty five minutes. I said, okay, forty five minutes. We'll hang out, or we'll go back to the rough store. Turns out we were very comfortable in this store. We're talking to all the people, having a great time. They asked me if I wanted soda water. So I had a soda water. Jared had a soda water. We're hanging out.

I'm entertaining everyone, talking about the radio show, talking about the podcast, having a great time. Figuring that the sax thing is going to be three minutes. So now I'm getting hungry, said them, you got any cookies. The next thing we know, we have soda water with ice. We're eating cookies and two portions well having the greatest time at all. Anyway, it took forty five minutes to an hour. It should have taken ten minutes. They finally brought the

jacket in. Jared tried and on fit him perfectly. He wasn't sure. He tried the forty eight, On tried the forty six. The very cool seller there, guy who's I think also the buyer for the store, came back and said, this is the one that fits you. You gotta take the forty six. And we got the forty six. But in the end, the funny part of the story is it's about service when you're working in a store that costs. I can't tell you. When I was younger could buy

a car full at that jacket cost. And in the end we were pretty good customer that day because we bought it. And the guy says to his boss, yeah, they wanted this jacket. I made it happen. I just took care of it. And I almost fainted when he said it because it was my job. Am I lying jarn or telling it the way?

Speaker 4

It is success as many fathers, but failure as an orphan. I will tell you, hands down, you made this happen. If it was left to this salesman, he would have had the jacket delivered the next day or the following week, and potentially would have lost the sale because we would have gone to some other stores and maybe I lost interest. So one, you got the jacket that I loved, and thank you. And two a big sale for the Brunello Cucinelli team thanks to Mark Phillips Weber.

Speaker 3

Yeah, and I think to a great extent they all learned the lesson. But my favorite part of all we're leaving the store. There was this guy there, they must have been the bodyguard, and he looks at me and said, I had a great time. This was a movie. I watched this. I can believe what you guys were doing. Thanks for coming in. I'll leave it like that. We'll take a break. When we come back, maybe a little more about our staycation. I think you'll enjoy hanging there. Back in a moment.

Speaker 2

Always in fashions.

Speaker 3

As one of the world's most celebrated fashion designers, Carl Lagafeld was renowned for his aspirational and cutting edge approach to style. His unique vision of Parisian shit comes to America through Carlagofel Paris. He has women's collections, men's collections, ready to wear, accessory shoes and bags. The fashion house Carlagofeld also offers a range of watchers I wear in premium fragrances. You can explore the car Lagofel collection at car Laugofelparis dot com. But it's more than that. I,

for one, love to shop. I love going around and seeing what's happening and what catches my attention, what would make me feel good to wear now. I don't wear the women's wear obviously, but I can appreciate it and they look amazing. If you want to look right, you want to have clothes that fits you well. You want to look like you're wearing something that's very expensive, that's exclusive for you and yours. You can find it at

very affordable prices at Macy's Orcarlagofel dot Comparis. The women's ready to wear fashion is extraordinary, as well as the handbigs and the shoes. I for one, wear men's clothes, unlike my appreciation of women's clothes. I'm a modern guy. I want to look current. I want to look the way I want to feel. I go out at night, I'm in black and carlago Felt is my buddy. Calls are great, they fit great, and they have little tweaks and touches, whether it's a stripe on the sleeve or

button at the neck or on the shoulder. There's a lot of details that go into carlago Felt because he's always been, he always had been one of the world's great designers, and this legacy and goes on and on. I can't speak enough about it except to say to you, you want to feel good about yourself. You want to know that you're dressing properly. You want to clothes that fits you well. Carl Lagafeld, Paris at Macy's Orcarl Lagafel dot com. A favorite brand has always been ISOD. My

company at one time bought that brand. The CEO of the company handed it to me and said, you better make it work. And I put everything in my career to make ISOD work. And I fell in love with that brand, and to this day it is one of the most exciting endeavors I've ever got involved with. Isod is an incredibly strong golf brand. If you play golf, if you play tennis, for that matter, they make a

great polo shirts. I mean great. They're fit perfect. The material is unique because it's a PK fabric that waffle weave you see, and it's made of a blend of cotton and microfiber that allows you to stretch in very old Often they are treated with solar protection as well, so they stretch, they're comfortable, and they breathe well. And one thing about Isaac they always fit. They'll never tug on you. You put it in your waist, they'll fit

you great. The colors, patterns are sensational. Now I will also tell you Isaod makes great shorts and great golf pants. You're a golfer and you want to look good. You don't have to think about how do I look. You want to think about how you play, not how you feel. Isaad is the brand for you. I know I was there when it was created. The strategy behind that brand is brilliant. It's one of my favorite brands. While I talk about it, I should tell you about the men's sportswear.

Isaad wasn't enough being a golf brand. It wasn't enough being just great polo shirts with logos without logos. Incredible brand and story and history. Isaad makes salt weather programs.

They have great printed woven shirts, short sleeves. They look excellent with colors, excellent with shorts, excellent with cotton pants, of which they also make this whole salt order relaxed line from Ison, whether it be fleece, cotton sweaters, knit polos, woven shirts and pants of a range of colors and fabrics that are perfect for a guy wants to go casually in the spring and summer of this year. And

here's the thing, is is affordable. Everyone listening to me talk about this brand can afford to buy it and know that there are a lot of other brands that also have a look like EOD. Although I don't believe it's fun as isond is. The brand has a lot of energy in it, but at the price points no one can compete. You can find ISAAC at your leading retailers and online at ion dot com. Talk to you later, guys.

I wish you. I'm very happy spring in summer, and I help you by telling you if you were eyesight, you're gonna look great.

Speaker 2

Welcome back to it.

Speaker 1

Always in fashion, here's your host, Mark Webber of.

Speaker 3

All things this summer, I finally took a vacation, but I did something different. I took a staycation. What's a staycation? We stayed at home and had a great time doing whatever it is we would do by staying at home rather than getting on a plane, packing our luggage and going somewhere exotic. Fortunately my oldest son was free. We love hanging out together. We decided to take a staycation

based in our houses. We would drive to various different things, do different things, us opened Yankees and playing a lot of golf in different golf courses. And it was a remarkable time and we spent eight days doing it. As it turns out, Jesse right now is in Italy having a great time of it. He can't be here. He went and decided not to be with us, that trader. He went with his young wife to Italy. So number

one son, Jared, my firstborn, is here with me. Before we get into it, I realized, Jared, I didn't introduce you, but I want to do it minute. I want to talk about titles. What is your title?

Speaker 4

I am the global president of Sports and Lifestyle at Authentic Brands Group.

Speaker 3

That's great. You know you at your age are doing better than I did in my age, and I'm very very proud of you, and I'm very excited, and you're with an amazing company that's involved in so many things, and I'm really happy about it. But I was talking politics before being re talking presidents and talking about it's becoming a popularity contest. It's all about publicity. It isn't about anything of substance, which I don't understand. You can comment politically of a point of view on it.

Speaker 4

I don't want to comment politically. I have different points of view on different issues, whether it's social issues some of the great points the Democrats have, or economic issues that the Republicans have, So I'd rather not get into it. What I will tell you is, if we want to talk about golf and which candidate runs a better golf facility that we could have a serious conversation.

Speaker 3

About, all right, let's do it. That's what got me working on this. We went to Trump golf and Bedminster, that's his home base when he's in New Jersey. What did you think about it, Jared, Well.

Speaker 4

Let me tell you like this. You and I have avid golfers. We've been playing for the last twenty eight thirty years. Whatever it is, and I will tell you unequivocally, pulling into President Trump's golf facility is a golfer's paradise. It's nothing short of spectacular. Every attention to detail. We're talking about not only the golf course and the facility and the greens and the fairways, but the food that they pick for the halfway house or the main dining

room or the locker room. If there's a golfing paradise, so to speak. Trump figured out how to do it, and Bedminster is one of those courses. It is executed to absolute perfection.

Speaker 3

So you know what it tells me when we're talking about these candidates, both of them have records. Why don't we just deal with the real issue. Why don't we put aside whether Trump is the nice guy or not, or whether he could be obnoxious or not. Certainly wasn't obnoxious when they shot him in the He was a champion, he was a world leader. He was unbelievably American hero. But all of that assigned Kamala Harris. She might be

a wonderful person, but there's a record there. Everything that she's ever stood for is the most left left left ever of anyone who ever ran for office. Is that what we really want? Because she's popular, she's better looking than he is, she has a better smile. I like a personality better. I also, I wouldn't change for a second.

Speaker 4

I also would say, interestingly enough, a great way to tell is how you operate your businesses, how you could operate as a president. And I would say it would be very difficult feat for Biden or Kamala in this instance to put together a better golf facility than Trump. I mean, if you're looking at Biden and his record, just Biden, not the Democrats. I don't even know if they could figure out how to put eighteen holes on the course, they might have twelve holes, a broken golf cart,

alcohol wouldn't be able to be certain. Who knows the mistakes they'd make. But if you look at it solely from a business perspective, I don't know how you trump Trump when it comes to golf. And that was a good indication for me. If someone could run the country the way he runs golf course, it's pretty spectacular. But again, I'm not here to talk from a political standpoint. I see both sides of the aisle.

Speaker 3

Well, I don't, but right now I've picked a side because I want to go back to the days when Trump is running the country. Not the things he said they gets him self in trouble, not the stupid things. But bottom line, he knows how to run a golf course. His buildings are all impeccable, They're all quality. And I know him. He was my licensee. I borrowed his name for dress shirts and sportswear and ties and suits, and

he was a great guy to work with. So I'm not here to endorse Trump, but I am here to say, America, why are we making these decisions? I mean, overnight, Kamala Harris got seventy million million people on her side just because she's a Democrat. Is that how we want to run the country going forward? I just don't get it. But whatever it is, As I said before, whoever is the president is my president. I'll respect them, and I will love them, and I will try and do everything

I personally can to make them successful. I am so sick of listening to Fox News talk about all the problems in the country and what a rotten candidate Biden was and a rotten president, even if it's true, I'm sick of it. I want to get to a point where we tell the news the way it is. We either do things right or we do things wrong. No more politics. Wow, I'm getting worked up over this. I don't want them. I'm going to stay vacation. I'm still relaxed.

Which brings me back to your title, Jared, your global president of Authentic or Authentic Grand Group. You own a million different brands, big company worth about thirty billion dollars in retail. Big company, got a big title. How important is your title to you?

Speaker 4

The simple answer is, anyone in business, or anyone more accurately in business that's successful, has an ego you have to and titles play to that ego. But more importantly than that is titles are representation internally of the chain of command, but even more so important externally. People want to know who they're negotiating with. Are they the decision

maker or are they the ultimate decision maker? And having a senior title gives you a very important presence in the outside world, whether you're negotiating with retailers, licensees, partners, joint venture, interested parties, whatever the case may be, having an important title is important as you're consummating deals in negotiating in business. Why are you asking about titles? What's the curiosity there?

Speaker 3

Interesting enough? You know? When we were on a staycation, we played golf a couple of times with one of my old friends, great guy who I really admire, I love hanging out with and you like him too, Michael Kelly. He used to work with me at van Usen. Actually he reported to me as the head of Mark and E. We got in talking about people and what happened to van Usen after I left and after a new CEO came in not too long ago, and we started talking about it. But it reminded me of a very important

story about titles. I care about titles. I care about them because when I began working, I looked across the table at me that the people who were making the decisions were so important to the future of the company. And there was often times that people sitting across the table for me didn't impress me. I didn't agree with that they say, and I believe that I would do a better job, maybe the right thing, maybe put the

company in a better direction. I worked incredibly hard, sure for compensation, but also for the right to manage the company the way I thought it should be managed, and I really cared about becoming the president. I really clard. I was a young president, thirty four years old. I was president of the largest division in the company. And fast forward twenty years later, I become the president of the Phillips Venues and Corporation, of the public entity. I sat on the board. I had a board title. It

meant the world to me to have that title. And there was a period in time that I hadn't gone to Asia in quite some time. And at that time in the company, we owned Calvin Klein, we owned a bunch of other brands, and we were becoming extraordinarily important globally, and I was asked to make a trip to China to meet with a series of people that were important to the future. Landlords, property owners, people that were in the public sector that wanted to meet me and hear me.

And my first night in han Chaw in China, there was a banquet dinner held in my honor. I'll never forget we went to this dinner. I shook a lot of people's hands. I was friendly to all. I was mister outside as much as I liked being an introvert, much as I liked being a recluse. When I go to company functions, I have to be the outside guy, and I have to be my charming self when I want to be, and I had to hold the rank of president with dignity. I wore a gray flannels. I

wore a gray hoisted suit. I look great. Everyone else was dressed casually, but I looked more of the part. I wanted to look presidential. I went over to one of the delegations from China. They was sitting around the table, and I introduced myself. There was about eight of them. I shook their hands. They were from the government of China. Frankly, I could see when talking to them. We'll call it confusion. Something was going on. So I happened to work with

a great guy. His name was Tony Wong. He was the head of our foreign office in Hong Kong. And I said, Tony, something doesn't feel right here. What's going on? He says, let me talk to them. Takes about five minutes. He comes over to me. He says, they're confused. I said, what are they confused about? They said, they already met the president of Phillips van Usen. They want to know who you are, I said, how could that be? He says,

I don't know, let me go back. So he goes back and he starts to talk to them, and then he comes back with this woman's business card. Turns out the woman's name was Ellen Constantinedis, who was an amazing woman. I loved her, but I didn't love what I was looking at. And I looked at her business card and really what she was. She was the president of the dress shirt division of the van Using Company, which was one of many many divisions we had in the company.

There was eyes, there was gant, There was so many different entities that we owned, including Calvin Client. She was the president of one of them, albeit an important one, the Vanels and Dresser. But when I looked at a business card, it said Ellen Constantinidis President, and instead of saying division president or president van Using Company, it said Phillips Vanusen. So in theory, she was passing off a card with my title. She presented herself as as she

was the president of the company. So I explained to Tony, please explain to them who Ellen is, and that they're mistaken that she doesn't make corporate decisions. She makes decisions based on dress shirts and dress shirts alone, and I, in fact, I'm the president of corporation and anything they want to discuss on a corporate matter now or in the future, I'm prepared to meet with them. But they were mistaken and he went back. So not only was

I embarrassed, I was personally affronted. Maybe a little ego, but it bothered me that here I am showing up on behalf of the company as the corporate president and being relegated to who is this guy at the break? It's now nine to thirty at night. It's nine thirty in the morning. Back in New York. I called the head of human resources and I said, I'm about to send you a picture of something. I was embarrassed. The

company was embarrassed. I want you to see it. So I took a picture of a card, sent it to him and I said, read the card. Does this strike you as unusual? And he looks at me and he says, help me, here, what am I looking at? I said, I was introduced tonight at a banquet dinner as the president of Phillips van Using. And they all told me they were he met the president that it was Ellen. Look at the card he says, you're right, it's not in company policy. It doesn't mention the van using company.

I can't believe her card was done this way. I don't know who did it. I don't know why they did it. I certainly didn't do it through HR. Let me come back to you, I said, I'm not coming back to him hanging on the phone. Walk into the division and find out who made the card. They come back to me and say she made her own card, she didn't use us, even though that's company policy. So I said, here's what I want you to do. I want you to make up her business cards. She said, no,

we already have them. I said, here's what I want you to do. She gets in at nine point fifteen. I want you to walk down to her office and asked her to take out all her business cards. I want you to confiscate all her business cards, and I want you to hand her the proper business card and tell her that she not only pissed off the president of Phillips van using, she created an uncomfortable position and a China banquet, did it tonight by representing herself incorrectly

in the company. And let her know that when I come back next week. I expect to see my eye office when she comes in that Monday. So yeah, titles matter. I know for me, it's important. You know why I earned it the hard way I work for it. We'll take a break back in a minute.

Speaker 2

Always in Fashion.

Speaker 3

Spent a lifetime of my career building the van Usen brand, and I am so pleased that they're back with us now. Talking about suits, men were dressing up again and it's become cool to wear a suit. Suits can be won on multiple occasions, in multiple ways. You could wear a suit formally to go out at night or to an event. You wear a suit to the office with or without a tie. If you look closely, now fashion trends, suits are being worn with turtlenecks or mark next. The choices

are endless and every one of them looks right. You could really really look the part. I believe that packaging yourself is as important as the products shoe package, and wearing a suit is one of those things that make men look their best. Venuesing invented a new idea. It's called the cool Flex suit. It's been engineered with stretch technology, giving you the most comfortable fit and mobility its wrinkle resistant fabric, it's cool moisture wiki. It makes it perfect

for all occasions. As we discussed just now, this new style of looking sharp while feeling cool and comfortable is amazing and I'm so excited that the ven using company is involved in this new technology and is embracing the whole idea of dressing up. Let's not forget venues and made it's name with dress shirts. It's only proper that the suit business follows strongly in its way. You can find Vanues in cool flex men's stretch suits at jcpenny

are online at jcpenny dot com. Guys, they're great. You should go look at them. Dkn Why Donna Karen, New York. Donna Karen began a career as one of the finest, most successful, powerful women in the fashion industry. She developed a collection aimed at the luxury market for women on the go, women who were powerful in their workplace, women who had lives that extended beyond the workplace, and her clothes went from day and to night. An extraordinary collection.

But the interesting thing Donna Karen had a young daughter, and she had friends, and they couldn't afford to buy the Donna Karen Collection and Donna invented dk NY Donna Karen New York. It's an offshoot of the Donna Karen collection. The same concept a lifestyle brand. Now we talk about lifestyle brands, what does that really mean? Simply what they say,

there are brands that follow you throughout your lifestyle. You get up in the morning, you start to get dressed Donna Karen decaan why as intimate apparel, as hosiery, as all those products. You're getting dressed for work. You get accessorized shoes, handbags, and it takes you through the day. The remarkable thing about DK and Y clothes for work, they work into the evening. The dresses, the suits, the pants, the sweaters, the blouses. Extraordinary clothes at affordable prices that

go from day in tonight. Part of your lifestyle is active. You have weekends, you have events, you participate in sports. Donna Karen's casual clothes did that under the DK and Y label. A vast array of casual sportswear that make women look great as they navigate their busy lives. Whether you're going to soccer games for your children or whether you're going out to the movies, whatever you want to do. Dkn Y Jeans, dc Y Sportswear is there for you.

That's what a lifestyle brand is. And I need to mention DKY active Wear, which is extraordinary, the leggings, the sports bras, the sweats. You can wear DKY active wear, certainly in the gym, certainly when you're working out at home, and certainly if you want on the street because it's that well done. The quality of DKY is nothing short of exceptional. And why shouldn't it be because it was born from the idea of luxury made affordable for women

of America. DK and why a true lifestyle brand that takes you from day and tonight, from the week into the weekend, DCN, Why you can find DCNY and Macy's DKY dot com.

Speaker 1

Welcome back to Always in Fashion. Here's your host, Mark Webber.

Speaker 3

This week, I did something unconventional. I said, I did something. I'm with my son Jared Tonight, my eldest son. We did something different. We didn't take a vacation this year. We took us staycation. We didn't go anywhere exotic. We stayed home. We drove where we needed to go. We played a lot of golf, We visited with the Yankees. We visited the US Open. We had an amazing time taking a vacation from home. This show tonight is called Staycation before I Go Anywhere. Hey, Jared, what'd you think

of the Yankees this year? You enjoying watching them?

Speaker 4

I'm having a great time. More immediately, one of the great things Reebok has done this year has done a sponsorship with the New York Yankees. And we have a billboard over right center field, So every time Aaron Judge catches a ball or hits a home run, Reebok's got prominent signage right there. And it's been great and we've used it as a great means to entertain some retailers

and clients. So all in all, it's been a fantastic run with Reebok and the Yankees, and the Yankees are having a good year, so exciting all around.

Speaker 3

Yeah. We also went to the US Open. We saw what's his name.

Speaker 4

Play, Carlos Alcarez, the fantastic Spaniard with four, if I recall correctly, four major championships. He was the real deal and he played fantastic.

Speaker 3

He has some great arms, But I am not a fan of the tank tops. That they're playing. In fact, I'm shocked at the way tennis players address these days. I don't want to sound like an old fuddy duddy, but I don't like breaking conventions everywhere. There's some integrity involved in these things. Wimbledon is all white. There's something about it. There's a way to do things. What do you think?

Speaker 4

I agree with you. I think there's dress codes and they should be adhere to. You've done a number of shows correctly so on black tie and the importance to adhering to that. People's own style and fashion can come through, but you have to stick within the confines of what the dress codes are. And I particularly don't like people showing up on the tennis courts at the US Open dressed like they're going to a workout class. It's not appealing to me, and I think it takes the sport down.

I believe in bringing things up and not bringing them down, and that's one of the disappointments. Now, you're right, Carlos is a great shape, looks fantastic, but that's not for him to dress that way.

Speaker 3

Not aside. Here's the thing I was thinking about. Because we took a staycation, we didn't deal with some of the things that people have. We weren't on airplanes, which to this day, if I live to be a million years old, I'll never understand how airplanes fly or how anyone figured that out. We didn't go to any glamorous hotels because we stayed at home. But nonetheless, when you see how well this country works, it's one of those

times to count our blessings. I believe in the quote one of the hardest arithmetics to master is that a rhythmet tic that enables you to count your blessings. And I started thinking about the inventions that were in place to allow us to take a vacation from home. First and foremost, Jared, you were on vacation, but you never stop working. You always were in contact. And the whole subject of your cell phone computer was amazing. Where would you have been without that?

Speaker 4

I think happy?

Speaker 3

Why couldn't you take a vacation and take a vacation.

Speaker 4

You know, It's funny. The higher you grow within a company, the more people look to you to make decisions. And although companies should be well oiled machines and run without key executives, at the end of the day, things still continuing you have to be engaged and involved, otherwise it'll slow down during that week. And if you have important deals going on or important decisions to be made, you

can't stall the machines. So with that as a backdrop, although oh I was on vacation, I couldn't disengage, and I had the opportunity or more accurately, had the responsibility to make sure that things continued and stayed the course.

Now with that said, I use my birthday, the one day on a Monday, the opportunity to disengage, turn off my phone, and it was fantastic being able to just look at the trees, the leaves, spend time with my little ones, with my wife, and just enjoy nature and not although I was thinking about work, not actually engaging with work. And that was a rewarding experience for a twenty four hour period, and I like to afford myself that opportunity if time permits.

Speaker 2

For my birthday.

Speaker 3

We tend to take for granted the iPhone or any cell phone, and it's an amazing, amazing adventure. I know for me, the ability to use credit card from your phone buy anything you want anywhere in the world is pretty amazing. But you know. One of my favorite inventions was GPS going to and from Bedminston, New Jersey, which to me, I'm not sure it's part of the United States. It was so far away, it took so long. I think it was seventy four miles. But to get there, yeah, unmolested, easy,

without a thought process. How crazy and amazing is that?

Speaker 4

It's absolutely amazing. Google Maps is a fantastic invention because not only do they tell you how to get to the destination, but they factor in traffic patterns, They factor in whether or not police are there, and to make sure you monitor your speed limit. The same time, they're factoring in accidents, so they figure out the best possible route to not only get you there, but get you there in the quickest amount of time possible. That's an amazing invention.

Speaker 3

Really amazing because in the past, who knows how anybody got anywhere. It's so simple. But you know what else is one of my favorite inventions we don't think about. We take for granted air conditioning. How hot is it the other day it was one hundred and four degrees and air conditioning is so cool, which, by the way, leads me to ice. I don't know about the rest of the world. But I am an expert on the ice ratio and drinks. How much liquid you have to

have to the ice to have the perfect drink. I think air conditioning ice are two of the greatest inventions ever. And while I'm at it, you think about this country every day. The electricity's turned on every day, the senitivation works every day, lights come on. Everything works. We have food no matter where we went on vacation, delicious food and there's plenty of it. You drink, the drinks are safe.

You can drink anything you want. Everything is great. The Internet allows you to connect to anywhere in the world. Golf carts is wom you from here to there. I'm amazed at these things that took place that I started to think about on our staycation. Let alone, Let's not forget a car once again. I'll never understand how an airplane flies or car drives, but it took us everywhere on time, quickly and safely. Amazing adventures. So all said and done, Jared and I are staycation, had an incredible

time and we really enjoyed what we were doing. Now, before I leave this conversation, there's a couple of other things that I want to point out that I saw. We had a birthday dinner one of the nights at a restaurant called Porterhouse. Porterhouses in the time war to Center. It's one of our favorite restaurants. Who loved the food, loved the atmosphere. One of the people for the event brought a birthday cake that they had taken to the back room that we would cut and serve to everybody there.

We had a custom made cake. At the end of the night, when they handed me the bill, they charged us ten dollars for person to cut the cake. Now I knew that that was their policy, and I'm okay with it, except dinner was fourteen hundred dollars. So for a fourteen hundred dollars to charge me ten dollars a piece to cut a cake for me and put in a plate, shame on you, Porterhouse. I love you, but shame on you. Then, while I'm at it, I had another problem this week that got by me until I

listened to the show. I ran a replica show, a show that we had run once before because I was on vacation, called face to face. People are losing their ability to communicate, and I talked about how important it is to meet people face to face, look them in the eyes, and have negotiation. I turned on the podcast and to my shock, someone inserted commercials throughout the show

that didn't have the right to do it. And not only did they shove the commercials in the beginning of the show, they shoved them throughout the show, often interrupting the dialogue. They didn't even put them in the space it was allocated. Nobody in the network knew this happened except for me. I called them up, raving at them. How could this happen? First of all, nothing happens I Always in Fashion without my approval number one. Number two, all the sponsors are handpicked by me. Number three, I

didn't know any of these responsors. I wouldn't have agreed to have any of them. And furthermore, they had no intention of paying me for using this vehicle Always in Fashion. It took a day, it took some honest and effort by our people. They went in, they straightened it out, and it's all cleaned up. But if any of you listened to the podcast last week, or the week before, for that matter, you would have heard this craziness. And I was really upset about it, and it was because

I was on vacation. I missed it and last but at least I have to give a shout out to Amazon. I bought their stock this week. I've lost money so far. I can't imagine I will long term. What a company to be anywhere in the world on or anything you want. You want a garden hose, they'll find it. You need reading the glasses, you'll find it. Whatever it is, It's

an amazing company. I'm really amazed by it. I got to enjoy it during the staycation because when I wasn't driving, I to keep myself busy other than talking to Jared. With that in the mind, take a break. We'll be back in a minute and close out the staycation.

Speaker 2

Always in fashion and use it.

Speaker 3

For over one hundred and fifty years now, it has been a mainstay in American fashion. This brand that was invented for dress shirts was given to cold miners when they exited the mills, dirty and dusty. The Phillips Venues and Company Phillips Family's there to give them fresh, new shirts that they could wear at home and feel their best. Over the course of time, Venues and Dress Shirts grew and grew and grew to suit shirts and ties for the dress up. But now sportswear has become a dominant

part of the venues and collection. You can find these products including sweaters, polos, quarter zips, trousers and even the best of fashion has to be preserved. I don't know if I ever mentioned to you the advent of the men's necktie. There's nothing better in a men's necktie business than the business lunch because guys we go out, they'd have their lunch that have their salads or their beef and potatoes, and snow stout about it. They would always

stain their tie. And therefore the business grew and grew venues and today doesn't want to make money on your hardships. They want to do it and prevent you from having to go through that. And they invented stain shield. It's the technology that was invented to protect your favorite items. The stain Shield collection provides extreme defense again water based stains by causing spills to beat up before they can

be absorbed into the fabric. This collection, by the way, in addition to regular fits, is also often in all body sizes, including big and tall. You can find van Uesen's Stainshield and the great venues in styled sports were at Vanuesen dot com. That's Vanusen dot com. As one of the world's most celebrated fashion designers, Carl Lagafeld was renowned for his aspirational and cutting edge approach to style. His unique vision of Parisian shit comes to America through

car Lagofeld Paris. He has women's collections, men's collections, ready to wear, accessory, shoes and bags. The fashion house Carlagofeld also offers a range of watches, eyewear and premium fragrances. You can explore the car lagofl collection at car Lagofelparis dot com. But it's more than that. I have for one, love to shop. I love going around and seeing what's happening and what catches my attention, what would make me feel good to wear Now. I don't wear the women's wearly,

but I can appreciate it and they look amazing. If you want to look right, you want to have clothes that fits you well. You want to look like you're wearing something that's very expensive, that's exclusive for you and yours. You can find it at very affordable prices at Macy's Orcarlagofel dot Comparis. The women's ready to wear fashion is extraordinary, as well as the handbigs and the shoes. I, for one, wear men's clothes, unlike my appreciation of women's clothes. I'm

a modern guy. I want to look current, I want to look the way I want to feel. I go out at night, I'm in black and carlago felt is my buddy. Calls are great, they fit great, and they have little tweaks and touches, whether it's a stripe on the sleeve or button at the neck or on the shoulder. There's a lot of details that go into Carlagofel because he's always been, he always had been one of the world's great designers, and this legacy and goes on and on.

I can't speak enough about it except to say to you, you want to feel good about yourself. You want to know that you're dressing properly close that fits you well. Carl Lagafeld, Paris at Macy's Orcarl Lagafel dot com.

Speaker 1

Welcome back to it Always in fashion. Here's your host, Mark webber.

Speaker 3

Tonight's show is Staycation. I took an unusual twist. On a summer vacation with my son Jared. We decided to stay home and enjoy the neighborhood, and the neighborhood in this case meant Long Island, New York City, the New York Yankees in the Bronx, some golf in New Jersey. A remarkable time. Give me a chance to count my blessings. This is an amazing country. Everything works, everything is good. We need to make sure we keep it like that by voting hopefully for the right people. And now, as

I said before, I'll support any president. I just want the truth. I want people to make the decisions on who to elect, not on personality, not on historic decisions on who can be the best president in the years to come, who will do the most of the country. But that is a backdrop. Before I leave, Jared, how did you enjoy the staycation and did you like being on the show?

Speaker 4

I love being on the show.

Speaker 1

Jesse.

Speaker 4

If you move your feet, you lose your seat. If you keep going at this course and keep taking more vacations, I'm going to fill in. I'm getting very comfortable in this seat. I had a great staycation with you, Daddy. It's always a pleasure, great times all around and great memories with that as a backdrop. Number one son sign it off, love you.

Speaker 3

What can I say? My children like spending time with me priceless. Good Night,

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