Personal touch

“Happy chaos” are the words that spring to mind when you peek inside fashion label Alex Mill’s headquarters in New York’s Soho neighbourhood. The office dog, Alan, is hanging out as people share pasta dishes from Italian restaurant Parm down the street. The door to the office of the company’s ceo, Mickey Drexler, is open for the team to waltz in and out. It’s a world away from Drexler’s previous set-up at US multibrand label J Crew, where he served as ceo from 2003 to 2017. The feel is also very different to that of Gap in San Francisco, where he spent almost two decades growing the brand from a $400m (€358m) business into a $15bn (€13bn) one. Here, the hierarchies are less rigid and the atmosphere more familial. “I initially joined as a sort of senior mentor,” says Drexler. “Now I’m involved in all of the details.”

This isn’t a new venture. Drexler’s son, Alex, (centre-left), founded the label more than 10 years ago. “It was just me at the beginning,” says Alex, wearing a crisp, white shirt and black-framed glasses. Much like his father, he favours uniform dressing. “I started with a small shop on Elizabeth Street and the idea of creating the perfect shirt.”

Over time, the brand developed a niche following, working with speciality shops in Japan and a handful of global retailers such as Mr Porter and Bergdorf Goodman. When Mickey left J Crew and started feeling the entrepreneurial itch again, he realised that his next big opportunity could lie a lot closer to home than he had expected. “This wasn’t part of some grand scheme,” he says. “I was getting a little bored because I wasn’t building anything. I liked the name of the brand and saw a white space in the market. The companies that I have previously worked for are changing direction, so there is room for a new label to offer cool clothes that aren’t overly trendy or expensive.”

Alex Mill relaunched in early 2019, with Mickey as ceo and Somsack Sikhounmuong, a veteran of J Crew and Madewell, as creative director. Ali Dillon, formerly of Gap, has also joined the business as brand president. “I love not having a number of units to hit,” says Dillon. “It’s more about making things that we’re proud to produce,” she says.

The brand’s collections span menswear, womens- wear and accessories, and live up to the team’s promise of creating tasteful, reasonably priced designs. These are fuss-free clothes for people who “understand quality and love fashion but aren’t obsessed with it”, says Alex. Mickey has overseen the label’s recent expansion to categories such as denim and cashmere, as well as the opening of two new physical outposts in New York on Mercer Street and Madison Avenue. “It was a small business at the start but it’s coming around now,” he says.

He credits part of this recent success to the power of imagination, rather than careful research or strategic marketing. “To me, imagination is what drives business,” says Mickey. “Some companies – I prefer to call them bureaucracies – can operate almost without thinking but that’s when everything starts to look the same,” he adds, recalling some of his most successful ventures, including the launch of labels such as Madewell at J Crew and Old Navy at the Gap, all of which all happened “on a whim”. “I believe in instinct, talent and risk-taking.”

Successful matchmaking is also part of his formula for success. In this case, introducing his son to Sikhounmuong was pivotal in pointing the brand in the right direction. “I could see the potential,” says Sikhounmuong. “I was ready to roll up my sleeves and get my hands much dirtier than I ever had in the past,” says the creative director, explaining that creating smaller collections allows him more time to indulge in every detail and achieve a balance between fashion-forward and classic designs.

“Sikhounmuong built Madewell from scratch,” says Mickey. “The only difference is that we had the bank of J Crew then. Here, we don’t have any investors because we don’t want any. I don’t need someone doubting what we do.” After years of reporting to boards, Mickey was adamant about “being his own boss”. It’s why Alex Mill is one of the few ready-to-wear labels that has committed to direct-to-consumer sales, avoiding the additional price mark-ups that come with wholesaling.

The brand also steers clear of fashion’s unhealthy discounting culture. “The most successful department store in the world is TJ Maxx, which sells pieces by many major brands at 50 per cent off,” he says. “What does that do to a consumer? They think that everything is a deal. We won’t participate in this. It’s two sales a year and that’s it.”

This formula is working. Alex Mill has gradually been progressing in its mission to create the “perfect wardrobe” and customers continue to purchase classic styles. “It’s about focusing on specific items rather than trying to do everything quickly,” says Alex, who is adamant about holding on to the founding values of the brand. Still, he shares his father’s vision about the business’s potential. A new shop inside the Rockefeller Center is also in the works. “The importance of interacting with customers is something that Mickey has emphasised throughout his career,” says Alex.

With the label’s foundations now securely set, Mickey says that it is in a good position to start reaching a new audience outside the US. “I believe that we can become as big as many other major clothing companies but, for now, I would rather think about what I need to do day by day,” he says. “I have made many people a lot of money in the past – but this is more personal.” — L
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