Written by Amy Stoltenberg
Photographs by Crosby Ignasher
Wednesday night, the SCAD Museum of Art hosted a conversation between Women’s Wear Daily executive editor Bridget Foley and the president of Bergdorf Goodman, Joshua Schulman. Foley interviewed Schulman about his career in the fashion retail world working for such names as Jimmy Choo, Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci.
Foley opened the lecture with a brief survey of the beginning of Schulman’s career, first as a thirteen-year-old who convinced the manager of an upscale children’s retail store in California to hire him on as a sales associate, then as a student. He started at NYU then went to Parsons, where he dropped out after two years when offered a job at Perry Ellis following a six-month-long internship.
From there, the lecture — and Schulman’s life — was a blur of luxury designers and fashion royalty name-dropping. Foley asked mostly logistical questions about business in the fashion world and about how Schulman’ s business strategy changed as he moved from company to company.
After a two-year stint with Perry Ellis where he “valued being around the decision makers and opinion holders in the industry,” Schulman headed to Richmond Terry as the director of sales and marketing.
“At Richmond Terry, a much smaller company, I gained exposure at a young age to corresponding and negotiating with the heads of huge fashion department stores,” said Schulman. “This sort of big fish in a small pond situation was a very effective training tool for me.”
Schulman went from shark to minnow when he joined Gucci in 1997.
Schulman described what he learned at Gucci about the pivotal relationship between the design and merchandising departments.
“Working as a director is about being an influencer, not just pushing for what you want. It’s about listening to what’s going on in the market, and presenting it to design in a neutral, respectful way.”
From Gucci he went to Yves Saint Laurent, where he worked as the executive vice president of worldwide merchandising and wholesale, then to GAP where he set up international franchises.
After just one year working with GAP, Schulman made the move back into luxury fashion as the CEO of Jimmy Choo, where he pushed the brand to expand globally to help minimize the effects of the recession.
“With the recession came the responsibility to make sure that we could pay off the debt of the company. With that, you must make responsible decisions about people’s jobs and lives. That is a whole different responsibility than simply making sure you have the right skirt to sell,” said Schulman.
In 2012, Schulman was named the President of Bergdorf Goodman in New York City. Foley asked about the difference between working for a luxury department store as opposed to a luxury fashion house and Schulman compared Bergdorf’s to a jigsaw puzzle.
“In a single designer business, there are a few decisions you make that can change the company internationally. But at Bergdorf’s, you are piecing together the product through interactions with vendors, and you don’t have control over the supply chain.The service model is based on the sales associate’s ability to travel around the store and wardrobe clientele.”
As far as company growth is concerned, Schulman shared his two-part magic formula. “We cultivate more customers, and secure more share of wallet from existing customers,” he said.
From there, Foley moved into a series of HR questions for Schulman, asking him to list the qualities of an ideal employee.
“Most importantly, they need to be passionate about the customer, the customer experience, the product, and they need to have a general curiosity. Fashion is all about change and what’s new, so I always want people who are open to change,” answered Schulman.
When asked about the role of ego in the fashion industry, and how to keep it in check with fashionistas rising through the food chain, Schulman offered a slice of wisdom to the audience.
“As I got older, I realized that I didn’t necessarily have to be the smartest person in the room. One of the lessons of leaderships that I’ve learned is that it’s even more rewarding to have someone else be the smartest person in the room, and to hear great ideas from the people on your team, to have that sort of collaboration.”
The tone of the lecture was factual, as the two industry experts dissected the stages of Schulman’s career and the lessons he learned along the way. He proved that “making it” in fashion is less about a big break and more about being committed to an industry that you love.
“I’ve always worked hard and stayed focused on the work itself versus the superfluous things, and then let the results stand for themselves. That’s the best advice that I would give to someone. Find that combination of ambition and humility that can sometimes seem contradictory,” said Schulman.