Before Michael Kors Chairman and CEO John Idol spoke to an audience of more than 300 last night, a table piled high with Michael Kors gift bags was the star of the show.
The first 200 students at Penn Fashion Week’s keynote event received free Michael Kors gift bags. Over 50 students had swarmed the hallway outside Huntsman Hall’s G06 auditorium by 4:30 p.m., 90 minutes before doors officially opened at 6 p.m.
But focus quickly shifted to the man behind the gift bags as Idol, the CEO, stepped up to the podium.
“I’m here to tell you a little story about how this company became so successful,” Idol began. “Maybe I’ll even convince you to forget about finance and the Wall Street world, and get you to enter the fashion industry,” he joked.
Idol pointed to a timeline of company’s history, emphasizing that, when they acquired the Michael Kors business in 2003, he and his partners Lawrence Stroll and Silas Chou had a vision that they would turn it into a $1 billion firm.
Eight years later in December 2011, they completed the largest retail IPO in US history and had brought the company to a $1.2 billion value.
Michael Kors’ future lay in a unique brand positioning that evokes the image of a so-called “jet set luxury,” Idol said. “In our business, you have to control your own image, and being both luxurious and accessible is important to us,” he said.
Future fashion retail executives and aspiring CEOs alike had valuable advice to take from this event. “Stay focused and keep that entrepreneurial spirit,” Idol said. “If you don’t wake up every day determined to make a difference, you won’t be successful.”
Former Retail Club President and Wharton senior Marlena Filipowska and Wharton and College sophomore Tim Chai, the current Wharton Retail Club president, first met Idol when they took a business course on China supply chains in New York City over spring break.
Chai admitted Idol is his “CEO crush.”
“We all have them,” he said. “As we were walking around with [Idol] in New York, I whispered to Marlena, ‘I want John Idol for Penn Fashion Week.’” Filipowska said the Baker Retailing Center played a key role in bringing Idol to Penn.
“[Idol] is the perfect speaker for this week because students get to listen to someone who has worked their way up in the industry step by step,” she said.
Wharton senior Ann Dang waited in line for over an hour. “I am not so surprised by this turnout because of the overwhelming attendance of yesterday’s [Rent the Runway] event, but, in general, we have a pretty dedicated crowd here,” she said.
In addition to attending the speaker events, Dang is also co-designing a clothing line with Wharton senior McKenzie Harper for the Dzine2Show fashion show on Friday.
“I am a member of MUSE, the marketing club on campus, and sometimes we give out gift bags, but there are never lines like this.”
The early birds to the event received a pair of Michael Kors aviator sunglasses in their gift bags.
“I just texted my mom and sister about the free sunglasses” College sophomore Hannah Smythe said.
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