FN MILESTONE SCHWARTZ & BENJAMIN @ 90 Schwartz & Benjamin has successfully navigated the challenging — and ever- changing — footwear business over the last 90 years, with an artful approach to licensing and a commitment to employee engagement. PHOTO: COURTESY OF SCHWARTZ & BENJAMIN OF SCHWARTZ COURTESY PHOTO: MAY 27, 2013 | | 17 FN MILESTONE SCHWARTZ & BENJAMIN @ 90 × Q&A DANNY’S Q&A For Schwartz & Benjamin’s CEO, the big anniversary serves as fuel for moving forward. DRIVE BY JACQUELYN LEWIS anny Schwartz is enthusiastic about commemorating Schwartz & Benjamin’s 90th year, but D the company CEO and third- generation footwear executive is hardly nostalgic. “I want to celebrate all the milestones we’ve hit throughout the years, [but I also] want people to see that we are a modern, vibrant company,” he said. “Maybe we are looking back [for a moment], but it really is all about going forward.” Indeed, New York-based Schwartz & Ben- jamin has set its sights on the future with a sharpened focus. Its strategy centers on streamlining product offerings and working with its existing partners that already have an international presence or the potential to go global. To that end, the company recently inked a licensing deal with Derek Lam, which launched Danny Schwartz, with footwear for spring ’13 and will continue Barbara Schwartz with the introduction of the diffusion line 10 and Steve Shapiro Crosby Derek Lam this fall. “We expect substantial growth for all our current brands,” said Barbara Schwartz, direc- team parted ways with one of its licensors, Steve Jobs, whose biography they’ve praised tor of product development and wife of Danny. Juicy Couture, and closed in-house label several times in previous interviews. “If you “Each one is poised for expansion in all catego- Daniblack. In 2013, it also ended its short- have fewer products, you can devote more time ries of footwear.” lived joint venture with contemporary label to engineering each one of those to be the best Other shoe labels under the company’s um- Matiko. All three moves were aimed at homing it can be. We think we can do a better job of brella include Diane von Furstenberg, Rebecca in on the company’s strongest assets. focusing on key patterns. We are working hard Minkoff and Seven for All Mankind’s women’s “Right now, less is more,” said Schwartz & at that and we’ve improved.” offerings, as well as Kate Spade New York, Benjamin President Steve Shapiro. The firm’s licensors and other partners say which also will add footwear under sister line “You have to make a conscious effort to the formula works. Kate Spade Saturday starting this fall. watch all the development that you make “Schwartz & Benjamin has been an essential But maintaining success doesn’t just hinge on and the products that you go into, and to not part of our company’s growth,” said designer current business — it’s also about the brands no spread yourself too thin,” Schwartz added, Rebecca Minkoff, who introduced footwear to longer on the books. reiterating that both he and Shapiro continue her eponymous label in 2010 and signed a pro- Earlier this year, the Schwartz & Benjamin to take inspiration from the late Apple mogul duction deal with Schwartz & Benjamin in & BENJAMIN OF SCHWARTZ COURTESY PHOTO: 18 | | MAY 27, 2013 STAYING IN STEP WITH STYLE IS ALWAYS IN FASHION. WE PROUDLY SALUTE SCHWARTZ & BENJAMIN FOR 90 YEARS OF BEING ON THE FASHION FOREFRONT. FN MILESTONE SCHWARTZ & BENJAMIN @ 90 × Q&A 2011. “They are great, collaborative business version of the company partners.” you see today — still In addition to its branded lines, Schwartz a great place to work & Benjamin also has a thriving, 4-year-old where our employees private-label business that creates footwear are productive, but con- for a handful of large clients. “It’s a nice way tinue to laugh a lot. In of diversifying the company [in a way that 10 years, I see a younger, ensures] we don’t compete with ourselves,” vibrant management Shapiro said. “It’s a different arena, and we are team — perhaps includ- meeting with great success [in that division].” ing the fourth genera- Here, Danny Schwartz sounds off on mea- tion — leading us to new suring success, the significance of 90 and what successes. the next decade might bring. Do you envision the What does the 90th anniversary of Schwartz & company remaining pri- Benjamin mean to you? vately held, or would you DS: We’ve had a very long history of manufac- consider an acquisition turing, importing, designing and delivering as you look toward the products that satisfy all the needs of our licen- future? sors, our wholesale clients and the consumers’ DS: We’ll probably make needs. There aren’t that many companies in our it to 100 [as a family- industry that hit 90 and are privately owned. owned firm]. We’ve spoken to companies To what do you attribute the company’s through the years that longevity? were interested in ac- DS: First and foremost, it is that we are very quiring us or merging us Arthur Schwartz serious about the jobs we take on. It comes into their organizations. mentors son down to the job that we do and the products We never say never, but Danny in 1985 we are delivering. Then, I would say [we’ve I don’t know if that will been successful because] we treat people the ever come to pass for us. the green light to sell Kate Spade in Europe, way they would like to be treated. We try to We like to believe we are very nimble because and the U.K. [will be] our first endeavor. We live by the golden rule. It’s not that difficult we’re private. We don’t have to have board sell to a lot of Kate Spade stores in Japan, too, to be nice to people, and we also don’t believe meetings, and we can put our heads together but we’re close to announcing a [plan] to open that nice guys finish last. We work hard and and make decisions pretty quickly. some [shop-in-shops] in department stores keep our heads down and keep focused on [there]. We have a pretty strong Diane von what we are trying to do. What plans are on the horizon for the more Furstenberg business in Europe and we are immediate future? looking to expand that as well. Where would you like to see Schwartz & DS: We’re ratcheting up the intensity and Benjamin at 100? expanding our international businesses with What is your personal definition of success? DS: In 2023, I see a bigger, more diversified each of [our existing] brands. We also just got DS: There can be different kinds of success. Personal success for me has been achieved by marrying Barbara and raising two wonderful children. Success in business is sometimes measured by who has more money at the end We’re ratcheting up the intensity and of the day. While we always want to be profit- able and we compete every day to achieve that expanding our international businesses goal, I believe we also are successful due to the way we work, how we deal with our em- with each of [our existing] brands.” ployees, our clients [and] our collaborators. That is measured by what others think about — Danny Schwartz you and your organization, [so] you’ll have to ask the industry if they think we are success- ful. We still have many goals that we would like to accomplish. & BENJAMIN OF SCHWARTZ COURTESY PHOTO: 20 | | MAY 27, 2013 Congratulations to Schwartz & Benjamin in honor of your 90th Anniversary. WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE WHAT’S NEXT, AMAZON FASHION AND SHOPBOP. FN MILESTONE SCHWARTZ & BENJAMIN @ 90 × Q&A Your growth strategy is centered on your exist- ing partners, but what attributes do you look for when you add a new label? DS: It has changed over the years. We have The market right now is reacting to casuals, some criteria we like to use, but sometimes we break our own rules. What’s happened today, so [we are deciding] how each of our brands with the profile of footwear — really since “Sex & the City” and the emergence of brands like Manolo Blahnik, Christian Louboutin and attacks that category.” Jimmy Choo — is that the profile of footwear — Danny Schwartz is so large that everybody is doing shoes. You walk down a major avenue in a major city and practically every [retailer] has [an in-house label for] shoes. The companies that have been in the shoe business have expanded the number of lines they produce. Ready-to-wear realistic decision we had to make. companies that meet with some success love It was not performing up to our to expand by getting into handbags and shoes. expectations and it was taking Ten or 20 years ago, buyers would line up when too much of our time away from you came out with a new license, but today brands that we should be devoting they don’t get so excited because they don’t our time to. It was the right deci- need another line of shoes. Oftentimes they’ll sion to make. tell you, “We have trouble funding the lines that are doing well now in our stores.” What are some of the biggest issues [Because of that], we are very particular. facing your company today, One thing we will look at, for example, is if a as well as the footwear industry ready-to-wear company has 30-plus of their at large? own stores, because then you have the possibil- DS: Sourcing is probably the ity of having an initial business pretty much biggest challenge today in our from the start.