Good taste and a passion for fashion isn't enough to succeed in the rag trade. You also need a head for business. So says Joe Mimran, one of Canada's top fashion entrepreneurs and the force behind a string of Canadian retail success stories. "Today, good design and good business go hand in hand," he told PROFIT in 2008. "You cannot design in a vacuum."
Mimran's entrepreneurial track record speaks for itself. He helped build designer Alfred Sung's fashion line into a Canadian mainstay. He co-founded Club Monaco, growing the fashion retailer to 141 stores by 1997. He launched home-decor brand Caban, eventually selling it along with Club Monaco to Ralph Lauren Polo Corp. in a US$52-million deal.
His latest endeavour: in 2006, he launched Joe Fresh Style, a "cheap chic" clothing store housed within (and in partnership with) Loblaws supermarkets. Originally offering apparel for women and men, the store later added accessories, cosmetics and a kids' collection. Today, the Joe Fresh brand is available at more than 300 locations across Canada.
"A lot of people thought, 'Clothes in a grocery store?' But he brought it in with real polish," says Lisa Tant, editor-in-chief of Flare, Canada's top fashion magazine. "His brands aren't expensive, but he makes them look and feel special."
Last fall, Mimran opened the first Joe Fresh stores outside Canada, in New York City. But where other Canadian retailers have failed stateside, Mimran's move is paying dividends. In March, he opened a spectacular flagship store on Manhattan's 5th Avenue. "He's hired top-flight PR, top models for his campaign; he's wooing all the top New York fashion editors," raves Tant. "And he's doing it with a certain style and class that other people just don't have."
Read other entrepreneurial success stories in "The Fabulous 30."
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