Our story

About Michael Kors

Becoming a designer in today’s demanding market can be very tricky, especially when it comes to value, quality and innovation. As a designer, you are always required to push things to the extreme, reach that next level and evolve as much as possible. It’s not possible to achieve that the way you would expect, so being more creative and different can sometimes be the right way to do things. Adaptability is key on the current market, and you have to push it to new heights if possible. That’s what Michael Kors tried to do early on, and he succeeded quite well in achieving his goals. Things were not amazing for his business right from the start. Just like any other company, Michael Kors did go through his own set of struggles and challenges. You can’t be the best without encountering issues, so that’s definitely the type of thing that you want to pursue.

The short story of Michael Kors

Michael Kors was born in Merrick Long Island, which is a suburban town at around 23 miles away from New York City. He was a rather normal child, but he always had a keen eye towards the beautiful, interesting things. He shared his advice to his mother regarding fashion ideas early on when he was 5. At that time he told her to remove all the bows from the wedding dress because it didn’t look great, and she obviously removed the bows and it was just an amazing dress because of that. Creativity was at the core of his ideas and it continues to impress with resilience, gallantry and amazing creations.

If you think about it, Michael Kors did have an inclination towards fashion because his mother was a model herself. Soon after redesigning her dress with that idea, he started designing clothes in his teen years and then he sold all kinds of clothes that he designed into the basement. The fun thing is that the basement was his Iron Butterfly at that particular time.

One thing a lot of people don’t know about Michael Kors is that he graduated from high school in 1977 at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. He even took a job at Lothar’s, which was a pretty popular fashion boutique at that time. Dawn Mello noticed his talents there, and he encouraged him to get in touch with her whenever he would design a new collection. Obviously that’s what happened, as he did that and then in 1981 he got to launch his own product line. Fast forward 3 years and Michael Kors got to have his own runway show in 1984 and he was extremely impressed with the overall results and the experience itself.

How did Michael Kors achieve success?

There were many things that made Michael Kors successful in the first place. One of them was the fact that every design was visually distinctive right off the bat. Yet despite all of that, he also created chic, stylish products that everyone would actually enjoy and cherish. You really want to make all the difference when it comes to standing out and wearing great clothes. And that’s what Michael tried to bring in to real life.

He got to create clothes that made people feel glamorous without putting in a lot of effort and money into the overall outfit. In fact, Michael Kors is one of those designers that built his own reputation on the idea that he understands how women are living and what type of things they are expecting from their own life, be it something simple and convenient. He got to create a sense of control and confidence while also bringing in great materials and a luxury setting at a price that’s not exactly the highest out there.

Also, has a very distinctive take on the All-American sportswear system. The reason why most of his stuff went global and he is now so widely respected is because that sense of chic styles and pragmatism really pushed things to the next level, and it’s different and much better than you would ever imagine.

Michael Kors launched his Kors line as a licensee but due to a Chapter 11 filing he did in 1993, he ended up with some licensing issues. Thankfully the sales were pretty good and the company got back on its own feet around 1997 to the point where it got a lower price point. Michael Kors was actually named the first designer to provide women’s ready to wear products by Celine. That was something staggering and unexpected at that point.

He eventually left Celine in 2003, but it was an important point in Michael Kors’s brand life because he got to turn that fashion house around. He created an astounding ready to wear line and numerous accessories that were top of the line for his time. He did eventually leave Celine with the idea of focusing on his own brand. He still worked on his personal brand on the side, which is why he got to create the meanswear line back in 2002.

In 2004 he launched the Michael line. This line was all about ready to wear apparel, shoes and handbags for women. He constantly added new products to the line, and at the end of 2016 his company had more than 700 lifestyle stores spread all over the world. Michael Kors is also one of the most renowned designers to work with celebrities. Tons of celebrities wore his work, which include Heidi Klum, Hillary Clinton, Kate Middleton, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lawrence, Dakota Johnson, Angelina Jolie, Michelle Obama and Catherine Zeta Jones.

Creativity at its best

The Michael Kors brand has always been about bringing in high standard fashion and unique ideas to the table. Michael Kors is focused on the jet-set lifestyle that pushes the boundaries and offers that high sense of commitment and fashion all of was want to see. The ad campaigns for the company clearly reflect that, and the overall message didn’t change. The true focus for Michael Kors and his brand is to make sure that the dress or outfit fits that person and exudes style. Adding in a simpler and more refined design can make quite the difference.

What a lot of people don’t know is that Michael Kors was also a judge on Project Runway, a TV series focused on fashion that aired for around 5 seasons in total. The interesting thing here is that Michael Kors decided to leave the show on his own to focus more on his own business. He was replaced by Zac Posen, who is a fellow designer in his own right.

Talking about fortunes

Michael Kors doesn’t really talk about his wealth that much, but as you can imagine he is a wealthy man. He has a personal fortune of around $1 billion according to estimates. Not only that, but Michael Kors Holdings already helped make 2 more billionaires in the form of Lawrence Stroll and Silas Chou. As you can see, Michael Kors got to accrue quite a lot of wealth from his work. And while he is a very wealthy man at this time, he continues to pour all his time into creating new designs. He might have quite a lot of great hires, but he continues to work as well and many of the current creations are his own. This clearly shows his dedication and commitment to growth, and you will find it incredibly rewarding and interesting due to that.

Legal issues

The growth of his own brand wasn’t always as steady as you might imagine. Michael Kors did have his fair share of legal issues too. During January 2009, Michael Kors was sued by the Tony Duquette estate for trademark infringement. According to them, Kors actually used Duquette’s image to promote his own resortwear collection during that time.

On top of that, Michael Kors also became the second luxury brand that sued Costco in 2013 because they had false advertising claims that they were selling his products, which was clearly not the case.

Conclusion

Michael Kors was and still is an iconic designer with a clear focus on quality, style and high fashion. He has always been one of the top designers in the world due to his attention to detail and commitment to quality, and this continues to improve in ways you would not imagine.

He was even referenced in 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada and he also got mentioned in Nicky Minaj. That clearly goes to show the true influence Michael Kors has on pop culture and just how many celebrities and high tier people in this world appreciate his hard work. While the history of his brand did have a few mishaps along the way, it’s easy to say that Michael Kors is one of the best and most consistent fashion brands in the past few decades. It’s an amazing brand with astounding, very creative ideas that continue to push the boundaries. Michael Kors’s vision is unmatched even today, and it’s the clear backbone of his success!