Opinion
Fisher: No one designed simple, minimalist women's clothing in the early 1980s
“And I just had this idea that I could make these simple clothes. No one's really doing it.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fisher: The company was strictly profitable throughout its early growth
“It was always profitable.”
Disclosure
Fisher sold 40% of her company back to employees through an ESOP
“What I did do was sell part of the business to the employees. So we are 40% ESOP, employee-owned”
Insight
Fisher: Japanese kimono's simple shape inspired her brand's aesthetic
“Like, you could really see, like, with the kimono, for example, one shape, you know, for thousands of years, and, you know, they would just do, you know, use different fabrics and different techniques to make it different every time, and, you know, it was beau…”
Opinion
Fisher: No one was making simple women's clothing in the 1980s
“And I just had this idea that I could make these simple clothes. No one's really doing it.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fisher: Bootstrapped early orders via staggered delivery and COD payments
“Well, I would have needed about 20 to do the production. And but I got some good advice, actually, while I was at the boutique show, that I deliver a small order first, so I did white just for, like, February delivery, and then I did the other colors for deliv…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fisher: The clothing company was profitable throughout its entire early growth
“So it was a combination of credit lines and loans and, you know, self-funding because it was growing and it was profitable. It was always profitable.”
Assertion Supported
Fisher: Sold part of the company to employees, creating a 40% ESOP
“What I did do was sell part of the business to the employees. So we are 40% ESOP, employee-owned”
Assertion Supported
Fisher: Employs 1,200 direct staff and roughly 10,000 manufacturing workers
“1200 on direct employees, but many, probably 10,000 people work daily on our, making our clothes.”
Insight
Eileen Fisher says discomfort with glamour drove her to design comfortable clothing
“I couldn't speak the language, so tried hard to learn it. So there was glamour, yes, I guess, you know, but I'm not, I don't, I'm not so attracted to glamour. I'm always more uncomfortable with glamour. I always say I'm this uncomfortable person. That's why I …”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fisher booked her first trade show booth before designing any clothes
“I had no name, I had no clothes, I had no fabric, I had no styles, I had nothing.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fisher launched her fashion brand with 12 sample garments in three colors
“I made them in the three colors, so I had 12 pieces, and that's what I took with my little logo, and I was, I spent probably as much time obsessing about the graphics and the name because I didn't want to call it Eileen Fisher.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fisher booked orders for 100 garments across eight stores at debut
“I sold to eight stores. I sold about a hundred pieces.”
What-if
Fisher: Overwhelming success at her first trade show would have caused failure
“And it was the right amount, because anymore, I would have never been able to deliver. I wouldn't have been able to get enough fabric. I wouldn't have been able to figure it all out fast enough, or get the money to make it happen.”
Disclosure
Fisher financed early production by requiring trade show buyers to pay COD
“I did the orders on COD, so then when I Delivered, the boutiques would write a check, and... They had to pay right away, and, you know, at the show, when they were standing in line, it was kind of easy to ask them to do COD. Because I could sort of plead with …”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fisher booked $80,000 in wholesale orders at her second trade show
“You know, then go to the next show and sell 80,000 dollars with orders.”
Assertion Supported
Bloomingdale's opened an in-store shop after observing Fisher's retail success
“So when they came into the store, they knew, they didn't understand it, but they knew something was happening, and so they wanted to open a shop, a small shop in Bloomingdale's.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fisher's early core customers were artists, therapists, and teachers
“In the early days I described them as artists, therapists, and teachers. And it seemed like they were people who, you know I used to say they helped people find themselves, something like that, you know, that, or that they could figure out how to make their ow…”
Disclosure
Fisher avoided the CEO title, preferring to be Chief Creative Officer
“I've always I, I'm always been sort of uncomfortable and not actually held that title. I used to call myself chief creative officer.”
Disclosure
Fisher set strict boundaries, stopping work at 3 PM Wednesday through Friday
“Once I got divorced, it was, my kids were four and eight, and I said, I am, I'm going to stop working on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday at three o'clock.”
Assertion Partly supported
Fisher employs 1,200 direct staff and roughly 10,000 garment workers
“1200 direct employees, but many, Probably 10,000 people work daily on our, making our clothes.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fisher: Clothing line was mentally in development for five years
“It was in my mind for probably five years before the first garments appeared.”
Assertion Supported
Fisher: First trade show presentation consisted of just 12 sample pieces
“Well, I made them in the three colors, so I had 12 pieces, and that's what I took with my little logo”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fisher: First trade show yielded orders for 100 pieces across eight stores
“I sold to eight stores. I sold about a hundred pieces.”
