two roads diverged in a wood

I know you must all be annoyed with my endless sweatshop rants,* but I was surprised to find out yesterday that Judy Wicks, the founder of White Dog Café, co-founded Free People (which later became Urban Outfitters/Anthropologie clothing chain) with her then husband Richard Hayne.

It’s amazing how far apart these two business people’s paths have diverged since then:

Richard Hayne is currently the president of Urban Outfitters, the company that now operates the stores, Free People, Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie. He has a net worth of $1.8 billion, ranking the 262 richest person in the United States, atleast at the time in which this article was written.

His stores have stirred up quite a bit of controversy, both for politically incorrect t-shirts and allegedly ripping-off of independent designers. While people who shop at these stores tend to be liberal leaning, Richard Hayne is actually a die-hard Republican (not that that is necessarily a bad thing). Urban Outfitters evokes an aura of rebellion and independence while Anthropologie gives off a sense of vintage old world sophistication, but both are extremely corporate brands. Commodify your dissent all the way. Coolness and authenticity can now be purchased.

Furthermore, Hayne’s stance on sweatshops reflects the easy reasoning that sweatshops offer a better alternative to abject poverty (The Onion actually did an interesting video parody on sweatshops yesterday). I’ll let you be the judge:

"Years ago I visited one of the factories we work with in India, and there was 500 people standing in a line three people deep stretching around the building," he recalls. "I said to the foreman, 'What's going on?' He told me they were all applicants for the four positions they had open. I toured that facility and it was reasonably clean--for India. And it was reasonably well-lit--again, for India. And yes, it was mostly young women working there. But it is my understanding that the only other option those women had to feed their families was selling their bodies. So I don't want to hear people from the suburbs with their fat American stomachs telling people in other countries how to run their societies."

Meanwhile, Judy Wicks is not quite as wealthy as her former husband, but is by no means poor. (Let’s be honest- what would you really do with more than a billion dollars?) She is the founder of the restaurant White Dog Café, located near Penn campus. White Dog Café has become a renowned model for Triple Bottom Line business practices, with regard for profit, people and the environment. In addition to paying its restaurant workers living wages, White Dog Café also became one of the first restaurants to source local organic food long before Michael Pollan became trendy reading. She’s a vocal advocate for local sustainable economies and has written some interesting and inspiring articles on the subject.

Two very different versions of how to run a business in today's society. Richard Hayne was ingenious in creating the compelling pull of his brands**, managing to convince alot of us silly consumers into buying into image without substance, but Judy Wicks gives real hope. Her dissent has not been commodified.


* Though, is it not sad that nobody really cares passionately about anything anymore? And isn't it sad that we tend to think that those who care passionately about anything are a little loopy and crazy. Everything in moderation n’est ce pas?
** I have to guiltily admit that I love anthropologie clothing, but atleast in the last three years, I have been able to resist buying anything from the store despite the fact that it is located very close to my office. (It helps that it is really expensive) It's interesting though to read the customer target of anthropologie as described on Urban Outfitters corporate website:
... Over the past decade, we have traveled the globe, broken new ground with our catalog and web design, and most significantly of all, found customers who are our soulmates on this journey. Our core customer is 30 to 45, educated, fashionable, creative, and youthful. She values family and friends and loves shopping in the vibrant environments we create for her. Our unique and eclectic product assortment is carefully designed and selected with an eye for craftsmanship and detail...
Here's the Urban Outfitters description:
Our goal at Urban Outfitters is to be the brand of choice for well-educated, urban-minded young adults. We accomplish our objective by creating a differential shopping experience, which creates an emotional bond with the 18 to 30 year old target customer we serve. Currently, we operate more than 129 stores in the US, Canada, and Europe. Our stores offer a unique and eclectic mix of fashion merchandise in a lifestyle sensitive store environment. Products range from women's & men's apparel, accessories and footwear to items for the apartment, as well as gifts and novelties.