Transcripts For WHYY Charlie Rose 20141018

He died at 28. In eight years he produced a body of work that was phenomenal and is one of the three major austrian artists we have in neue galerie. And he is unique. We have opened a show of portraits. His portraits have so much power, so interesting. His selfportraits, even, full of sex and errot cism. Charlie we conclude with tory burch, Fashion Designer and entrepreneur. In five years, three stores, that was the Business Plan. I had big hopes and aspirations. When i was trying to raise money and wanted to start a brand, i had no idea. Charlie you thought ralph lauren. Yeah, i knew i wanted to start a foundation and be part of the Business Plan. Charlie Richard Cohen, ron lauder and tory burch next. Captioning sponsored by Rose Communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. Charlie Richard Cohen is here. He is a nationally syndicated columnist for the washington post, sparked a controversy in 2006 when he opened his column with this sentence the greatest mistake israel could make at the moment is to forget israel is a mistake. The response prompted him to explore his own history in a new book, israel is it good for the jews. Pleased to have Richard Cohen at this table. Well come. Good to be here. Charlie tell me about that 2006 column and what happened afterward. Well, i wrote it in the course of israel was once again at war this time with hesbollah in the north and you could see the pattern going back and forth, incessant war and terrorism. I used the word mistake which was a big mistake. But i couldnt come up with another word to describe the plight of israel as being a nation of 6 million jews surrounded by, i dont know, 100 million arabs, whatever the figure may b and this continuing incessant warfare which was going on and on. The reaction was incredible. I mean, i got my head taken off. A lot of people were very angry at me. Charlie what did they say and who were they . I dont mean specific names but where were they coming from and well, i mean, it was readers. And then also people who just happen to know me. Ii remember one guy stopped men the street and said, i heard you wrote this. So it was out there kind of in rumorville. But there were others who were more disturbing to me which were people i thought were sympathetic to israel who embraced me as someone who had gone over to the other side and now critical of israel. Here was a jew who was critical of israel and i was embraced for that. Charlie and they were saying, you said what im thinking . Yeah, it made me very uncomfortable because it wasnt what i was thinking. Charlie because you used the wrong word . I used the wrong word. I dont know to this day whats a better word for saying, look, in effect, if you wanted to find a place in the world that was safe and secure, you picked the wrong place. Charlie so what was there between that time and the response of that column and the beginning of this book . Well, you know, time went by and i decided i was going to expand the column. As i started to expand on the column and do reading and look into what the situation was, i came around to changing my mind because i dont think israel is a mistake. I think it was inevitability and has great utility and essential. The second thing is history opened itself up. I became enraptured by it and i became very impressed not by the hole ho cost we all know about the holocaust and israel is the creation of the holocaust thats not it. There were two periods that were as important, one is the period before the holocaust in europe and the other after the holocaust in europe. By the time the holocaust started, there were already 750,000 European Jews living in what became israel so it wasnt created because to have the holocaust, it was already in existence. In fact, there had been jewish settlers there for hundreds of years and starting in the 1880s, an increasing number of jewish settlers coming in from what was russia. So a lot of these people who were in europe in between the two wars who were living in these new nations that had been created by the collapse of the Ottoman Empire or the austrianhungarian empire, the german empire, doesnt matter, the point is, these new democracies became rigidly antisemitic, that they went from a promised democracy to being authoritarian regimes that were belligerently antisemitic and many of the jews living in poland, hungary, rumania, needed to get out. Charlie and brought home to you when you went to a small village and traced one person who went to auschwitz and came back. I went to the town where my mother was born. My mother died two years ago, over 100. I3 my mother was an immigrant from poland. I went back to her town, where she was born, and there were no jews left. This town had been 50 jewish. They were all killed. But there was talk about one man who had come back after the war to reclaim his business and he was killed on the spot. I thought this was an anomaly, that this was a unique event. When i read about this period, i realized there were many jews killed after the holocaust because they went home, tried to reclaim their property, their house, and killed on the spot. In poland, Something Like 1500 jews charlie after the war was over. After the war was over, the hatred was not. The holocaust was over but the killing of jews persisted. This time it was done by local people in Eastern European countries, so the jews who survived and walked out of auschwitz, the pitiful few and they went into displaced person camps usually in southern germany run by the great general patton, right, and these people could not go home, they were afraid to go home. They had nowhere to go. The United States raised the barrier for immigration for anybody from eastern or Southern Europe so they couldnt get in. Some jews did, most didnt. They needed a place. They wanted to go to palestine not because they were safe because they knew things were dicey there, but they felt at home. Charlie and they knew they were going into a middle of a land where people were not like them. Yes. These were educated people for the most part. They knew what was going on. But they also felt they belonged there, that people there would look after them and protect them. I cant imagine, nobody can, i guess, what it was like to survive the holocaust and then go home and be afraid of your neighbors. To say when does the killing sop . When do people relent and forgive me for being a jew . Charlie whats interesting about this and the book, for me, is this is not a book about the ebb and flow of newspaper headlines, this is a book in which you went back and read more history than you imagined you would. One story led to another and another investigation on your part. You came out with an ability to answer this question or not . Yeah. Yeah. The answer to that question is yes. I mean, is israel good for the jews . Yes. The other thing i came out of this book with was a real appreciation of antisemitism. That it is a powerful force that persists. Charlie today . Today. I compare it to almost ebola. Its a passage. You beat it back. Think its gone and then it comes up again at you. First of all the islamic world is deeply antisemitic and has been for a long time. The people are writing and talking in the islamic world the way they used to in germany in the 30s. When you say that in a broad brush, the islamic world, youre talking about a particular part of the islamic world. Yeah, not indonesia. Charlie right. Radicalism. No, no, im talking about in general i am not talking about radicals. Antisemitic. Well, if you talk to people in the arab countries and you will see theres a level of acceptable antisemitism that nobody makes a big deal about. I cite in the book, for instance, i was in jordan for some conference and i open up the jordan times which english language newspaper, this was several years ago, and i read an account of what happened on september of 2001, september 9th, 2001, and you know what that was all about . What was about the massad organizing that terrorist attack because no jews were killed in a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center which is blatantently untrue. It was just ridiculous. Somehow every jew was told to get out of the place before the attack. This runs in the jordanian paper. Those are papers are censored. I dont know whether it was literally approved by the palace but it was accepted. People understood ump not offending the censors if you put that in the paper. This is endemic in the arab world. Charlie i had a conversation with them when i went there, can you believe what ahmadinejad was saying, who did not want to take the holocaust as genocide any different than any other genocide and was essentially angry, you know, about where israel had been created. So i said to this head of state, i said, can you believe what hes saying . He said, yeah, a lot of people do feel that way. Its something i talk about in the book because you dont get it from diplomats. You know, you go to dinner with diplomats in nashington. You well remember, the Madison Hotel. I call it the Madison Hotel syndrome, used to go to lunches with arab diplomats, some of which i considered friends, and didnt get that kind of language and they wouldnt have approved. Back home, it was whats called double discourse, saying one thing in one place and another in another. Charlie antisemitism is not limited to the arab world. Well, you see a revival of it now certainly in england and europe and even in germany. I mean, i have been to germany a lot and there was a time i thought this would never come back to germany because the German Government was doing all the right things education, memorials, observing holocaust, all this sort of stuff but its coming out now and from what im reading a lot of reports about the rise of antisemitism. I just think antisemitism is the worlds greatest conspiracy theory. It can account for anything. You know, you can blame jews for almost anything that happens to you, happens to your government, happens to the economy and society. Charlie israel today is not a country that you dont find fault with. No, i find a lot of fault with israel. Charlie all right. I dont like the continued occupation, if thats the right word. You never know what words to use anymore. The west bank, i think thats a mistake. I think adding to the settlements is a mistake. Charlie youre using the word mistake again. These are are mistakes. Charlie you used the word mistake in the first place, just seemed like a natural right. But ive always been critical of that. I thought when israel took the west bank, it lost its moral monopoly. All of a sudden its an occupation power. Even benign occupation powers have to do certain things. They are riots, have to beat back you know, this has been tough. Charlie and the argument goes, it does something to your own psyche of the occupier. I think it does. I think it makes the troops i think they become calloused. The reports in israel, troops who wont serve in the west bank. Reservists who wont go there. Theres a good deal of pushback. I wouldnt say universal but some opposition to it. Some israelis know exactly what they want, they want the west bank charlie is that the majority . No. But the west bank is the israel of the bible. Its not tel aviv. Tel aviv is something new under the sun. Tel aviv is miami beach. Doesnt matter. The west bank of the bible is jericho, hebron, jerusalem, thats the heartland, thats the spiritual center. Very orthodox, religious people want the west bank. Extreme nationalists want the west bank. The rest of the israelis are sort of caught in between, they dont know what the do. If i lived in israel, i would say, lets get out of the west bank. But its easier to say on a daytoday basis lets do nothing because, when they got out overgaza, what they got by way of thank you was rockets. Charlie do you think the Israeli Government would get out of west bank if they believed they were secure within the 67 boundaries . Give or take . Yeah. Charlie if they were confident and convinced of their own security yes. Charlie they dont want to occupy the west bank. Yes, i firmly charlie the government today, im not saying everybody in israel. No, no, no. I firmly oh, the present government . Charlie yeah. I dont know about the present government. If you say the israeli people by and large, i would say yes. The present government is a difference. Its a little bit mystery to me. I mean, Bibi Netanyahu is the son of Benzion Netanyahu who was so far to the right, very radical, but incredibly intelligent and a scholar but his politics were not mine by a long shot and he was the private secretary of zeb jabatinsky who is the representation of right wing politics in israel. Hes been dead since 1940 but lives on. Charlie what did you learn looking to the life of herzl . Herzl is a fascinating guy. Herzl is the man who sort of created secular zionism at the end of the 19th century. He is so self possessed, so sure of himself and has a vision and created something no one thought possible. He lived up the street from Sigmund Freud in vienna, and if he knew freud i believe he would have said see me every day. Herzl was a secular jew, not religious at all. He didnt want to circumstance size his son which is a sacred commandment. He felt being jewish was so oppressive. Owing up in vienna in the 19t 19th century and wanting to be a member of society, he was a talented man and a journalist. Some journalists are talented, and, yet, wherever he went, he was confronted about. This he went to cover the dreyfus trial. Charlie what happened . It created antisemitism in france and dreyfus who was an officer was framed and he was framed because he was jewish. Herzl is sitting in paris which is the most liberal city in europe, the most liberal city in the world, and you have this eruption of antisemitism and i think it set him back saying, if it happens here, it can happen anywhere. Charlie i have to go get on with my zionist plan. We have to find a refuge, a safe place for jews. Charlie what do you want people to get out of this . Youve done this research, read history, come to the conclusion that israel is good for the jews, yet at the same time there is, throughout this book at the end, real concern. Yes. Charlie about the future. Of course, im concerned. Charlie what is it that concerns you . Its still this little place in this big world surround bid a lot of hostility. Its still a place where a lot of people are leaving. You know, theres anywhere from half a million to 750,000 israelis in the United States. Now, some of them will go back, some wont. A lot wont. So israel is always in a precarious situation. Look, they just ended this thing, whatever it is in gaza. Before that, there was a thing in lebanon, and then back and forth. You never know whats going to be next. Charlie who won the gaza war . Well, i think we wont know for a while. If, in fact charlie because if the purpose was to destroy hamas, they didnt do it. No, they didnt do it. I think they knew they couldnt destroy hamas. But what they could do. Charlie destroy tunnels and materials to build rockets. Right, but hamas is a perfect example of what im talking about. When israel pulled out of gaza, it wasnt hamas that ruled it, it was fatah, right . Now its hamas. Hamas took over. Charlie because there was an election and they won. They won the election. So if the same thing happens in west bank, it goes from the Palestinian Authority to hamas, thats what scares the israelis. Its nine miles between the west bank, that border, and the sea in tel aviv, nine miles. Charlie do you think israel has taken sufficient risk to reach a Peace Agreement as they almost had with and the palestinians backed out at camp david with bill clinton, barak and Yasser Arafat . Very hard for me to judge. Charlie barak was willing to go a long way. And rabin probably would have if he had not been killed. And even sharone pulled out of the gaza strip in real life. Charlie also understood the demographics. He did. Charlie is that part of the reason you worry about the future of the demographics is ariel sharon . Yes, if israel stays in the west bank, theres 1. 7 million to 2 million palestinians in the west bank. Theres 2 million palestinians in israel. Israel is 20 palestinian. So between the two, you would have a majority in no time at all of palestinians. The only way you can control them is with force. You dont want to do that. This was not herzls dream. This is not what ben gurion wanted. Charlie theres a debate in america among American Jews about the power with of American Jews on American Foreign policy. Where do you come down on that . Well, i think, clearly, American Jews have an influence on American Foreign policy. Why not . Charlie so do american catholics. Theres a boycott of cuba and its not because i or you care about cuba so much, its because a lot of cubans in miami want it that way. Charlie thats changing, too. Everything changes. S in a legitimate impression of political desire. Theres nothing wrong with that. We all recoil when the term jewish lobby is used. Its weaker than the n. R. A. Charlie ho how does media cover what were talking about . There was a lot of criticism in the last go around in gaza about an imbalance, that it was too that it was too sympathetic to the palestinians in gaza and too harsh on israel. You cant get around this in a day and age when the picture is everything. Its a video of kids being killed, video of schools being blown up, accidentally or not, but the fact is they were blown up. You have all these this is gripping stuff. On the other side, you dont have anything comparable. So the media covers, just like local media, if it bleeds, it leads, you know, and this becomes the story. So israel, i think, you know, was not treated fairly, but was understandable to me the way it came out. Charlie its interesting when you talk about the Obama Administration to me because netanyahu and the american ambassador, whether the present, previous ambassadors, always will say that the Obama Administration, whatever the conflict is with the Prime Minister and the president , you know, that americas been very sensitive to the military security needs of israel. Yeah, absolutely. Its been that not only hasnt changed, its greater. Charlie right. Israel is it good for the jews, Richard Cohen. Good to have you here, thank you. Glad to be here. Charlie ron lauder is here, one of the billionaires to the Estee Lauder Cosmetics fortune, former ambassador to austria and president of the jewish council. President of new yorks neue galerie. The current show is egon schiele portraits, known for draftsmanship and sexually provocative subject matter. He played a role in modernism. He died at 28 of spanish flu. Pleased to have ron lauder back. Welwelcome. Thank you. Charlie everyone says you have one of the great eyes. What do you think they mean . Itits something you learn d something youre born with. They showed me ten pieces of art, and ill pick usually the best one just by chance. I may not even know the artist. And its a gift. Charlie yeah, but you started very early. I started as a teenager. At 14. I must tell you, its the most exciting thing i did, and people walk into a gallery, look over my shoulder and look for my parents, i would be walking in and asking about certain pictures, and when i started collecting egon schiele, some of the drawings were 300 to 500 and the water colors were 1,000 to 3,000, when you could find them, and today the same things are 150,000 for drawings and up to 10 million for the water colors. So its amazing. But egon schiele was one of the greatertists, i believe, of the 20th century and unfortunately died at 28, as you said. Between 1910 and 1918, those eight years, he produced a body of work that was phenomenal, and hes one of the three major austrian artists in neue galerie. He opened a show of portraits. His portraits have so much power. His selfportraits, even, full of sex and erotism, its fantastic. Charlie what was his genius . His genius was to look into a person and feel what that person felt. Charlie and express it with his hand. And express it with his hands and be able to express it with a certain power. He also had no inhibitions to show people as they were. Charlie he came under the influence of gustav . In the beginning. Some of the early paintings you can see very much influence. Then by 1910 he started to do his own thing and it was amazing. Those pictures of 1910 with the red bodies and the people with contorted arms, its truly amazing. Charlie and the curator of this is alexandra comini . Yes. She is spectacular. The whole staff of the neue galerie is very special, particularly director reneee price, and together they put together the show which the first night they opened, i think there was a threehour wait to get in, and its because egon schiele is such a unique artist. Charlie hes unique because of what . First of all, when he did this work in 1910, no one has done that kind of work, and he showed people in a crude, strong way. At the same time, he can show women in a soft way, butteth a juxtaposition of the two Different Things. Charlie he grew up as photography was just becoming widely used. Yeah. Charlie did it influence him . I dont know how much it influenced him. He did all his pictures, obviously, with a nude in front of him or the person standing right in front of him. But photography in austria, at that time, was just starting, and it was a whole movement. Interesting enough, schiele did not necessarily have that much money, initially, so he would get different models wherever he could find them. Unfortunately, in 1912, because he had used models of younger girls than 16 and younger, he was put into jail. Charlie put in prison. Put in prison for a short period of time. Charlie and one of the rooms in the exhibit was dedicated to that time. Whats interesting is the work he did in prison was, again, very, very powerful. Charlie so prison impacted him . Very much so. He also was in world war i and you can see some of the drawings he had of russian soldiers he captured, and the basic things of the war, just pictures, again, have a certain power to them. These are only on portraits, but his portraits were the most important thing he did. Charlie how was he influenced by the following things vienna. An explosion of architecture, art, music, everything happening at the turn of the century, and artists were able to express themselves in a strong way. You have artist after artist, and one left unknown because he committed suicide early, but it was an explosion and color was Something Interesting because they use very much influence. I think by the french, the reds, the greens, the blues, and he was able to take a persons face and paint all the colors and it was unbelievable. Feel the angst and the emotion. Charlie vienna was the city of mala and freud. Yes. Charlie did they influence him . Im sure they did. It was all together. In the case of vienna at that time, you had the writers writing about sex. Sex played a critical role, obviously, in freud. Malan less so, but the whole musician impression was amazing. Charlie one of the rooms is about his erotic works. Yes. Charlie where did that come from . The fact he wanted to break all the barriers. He did selfportraits of himself naked a lot, and very often he showed important people naked from the wasteup, and you could see them with their hands like this. Amazing. Charlie when did you buy your first piece . When i was 14. Charlie is that right . Yeah. Charlie just attractive to you the idea of what happened is when i was 13 1 2 i went into a book store on lexington avenue called e. Y. , and i was looking for a tract i was interested in at that time and i saw egon schiele and i took the book out and started looking through it. I realized this person was very special. But at that time, nobody had schiele. They didnt know him. Most were in private collections. All of a sudden, i found, finally, one schiele drawing, and i paid 600 for it. In fact, years later when i sold it or traded it, ended up in one of the great collections in vienna, fantastic. But my family looked at me and said, our son must be crazy what is he buying these pictures for . Charlie have you wanted to paint . I did paint. Charlie you did . Yes. Charlie did you stop or still paint . I stopped. Charlie why . Because you knew too much . Frankly, i could never compete. I knew too much, right, and also, in order to paint, i believe for any artist, you have to have a certain fire in your stomach, and i had more of a fire in my stomach to buy great art than i did charlie and you were consumed by politics and business and other things as well. Business came later. Politics came sooner. Charlie all right. Let me take a look at some of these. Weve got some we want to show you and well come back to more about the artist. The first image is a portrait of gerte schiele. 1909. Yes. Charlie heavily influenced by adelle bower. You can see the influence of gustav clint particularly around the waist and the bottom, multicolored, but, yet, at the same time, schiele was starting to become his own person, and the use of the hand, you can just see a little bit of it there, shows the his own influence, and using the black around the back to make it stand out, you can see how special it was. Charlie okay, the next one is a portrait of dr. Irwin van grof, 1910. He was a gynecologist and, frankly, this picture usually hangs in my home in the sense that its a powerful picture. You can see his hands, his red face, almost, and the angst there. Charlie it is said he painted this in return for an abortion for one of his many mistresses. I think the information is very well informed. This is a picture, again. This is the story, were not sure if its true or not, but sounds good. Charlie the next one is a selfportrait with arm twisted above head. 1910. Many of the selfportraits. You can see he was very inhibited, very shy, didnt want to really get out there and be in society. But here he is, hes naked, and with his hand behind his head. Look at the pose. The pose is so unique, especially for that time. And people didnt do portraits like that. Charlie he was breaking new ground. Breaking new ground. Charlie even one of masturbation . Yes. He did all kinds of things. One of the things we have in my gallery is limited to who can come in, its one of the few museums you have to be over a certain age. Charlie next is wally in a red blouse, 1913, a portrait of one of his many serious lovers. And now hes getting hes changing slightly. Hes getting away from the 1910 sort of powerful pictures, but hes much more subtle now. But yet it has the same sexual part of it, and were not sure, we think she was literally lying on the floor with her legs up like this charlie yes. And he used this piece more and more, but its very you can just feel the slight eroticism in the face. Heres a painting that was never shown in the United States. You can see the use of colors. Also heres a portrait where hes gotten softer, but yet the way the portrait is done is so unique because of the way the dress looks. Charlie love the colors. Fantastic. Charlie the family is in 1918. This is the year he died. His wife and unborn child. His wife was six months pregnant and she died and he died a few days later. Charlie all of the spanish flu . Yes. The time he was started to be recognized. Charlie 28 years old. 28 years old. Again, hes changing his style a little bit. Hes become more sensitive in a different way but still has the eroticism of his wife naked in front of him. Charlie you paid 135 million for an adelle bower. For the galerie, its a mona lisa, the most special painting we have in the gallery. Charlie the most special painting you have, ever . In the neue galerie. Charlie yes. And the fact is that is a landmark piece by a great artist Christopher Quinn at the height of his time and theres almost nothing like it. Charlie when you say that, what is it you think you see when you say, this is the best of all of the things, this one is the best . Again, look at his work, and you say i always felt people have three categories, oh, oh my, and oh my god. This is oh my god. Charlie yes. And you feel he had a relationship and it took him four years to do the picture, so he must have had a fouryear relationship. Its probably one of the most powerful pieces. When the nazis came in, they seized it and it stood in the belvedere for 50, 60 years, and because the austrians lost, finally, and maria altman, who is the niece of the family, finally got it out and went first to california, then came to neue galerie. Charlie you had something to do with that, didnt you . I did, i was way in the back. Charlie one of your concerns has been the restitution of art plundered and stolen by the nazis. What happened is the germans, first of all, when they took art, especially great art, kept very good records, and then the art sort of disappeared into museums and different places. And museums, when they have these things, are very reluctant to open their files and perhaps lose their key pieces. So what happens is a fight. We were pretty much stea stalemd in germany until a few years ago an art dealer for jewish stolen property charlie for jewish stolen property. Yes, he did other things but this was the main thing, and, at the some reason, at the end of the war, it was he was stuck with whatever was left. And then his son took over, and when his son because of taxes, somehow they found through this whole cache of paintings and drawings and prints, people have estimated it as much as 1 billion. Charlie all in one location . All in one location. Really two. Charlie and none on the walls. None on the walls, hidden away. It was really two locations, but the major one was in munich, and there was a whole case i commissioned going through piece by piece to see which were stolen and which were not. But then, at the same time, the German Government reacted and theyre putting together a commission to go into the various museums and look and see what was purchased during the 1938 to 45, and the fact is we dont know whats in german museums. We have a good idea theres enough art in there. But many of the museums, particularly the smaller ones, dont want anyone to come in. And this commission is going to investigate each one. We have all the record. Very often, some of these paintings were put not in museums but in various walls of different agencies, feel that no ones going to walk in there and see it, but its a pains taking task, but i believe well accomplish it. Its in all countries in europe. Charlie this is the book for the exhibit now on at the tbearneue galerie, how long wilt be there . Until january. I think its going to be bu onef the most popular shows. On the back, you see another portrait of him and again its the power of what hes talking about. Charlie whats interesting is youre head of the world jewish council. Congress. Charlie congress. And you have a long history in Eastern Europe Win Investments and also israel. So theres a lot to talk about in another visit but i just wanted the catch up on this art. Thank you. Thank you. Please see the show as soon as you can. Well put you at the front of the line. Charlie tory burch is here, the c. E. O. And designer of tory burch, a fashion and Lifestyle Company valued at more than 3 billion ant present in over 50 countries. President obama named her an ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship earlier this year. She seeks to increase Small Businesses globally. Tory burch in color is her first book, a coffee table volume, and here is the trailer pore the foe book. Charlie living, you said, in full color is the guiding principle from the way i raise my children to the way i approach my work. Explain what that means. Thinking about color in general, our company has so much color all around. My parents taught me to embrace new, creative thinking. Thats something we did, accept all kinds of people, use our imagination, and that really ties into the visual use of color. Charlie you have eleven colors including orange, blue, purposing, pink, yellow, white, black, natural and gold. Any reason for the colors or colors omitted that were a runner up . Some definitely were a given. I worked with our fung shway mast tore pick the best colors and put them in his order as well. Charlie whats the reason for the success of your company, do you think . You know, i think, in the beginning, we reached we entered the market and there was a wide space and it was a simple idea for me designing things i love that didnt cost a fortune. I think when we realized the impact that had, we saw the space was quite large. This area between contemporary and designer, that was open. Charlie between contemporary and designer . Yeah. Charlie whats that area . We were considered contemporary but designer is much more expensive. Charlie you found a way to give designer input. Designer feel. Charlie what do we need to empower more women . Well, starting with men, we need to make men part of the conversation. I have three boys. I know you support womens issues. I think its super important. It should be about the quality of the work, not the gender. Charlie what has been the hardest thing in terms of your own journey . Gaining confidence to really believe in myself was a big one. The first article written on our company, a friend called and said it was great but you shied away from the word ambition. She was absolutely right. I was kind of mad at myself because i was raised with three brothers, not knowing there was a difference in what we could do. Our parents made us believe we could do anything. And when i looked at the article and myself, i was timid when facing that word and i would love to change it. Charlie anna writes about you, who wouldnt want to be tory burch . Shes truly a sensational businesswoman. Does that part surprise you or was that the easiest part of it . No, it surprises me. The whole company surprises me. I set out to do a little store in an off the way street in downtown new york, and five years three stores, possibly, was the Business Plan. But i had big hopes and aspirations. When i tried to raise money and said i wanted to start a Global Lifestyle brand, i had no idea. Charlie when you say that, you think landfall lauren. Yeah, but i knew i wanted to start a foundation and be part of the Business Plan and i thought global because women with inspire me, not just american women. Charlie were there moments after you had the first store you thought, this is not going to work . Many moments. Charlie yeah. We were on a great trajectory of growth in the first few years and that was exciting and the pace was fast. I had three little boys. A lot of balls up in the air, so a lot of figuring out, and clear obstacles in the last ten years. Many times. Charlie the conflict a conflict, a divorce, all these Different Things. That said. Charlie is that behind you . Totally behind me and everyone. What i learn is when i face conflicts i get more focused and i dont shy away. I face it and get stronger. I had to be a pillar for my company and my family. Charlie did it leave scars . Take a toll . I dont think so. I think im an optimist at the end of the day and trying to make the best of every situation. That said, it was tough going through it. Charlie it was in the papers. It was in the papers. I was worried about protecting my three sons and stepdaughters and everything around us, so it was tough. Charlie that is the dream changed . Not at all. I often said, i was with an entrepreneur event last week, and i said if youre not dreaming big enough to scare you, youre not dreaming big enough. I feel i have big dreams. Charlie your reach should exceed your grasp . Yes, i guess thats true. I want to have impact with women and helping women. Ive always wanted to help people, i thought it would be women and children. I realized if we can help women help themselves, its not a charity. Charlie how do you do that globally . Starting with the foundation in the u. S. And expanding it, its important. Charlie what are you doing on the ground in asia . We are building our business over there so we have high hopes and charlie and are their tastes different than, say, the tastes in the United States, or is exciting exciting, is pretty pretty . Yes, we design Different Things for different markets. That said, the best sellers are the best sellers across the board and similar. Charlie its interesting, because whether asia, africa, europe, latin america or the northern hemisphere, the best sellers will sell everywhere. In the end its about the product. Charlie yeah. And tell me what your role is today. I mean, is it to be the c. E. O. And run the company or do you have because its who you are, a closeness to design . So i, for the last ten years, have been the designer and c. E. O. , and thats been very different for our industry. Its usually one or the other. I do have that leftright side of the brain but i love both and i learn on the job. I surround myself with excellent people who have a lot of skills and i love the design but i also love the business. About a month ago, i made an announcement and hired a coc. E. O. Charlie because you want to focus on what . It wasnt because i was looking to fill the role. It was because of the person, a gentleman roger ferra who i admired from afar and made a call and said, can we have breakfast . Turns out he just told the place he had been at the last ten years he was leaving. Charlie what i love about this story is until you call, you never know. No. Charlie so youre still very, very young. Will there be a time in which you want to say, you know, i created this company, this Company Grows of its own . Its hard. My passion is really tied into this company. Beyond that, its my family, curiosity, helping things in the world, helping different kinds of people, entrepreneurs who are women, just getting involved and trying to make a difference, but the company is such a passion. I cant really see beyond that. Charlie when will you design things for men . Soon . No, one day. We never got to the thing we talked about designing, the bathing suit. Charlie right, exactly. But when you think about the light that you have, is there something missing at all . I work very hard, but that said, i also love enjoying vacation a lot. For me, its finding the balance. As we go, i dont really have a set plan. For me, its just more of the same until we find new ways of doing it. Always evolving, the Company Always learning myself and pushing in new directions, unexpected ones. So it to me, theres not really a set plan in place. Charlie and when the idea of the design comes together, i mean, is it tory or is it tory overseeing a group of people and selecting whatever the best ideas that perk late up from all of them . I would say its both. I mean, for sure, im involved in setting the ideas, and then once i and i give inspiration. Im involved in everything i make, i approve. I feel fortunate to be working with such a great group of thinkers. Charlie did you once say i want to create a nonbitchy Fashion Company . Yes. Charlie whats that . Its about being straightforward, knowing where people stand, supporting people, having an environment that respects great work but is also a great place to be. Charlie culture is important. Culculture is everything. Charlie creating a place that maximizes a contribution people who are part of the enterprise make. If you have happy people, they do their best work. Its pretty simplistic. Charlie how do you do that . Its a lot of work. Its a trickledown effect. We talk about it a lot. We do culture surveys. We listen to what people are writing and saying. Its not easy. We definitely have work to do and always will. That said, we haue 80 of participation in the culture surveys, so we havent engaged maybe out of 2500 employees, maybe 80 participate in the survey. Charlie eric schmidt said about you from google, there are always limitations when you have an iconic founder, limitations of time and other thingsers and he said theres only one tory. I assume the idea as you expand is making sure you have key people. Yes. Charlie it becomes almost a necessity. Charlie necessity and imperative. Yes, and we have key people before we hired roger, we have an incredible team. And also we are growing. When you become a differentsize company, different complexities happen. We want to be prepared. Charlie great to have you at the table. Thank you, charley. Charlie the book, tory burch in color. As someone who loves color, youll see a lot of it here. Charlie for more about this program and earlier episodes visit us online at pbs. Org and charlierose. Com. Captioning sponsored by Rose Communications captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org what if i told you that you could change your life in just 10 days . 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