Chances are you’ve worn his work: Gap, Old Navy, J.Crew, Madewell, and Alex Mill. Meet the builder behind those brands. The Gromek Institute for Fashion Business at Parsons hosts a fireside chat with Mickey Drexler, retail’s definitive merchant, moderated by Tim Ceci, veteran fashion retail executive and Parsons faculty.
Born and raised in the Bronx, Drexler brings a scrappy, straight-talking point of view shaped by real store-floor experience, a reminder that big ideas often start small.
Built for emerging talent, this conversation pulls back the curtain on how fashion really works, where creativity meets merchandising, product gets made and remade, and customer insight drives assortment, pricing, store experience, and digital. Expect inside stories from Drexler’s run at Gap Inc. (CEO 1995–2002): launching Old Navy and GapKids, repositioning Banana Republic upmarket, and helping grow company revenue from under $500 million in the early 1980s to roughly $14 billion by 2000 as the portfolio expanded to Gap, GapKids, babyGap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy (plus outlet formats). We’ll also cover his J.Crew partnership with Jenna Lyons and why he now champions timeless essentials at Alex Mill, the brand founded by his son where Drexler later took the helm.
With four decades in retail, Tim Ceci has led teams in the U.S. and Europe across merchandising, operations, and client strategy at Banana Republic, Gap Inc., Barneys New York, Saks, Nordstrom, Céline, and Goyard, building brands, turning around businesses, and developing talent. As an educator and mentor at Parsons, he’s known for translating shop floor to boardroom lessons into practical guidance for students and early-career professionals.
Expect sales-floor stories, honest lessons on building culture and teams, and the advice Drexler is known for: be curious, be a detective, and do better tomorrow than you did today. Bring questions, leave with playbook-ready takeaways for your next studio critique, internship, or first role.
Tim Ceci is a senior executive and advisor with over 30 years of leadership in luxury retail, arts, and culture. He has held roles at Goyard, Celine, Barneys, Nordstrom, and Saks, known for optimizing operations and building strong teams. Tim also teaches at Parsons and advises emerging fashion and nonprofit organizations.
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Millard Drexler is currently an investor and advisor to Alex Mill — a new brand creating timeless, well-made and well-priced pieces that last a lifetime.
Previously, he served as Chairman and CEO of J.Crew Group, where he grew it into a leading specialty fashion brand and founded Madewell.
Prior to that, Mickey spent eighteen years at Gap, Corp. While there, the company grew from $400 million to $14 billion dollars in sales. During his tenure, Mickey founded Old Navy, which he named after a bar on Rue St. Germain in Paris on his way to the airport, and started Gap Kids.Â
Early in his career, after getting his start in the department store business, he joined Ann Taylor as CEO in 1980, where he spent 4 years building and repositioning the company.
Mickey also served as a director and investor in Warby Parker until 2020 and was a Director of Apple Inc. from 1999 to 2015. He has since launched his own investing company Drexler Ventures, LLC.
An expert in schmoozing and intuition, he is known to be a notorious kibitzer to businesses and entrepreneurs.
Tim Ceci is a Senior Retail, Arts, and Culture Executive, Corporate Advisor, and Board. Member. Tim is a solutions-oriented executive who enjoys finding resolutions to complex business challenges, utilizing his expertise, which stems from over 30 years of leadership experience, enabling organizations to achieve their objectives.
Well-known for accomplishing business benchmarks and beyond in international markets, especially in Europe and the United States, Tim attributes his success to a formula that he has perfected over many years, which is to build superior teams, optimize operations, cultivate strong work cultures, to tailor brand-defining merchandise, and creating the best possible customer experiences.
Most recently, Tim worked with Goyard, the French luxury house, as Managing Director of U.S. Operations. Working across the nation, he contributed his expertise in stakeholder relationships and utilized his personalized approach to expand the visibility and network of signature boutiques, which are viewed as one of the most coveted luxury brands in the world.
Prior to Goyard, Tim was a Managing Director at Hall des Lumiéres; Tim introduced the European organization to North America, establishing operations for Manhattan’s largest permanent immersive and interactive cultural and arts center. Throughout his career, Tim has built a reputation as a Corporate Executive Leader and Luxury Fashion Expert, steering the course of premier retail brands and redefining the luxury retail landscape at Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Celine (LVMH), Barneys New York, Gap International, Banana Republic, Pier 1, Nike, and National Geographic.
Tim also shares his expertise as an educator at Parsons at the New School, as a presenter at international conferences, and as an advisory board member to emerging fashion and non-profit organizations. He resides in New York and is an avid runner of the New York City Marathon.
