Art Of The Deal: Bon Business

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It seems as if a lot of people have been taking a new look at the company, which finally broke into the New York City fashion crowd in 2002, years after its first runway show there in 1996. "Our product had changed," says Azria. "Our collection was much more deep and really meant something." Still, says BCBG president Ben Malka, it wasn't easy. "There was a certain stigma that Max broke. He said, 'We're here to serve consumers, not egos,' and he designed a product that was salable and had a fluid, sophisticated sexiness, a point of view. Everyone said he was crazy, but he went up there and fought his way in like a pit bull, and here we are today." Where they are, says Marc Cooper, managing director at investment bank Peter J. Solomon Company, is in the right place at the right time with the right product. "It's rare for any company to be as successful as Max is. As of late, his broader business team has coalesced, and that has contributed to his success."

This year alone BCBG opened stores in New York City (where there will be five by the end of the year); Indianapolis, Ind.; Charlotte, N.C.; Bordeaux, France; Valencia, Spain; and Athens, among other cities. Still to come: Albuquerque, N.M.; Woodland, Texas; Wailea, Hawaii; the Virgin Islands; Lisbon; Brussels; and more. "The world map looks smaller than ever before. In 2007 Europe will be very big. We're accelerating that, based on my acquisition of strategic brands," says Azria, referring to designer retailers Alain Manoukian and Don Algodôn and French couturier Hervé Léger. "We're fantastic in Asia because China is booming and that market has known and liked me for 15 years. Japan is unbelievable. Canada is as good as the U.S."

Born in Tunisia, Azria grew up in Paris, one of six children of an olive-oil producer and a homemaker. As a teenager he sold sugared-almond candy on the street and stumbled upon his interest in fashion only "by accident" at the age of 16 when he was hired as an apprentice to "an old man in the business" (he's vague on the details). After studying classics in college, he designed and ran a womenswear line for 11 years. "It was very junior and very technical," he says. "I learned the business there—production, manufacturing, development." In 1981 he moved to the U.S. "for the California sun" and launched Jess, a successful French fashion retail chain. Eight years later, eager to do more than ready-to-wear, he started BCBG. "I decided to combine my two paths and challenge the leadership of the designer of the moment," says Azria. "When I entered the market, I was rejected because the élite say that you have to sell things at a certain price point. My position was that the consumer is smarter than that. Who cares if it's $200, not $2,000?"