Fashion designer talk all business

Entrepreneurship is a difficult business. Don’t believe it? Well, just ask Alexander Julian, fashion designer and UNC alumnus.

University students got that opportunity Thursday as the Chapel Hill native returned to deliver a lecture about the subject.

Julian spoke to an introductory entrepreneurship class at 2 p.m. in the Student Union.

“He’s been a great entrepreneur and has been for over 30 years,” said Buck Goldstein, the class professor and entrepreneur in residence for the Carolina Entrepreneurship Initiative.

Julian spoke about the successes and failures of his career.

“Buck really encouraged me to be honest about failures,” Julian said. “Failures are a weigh station on the road to success.”

Julian is the designer of the current UNC basketball uniforms and plays tailor for Roy Williams – providing the coach’s sideline wardrobe. He also earned a Distinguished Alumni Award in 1989.

“I was raised literally in the confines of a little store,” he said of his childhood time spent in his parents’ clothing store -Julian’s – which still is located on Franklin Street.

“I was born and raised in Chapel Hill,” he said. “I was a townie.”

He advised students not to be naive in the business world.

“I went to New York thinking everyone was going to be friendlier,” he said, telling his audience about how he ventured to the city to break into the fashion business.

“It’s a tougher world than you realize.”

He told students to be wary of business partners, noting three men – with whom he started a clothing line – who soon began to use drugs and embezzle money.

“He had a bowl of coke on his desk, and a Bowie knife and a magnum and a cross bow,” he said, describing one of his partners. He would shoot an arrow at a picture of James Dean whenever he fired someone, Julian said.

He warned the class not to make the same mistakes and to pay attention to the balance sheets.

“I really appreciated his frankness,” said Matt Hendren, a junior economics major.

Julian also encouraged the students to be creative.

“The way to teach creativity to kids is exactly the same as you do for adults, except kids listen,” he said.

He called his technique “E- squared,” which stands for exposure times empowerment.

“You have to expose them to different kinds of thinking. . You have to make someone self-confident enough. That’s where you get creativity.”

Julian encouraged students to follow the path that fits them best.

“You have to answer your calling . even if it’s risky as hell,” he said.

“The harder you work the luckier you get,” he said in closing before receiving a standing ovation.

After his lecture, Julian said he thought it was important to give students an idea of the “real life gratification” that can happen in business.

The decision to speak at UNC was an easy one, Julian said.

“It’s a great kick to come back, to have any chance,” he said. “I breathe easier when I’m back”

“The women just keep getting better and better looking.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.