(Closer to home, he specified the placement of each red, black, and white linoleum tile in his office.) That's not just a personality quirk, says Rose Apodaca Jones, L.A. For the privilege of selling his clothes, retailers must agree to Frank's display specifications: all merchandise must be presented on sky-blue, orange, and white fixtures-everything from shelves to eyewear cases and nesting tables-that he provides. "We're turning down tremendous offers for the promise of brand longevity."Īnd then there's another reason: Frank, the firm's creative director, is a control freak. "With that much instant exposure, Paul Frank could shoot straight up and then straight down," says CEO John Oswald, 36. Wary of glutting the market with Julius merchandise, Frank did not follow up on opportunities to design Julius coffee mugs for Starbucks, create Julius stationery for Staples, or develop a line of Julius clothing for Target. It's startling, then, to think how much money Frank could have made had he not turned down so many deals. Altogether, mascot-bearing goods-the purses and bathing suits and underwear-were responsible for about 50% of Paul Frank's $37 million in sales last year. Last year T-shirts featuring Julius's likeness-and to a lesser extent those of other Frank characters such as Scurvy the skeleton and Clancy the giraffe-brought in about $6.5 million in revenue to the private, profitable company. Without a doubt, this mod, candy-colored, shag-carpeted building is the house that Julius built. The three guitars in the 600-square-foot Jam Room-complete with soundproofing, a drum set, and a digital-recording device-sport Julius's face as well. Special-edition Julius surfboards and skateboards hang from the hallway walls. A four-foot-tall vinyl Julius statue greets visitors at the top of a staircase.
No matter where I walk through Paul Frank Industries' headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif., I can feel Julius's eyes on me. "I don't want to be like that-over fast." Now he faces the kind of challenge that only the most privileged firms ever tackle: Can his company survive such rapid, widespread acceptance? To avoid the pitfalls of faddishness that dragged down casual-apparel companies such as Joe Boxer and Ocean Pacific, Frank and his business partners have adopted a philosophy of slow, patient growth, careful partner picking, and creative diversification. "I wanted to make things that the mainstream didn't like."īy that measure-and only by that measure-Frank has failed.
"It's, like, ironic or something," Frank says.
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