Morris Tbeile keeps a low profile — and that’s just the way he likes it.

Tbeile, the chairman and chief executive officer of Premier Brands Group Holdings, controls a number of well-known apparel and jewelry brands including One Jeanswear Group. But he refers to himself as “the wizard behind the curtain.” Instead of promoting himself, he prefers to let the executives who run each division be the faces of those businesses.

“The focus for me is on the CEOs that run these businesses day-to-day, and the people that do the work to get this wonderful product out to the consumer,” he said. “That’s all that matters.”

He continued: “I believe wholeheartedly that success comes from how you treat others, and I think that putting the focus on the people that really deserve it is what highlights what we are as a business. My core value is promoting not only the consumer, but the people who work here. They’re the ones that do the hard work, and they deserve the recognition.”

The one-time CEO of Mudd Jeans has been at the helm of Premier Brands Group for the past five years. The business was formerly known as Nine West Holdings and emerged from bankruptcy in 2019 under the ownership of its former and current lenders, including Brigade Capital and Mudrick Capital, according to Moody’s, which recently upgraded the company.

Its primary business is as a designer, wholesaler and licensor of denim, women’s apparel and jewelry under the Gloria Vanderbilt, Kasper and Napier names, respectively. But it also has licenses for Anne Klein, Jones New York, Jessica Simpson, Nine West and others.

Tbeile has been in the apparel industry for more than 25 years and since his days at Mudd back in 2005, he has watched closely how One Jeanswear’s chief Jack Gross has grown the company.

“When I was CEO at Mudd, there were only a couple of competitors that were real national brands, whether it be Levi’s, Lee, Wrangler or Gloria Vanderbilt. And there were only a very narrow number of people that made an impression on me. But any time I walked into a retailer, Jack’s name was always mentioned, not only as my competitor, but someone they looked up to for what he accomplished over the years.”

Although the Gloria Vanderbilt brand had a bit of a “rocky” history with its ownership changes, Tbeile said, Gross still managed to “create a legacy for this brand.”

The Amanda jean, in particular — Gloria Vanderbilt’s signature and most popular silhouette — has grown into a franchise, he believes. “It’s synonymous with Gloria Vanderbilt and what this team created — Jack being a big piece of that,” he said. “To me, the Amanda franchise embodies what Gloria has become [over the past 49 years]. This is not a brand that’s transitory. This is part of the American landscape. Women who are mothers, who are grandmothers, have worn this brand for their lifetime, and now they’re having their children come into it and wear it too.”

So upon Gross’ retirement, Tbeile wants to ensure that legacy continues, both for the customer and the One Jeanswear Group.

“What do we do this for — that’s what we think about every day. We do this for the consumer. Jack’s whole life revolved around making a pair of jeans that fit a woman right, made her feel comfortable,” he said. “We put life to a brand. We put a face to what might have been a very different brand 10 years ago. But this is our legacy and it’ll last forever. There are not many brands that can do that, and I give credit to Jack’s vision, and more importantly, to his leadership in creating the team that understood that this was the most important part of what we do every day.”

Although One Jeanswear has a large portfolio of labels, including one for Sofia Vergara, Tbeile said Gloria Vanderbilt remains “the anchor” of the business. “Everything revolves around this franchise.”

He marveled at the fact that the label is able to be successful in a wide range of distribution channels, whether that’s a traditional department store such as Macy’s, mid-tier department stores like Kohl’s or JCPenney, mass merchants such as Walmart and club retailers such as Costco.

He attributed that phenomenon to the popularity of the brand as well as the ability of competing denim brands such as Levi’s, Lee and Wrangler to also sell a wide range of retailers. “We all live in the same ecosystem,” he said.

And the consumer has proven her loyalty to the Gloria Vanderbilt brand over the years. “We have the data behind it, but when a woman puts on a pair of jeans and they fit her, she knows she can go back to it anytime and they’ll continue to fit her,” he said. “That something we’ve created here at One Jeanswear.”

The other important franchise for One Jeanswear is the Jessica Simpson collection, which targets a different, younger demographic.

“Women are all shapes and sizes,” he said. “What we want to make sure is that we’re addressing every one of them, and that’s something [One Jeanswear] and Jack have been able to do magnificently over the years.”

But with Gross’ retirement, a decision had to be made on a successor who could maintain the momentum of the business and work to grow the company even more in the future.

“Succession planning is something that every business has to be cognizant of,” Tbeile said. “Our responsibility is to our employees, and as times change, we have to plan for the future. When Jack and I sat and talked about this, we looked for somebody who shared our core values and had the same mindset. We wanted to make sure that that person understood the legacy that we’ve built and saw the opportunity to build that with the new technology that’s out there.”

The person they decided on was Chris Waldeck, a former top executive at Kontoor Brands, parent of Wrangler and Lee, who quietly started on Oct. 6 and is in the process of relocating from Greensboro, N.C., to New York.

“The reason we believed he was the right match is that Chris knew the business intimately, because he was our biggest competitor with Lee and Wrangler,” Tbeile said. “Who better than the person who always chased your tail?”

Although Waldeck is still getting the lay of the land, there are certain clear opportunities — notably building direct-to-consumer for the brands and expanding their footprint in men’s.

“The market’s changing, but the consumer is still shopping,” Tbeile said. “It’s just where they’re shopping and how you’re reaching them. So I think the biggest opportunity is to continue looking at where she’s shopping and how we make sure to connect with her.”

Creating e-commerce sites for the brands will also allow One Jeanswear to ultimately have a stronger connection with its customers. “The one thing direct-to-consumer allows you to do is speak with your consumer. And that’s something that is a top priority as we move the business forward,” he said.

Men’s, which represents a small part of the One Jeanswear business, is also a key area for growth. “We believe that as we grow the businesses, you’ll find men’s is going to become more important to us,” he said.

Expanding to other womenswear categories will also be part of the future for One Jeanswear. “Another piece that you’ll see is creating a lifestyle for the woman with ancillary categories,” Tbeile said.

Although One Jeanswear is top-of-mind right now with the change in leadership, Tbeile still has to ensure all three of Premier’s divisions are running smoothly.

“I look at the business in its totality, and we’ve got a number of different businesses that are growing,” he said, “between the Kasper Group, the Jewelry Group as well as One Jeanswear Group. It’s my job to make sure there’s a vision that the CEOs and everyone else can execute. They have to believe in the strategy because they’re accountable for it.”

That strategy revolves around two key components, he detailed. “Number one is great product will always sell. Give the consumer the right price-value relationship — with quality — and she will come back. You can’t go wrong if you always put the consumers’ needs first,” Tbeile said. “I stand by that in everything that we do across the entire portfolio, which is the reason for our success. And I have a great team that I lean on.”

Does Tbeile envision Premier Brands adding other companies to its portfolio in the future? Well…maybe.

“We’re at a very interesting time in this industry,” Tbeile said. “We’re seeing a tremendous number of opportunities. The key for me is the right opportunity. We sign licenses all the time — those are easy, if the brands fit with what we do, if their value fits with what we do, and if their consumer is our consumer.”

But he knows that with the consolidation within the industry and the everchanging tariff situation, it’s the larger companies that have the best chance of navigating the waters. So Tbeile didn’t rule out buying other businesses to add to the fold.

“We’re looking outside the box,” he said. “Many things have come to us, but it’s got to be right. If it’s something that fits within my strategy, I’m happy to look at it, and you’ll see in the coming year, some very interesting growth opportunities for Premier. We’ve got a lot on the agenda.”