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Revson's pioneering was so successful that by 1935 Brother Martin joined the business. But Charlie Revson was and is the boss and the brains of the company. His obsession is finding a theme for every product before he begins manufacturing it, then keying everything, from factory through advertising to the counter, to a single appealing idea. "Theme," he says, "is my religion." A recent theme: Colors Unlimited, a collection of "fabuluscious" colors. He popularized the idea of matching lipstick and fingernail enamel, revolutionized the single-lipstick habit of U.S. women by playing up their changing moods, created glamorous and exotic names to entice women to buy. Not content with this, Revson has moved into proprietary drugs, men's hairdressing, shoe polish, now sells his products in 79 countries.
CHARLIE REVSON'S drive and aggressiveness have won him more enemies than he can count. Says a major competitor: "He is the lowest character I know." Brother Joe left Revlon in 1955. Martin departed last year. But Revson is as calm as the eye of a hurricane about the controversy that whirls about him. The owner of close to 30% of Revlon's stock, worth about $40 million, he lives a life of calculated elegance. He "themed" his five-room apartment in Manhattan's Hotel Pierre in gold and white, "so that I could wake up even on the grimmest days and have the world be bright and quiet." His Dutch-born wife, Johanna, and his two children, John Charles, 16, and Charles H., 13, live on a ten-acre estate in Rye, N.Y. Revson usually sees them only on weekends, rides between dwellings in an air-conditioned Cadillac with airplane-like reading lights. He golfs some, has taken up sailing.
But the chief and overpowering theme of Charlie Revson's life is his work. Says he: "My duty is to counsel, advise and state unequivocally: this is what we have to do to stay ahead."