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How to Make a Scene Ace Hotel founder Alex Calderwood did it by transforming his company into a lifestyle brand. Meet the man who set a new industry standard with the 'it' hotel.

By Jennifer Wang

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Alex Calderwood

The Ace Hotel brand is so cool, it even has its own special-edition Converse high tops. Alex Calderwood, co-founder and creative mastermind behind the industry's hippest hotel properties, is showing off a pair to his business partners, Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick, in the airy, stripped-down lobby of the Seattle Ace.

Once the kicks go on sale next month--$100 for the midnight blue two-toned, gummy-soled style, with only a few hundred pairs available exclusively at the hotel's shops--Calderwood will join a short list of people deemed cool enough for the privilege, like designer John Varvatos and Outkast rapper Big Boi. This is rock-star status, without the rock star.

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