Nasty Gal founder Sophia Amoruso was 22 years old when she launched her company ‘Nasty Gal Vintage’ on eBay in 2006. She turned to eBay when her receptionist job at a San Francisco art school was not paying the bills.
Running the online business solo from her apartment, she sold curated assortments of vintage clothing online.
Sophia’s personal rebellious edge mixed with her thrift finds led her to building a strong following organically on MySpace and eBay.
Nasty ... Website
In 2008, Sophia launched the website ‘shopnastygal.com’. Eventually she was able to purchase the domain ‘nastygal.com’ from a pornography company.
Inventory sold out completely on the first day of her official website’s launch and attracted the attention of celebrities.
The Nasty Empire
During 2009 and 2012, Nasty Gal had 200 employees. Their presence on social media platforms such as Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter attracted customers to nastygal.com.
By the early 2010s, Nasty Gal was recognized as one of the fastest growing online fashion retailers.
By 2012, Nasty Gal reported revenues of over $100 million. The same year Sophia was recognized by Forbes ‘30 Under 30’ in the Art & Style category.
Behind the Nasty Operations
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Sophia bought clothes from thrift stores and estate sales and re-sold them online.
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She photographed models she found on MySpace in her styled vintage pieces.
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She would then upload and caption her clothing assortments to Nasty Gal’s eBay or website.
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Sophia strategically invited her audience to name her vintage finds in return for Nasty Gal gift cards.
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Sophia also shipped customer orders herself, operating the entire business on her own.
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The clothing’s style and edge was based on her personal style.
#GIRLBOSS
The publishing of Amoruso’s autobiography #GIRLBOSS in 2014 turned her into a successful millenial entrepreneur symbol and a New York Times best-selling author.
Three years later, the book’s success inspired the Netflix series #GIRLBOSS.
Today, Sophia Amoruso still serves as an icon to female founders through her business success.
The Fall of Nasty Gal
In 2016, Nasty Gal’s business took an unexpected turn and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The main cause of this was hyper-growth and over-expansion, the company simply grew beyond it’s financial limits.
The fall of Nasty Gal in 2016 is a cautionary tale for fashion entrepreneurs of the dangers of rapid growth without the sustainable structure to maintain it.
However - during the same year, Forbes featured Sophia Amoruso on for the cover of it’s “America’s Richest Self-Made Women” issue.
Boohoo's Nasty Gal
The company sold to boohoo.com, a UK-based online fashion retailer, for $20 million.
Boohoo Group purchased Nasty Gal’s intellectual property and brand assets - including the brand name, logo and website.
However, the agreement and purchase did not include - the company itself, the staff, or any operations.
The Nasty Gal brand aesthetic shifted away from Sophia’s edgy vintage aesthetic and transformed into a trend-driven, mass-market e-commerce brand that appealed to Boohoo’s other labels.
Sophia's Next Chapter
After selling Nasty Gal’s assets, she stepped away from the brand entirely to focus on new business ventures.
In 2017, Sophia founded Girlboss Media that included a podcast ‘Girlboss Radio’ and community-building events such as the Girlboss Rally.
Her platform was built to empower and connect ambitious women through her digital community and conferences.
