Nasty Gal: Turning Heads While Turning Profits

#sxsw #NastyGal

Sophia Amoruso, the founder, CEO, and chief troublemaker of Nasty Gal, grew her fashion enterprise from a one-woman vintage store on eBay to an online retail haven for “badass girls” around the globe. The Los Angeles-based company isn't just edgy—it’s a fashion mecca for the 21st century. The company now manufactures its own brand of clothing, employs a full-time staff of 300 and maintains a 500,000-sq.-foot fulfillment center in Kentucky. With $100 million in sales last year, Nasty Gal is one of the fastest-growing private companies in the world, earning it the No. 11 spot on the 2012 Inc. 500.
In this exclusive interview with Inc. senior writer Christine Lagorio-Chafkin, Amoruso discusses the bold trajectory of Nasty Gal—from starting on eBay to attracting investors, raising $50 million in funding, and scaling her business at a lightning pace. Oh, and she's just getting started: Amoruso was honored in Inc.'s 2013 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30.

Presenters

Christine Lagorio

Exec Editor

Inc Magazine

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin is an award-winning writer, editor, and reporter whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Village Voice, and The Believer, among other publications. She is senior writer at Inc., the magazine for growing companies.

Sophia Amoruso

Founder, Creative Dir, CEO, & Chief Troublemaker

Nasty Gal

As the founder and owner of Nasty Gal, the fastest-growing online retailer in the country, Sophia Amoruso is the creative visionary, modern-day entrepreneur and fashion doyenne who has forged an unprecedented path in building a modern brand. This May, Amoruso will debut her highly anticipated, first book titled #GIRLBOSS under the Portfolio and Putnam imprints of Penguin Random House. Part memoir and part business book, #GIRLBOSS is a sassy and irreverent look into Amoruso’s story. At only 29 years old, Amoruso has become one of the most prominent figures in retail with the success of her fashion empire named Nasty Gal. Having first sparked a cult following in her vintage venture on eBay, five years later, Amoruso has grown the brand into an online retail haven with a progressive following of fashion risk-takers. With relentless obsession over web and social media platforms, Amoruso has propelled her brand’s aesthetic on every channel.