While the majority of fashionistas around the world have a love for vintage clothing, it usually ends up breaking their bank accounts. Well, one young woman was able to do the impossible as she found a way to turn her passion for all things vintage into an affordable way of shopping for women everywhere, and making some serious cash for herself along the way.
When Sophia Amoruso decided to take her love for all things vintage to eBay, she was in no way prepared for what the future would hold.
Amoruso, 28, was living in San Francisco during 2006 when she started an eBay store entitled “Nasty Gal.” She began selling rare vintage clothing that she had found while sorting through hundreds of bins at local thrift stores. In an interview with Forbes magazine, Amoruso stated that one of the first items she sold was a Chanel jacket that she bought for only $8 and sold it online for over $1,000. (Whoever sold that Chanel jacket for only $8 is another story.)
After the success of her eBay store, Amoruso started her own company and launched the independent website that is Nasty Gal today. While the site origi nally only sold vintage fashions, the company has since expanded and now sells clothes made by current designers. Upon visiting the site, customers can find a wide variety of blouses and sweaters mixed in with the hottest high heels from designers like Jeffery Campbell.
Aside from the trendy clothing that NastyGal sells, the company has become what it is today due to its advertising.
But here’s the catch: Nasty Gal has never worked with a PR firm to promote the store as they rely solely on social media. Nasty Gal uses Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr and Pinterest as a way to connect with their customers and see what girls want to wear. This modern approach at entrepreneurship is what turned Nasty Gal into the booming business that it is today.
“I like that NastyGal sends me promotions and emails on sales,” said Liz Howell, 21, a DePaul student.
While Howell has been shopping at Nasty Gal for the past two years, the company is still unfamiliar to the majority of the population. However, that will quickly change as NastyGal currently has a net worth of $130 million, according to Forbes magazine.
DePaul student Jessica Shamshura, admitted to never having heard of Nasty Gal, but now that she has discovered this fashion mecca, she feels a connection with the company.
“Now I’m going to spend hours online shopping,” said Shamshura, 20.
The want and need for young women to have a unique style at an affordable price is something that everyone can relate to and that’s why Nasty Gal was created. While the company’s prices are comparable to those of Urban Outfitters, the clothes found at Nasty Gal tend to be made for a more specific audience.
The clothes sold on the site are more than you could find at the thrift stores in Bucktown because of the unique structure of the garments. Nasty Gal’s clothing gives off the look and feel of vintage pieces, but the company’s modern twists appear in each blouse, dress or skirt that is sold on the website.
The variety and unique quality of their clothes has something for all different types of young women – all of whom are not afraid to let a company containing the word “nasty” stop them from buying what they want to wear.
Nasty Gal got its head-turning name in 2006 when an album entitled “Nasty Gal” by Betty Davis, an extremely outspoken and stylish singer, inspired Amoruso. While the name has caused some controversy for older generations, young women have embraced the “nasty” way of life.
“I’ll admit the name did deter me away from buying at first, but I got over it,” said Nicole Aeschliman, 20, a Columbia College fashion business major. “I just don’t tell my mom where I buy my clothes.”
The future for Nasty Gal is on the up and up as Amoruso plans to have the company debut their own clothing line in the near future. But until then, Amoruso told Forbes magazine that she and her fashionable team will continue to “keep it real like (Nasty Gal has) since day one.”
