Sophia Amoruso on Her First Nasty Gal Shop, Adding Vibrators to the Inventory, and Being Bossy

Photography Jeff McLane

Online retailer Nasty Gal unlocked its flagship retail store last evening in West Hollywood, Calif. revealing a chic, fresh space that mixes affordable new apparel with pricey vintage finds to a crowd that included Charlize Theron and Sean Penn. The brand has come a long way since 30-year-old founder and CEO Sophia Amoruso launched it as an eBay shop eight years ago. Since then, Nasty Gal has grown into a $100 million plus online retail destination where it has its own in-house brand as well high-end vintage apparel. The store, which is the first of many to come, offers a destination for the site’s customers to interact with personable employees, who Amoruso hopes will bring a touch of luxury. Amoruso, who also recently penned her best-selling book #GIRLBOSS about her experiences learning to run a company, chatted with Yahoo Style at her store opening about why she brought Nasty Gal to the streets, the future of the brand, and why she may or may not add vibrators to the offerings.

Yahoo Style: Nasty Gal does so well online. Why did you decide to open an actual store?
SA: I guess, why not? I was never a purist and Nasty Gal has been a very serendipitous thing. I’ve worked really hard but at the same time I’ve followed my nose along the way. It seemed like the right time. It’s been eight years this month since I sold my first thing on eBay under Nasty Gal Vintage. The book tour made it really clear that there’s such a community of girls that are ready to be mobilized and hang out in the real world and wanted a place to do that all day every day. There’s so much to learn from being in a space with our customers and giving them the sound and the feeling of what Nasty Gal is outside of the website.

YS: What were the key elements of making Nasty Gal exist in real life?
SA: I love mirrors. There’s a lot of mirrors in my house and there’s a lot of mirrors here. We have two-way mirrors on the fitting room doors - you can’t see in, but you can see out. I wanted a place that feels cozy but at the same time is clean and new. But not institutional. I feel like there’s so many places to shop today that just feel like an Excel spreadsheet put between four walls. I think having a space that’s this size that feels like a boutique and has a really high-touch level of service is really rare outside of the luxury space. That was really important. It’s a happy space. There’s a ton of natural light in the day time. There’s succulents scattered about. They’re all elements of the Nasty Gal brand just in a 3-D form.

YS: How did you determine what to sell in the store?
SA: We wanted to put our best foot forward so it’s a mix of things that we’re proudest of in all the categories we have on the website. There’s a lot of our Nasty Gal in-house label. And there’s other brands that we love that we curate. In addition to that there’s vintage, just mixed in. That’s how people dress: It’s high and low, it’s old and new. Instead of vintage section there’s a vintage Moschino jacket hiding next to a dress that’s new. We’ve got a few records rights now and a few magazines, too.

YS: What’s the best way to balance wearing vintage and contemporary pieces in your experience?
SA: Don’t look like you just stepped out of a decade. And if you do, you better really pull it off. You can do it when you’re young. So maybe a vintage t-shirt with a really beautiful skirt. It roughs things up a little bit.

YS: Do you plan to open more stores? And where next?
SA: Yes, we will. We don’t have a formal roll-out plan. We want to open this store and learn. If all goes well, we do a better job next time. Our customers are largely in LA and New York so New York is next.

YS: Now that you have the store, the website and a book, what does an average day look like for you?
SA: Oh my God. Well, mainly I’ve been here every day. Usually I’m at the office every day, although I travel a lot. It could be anything from approving neon for the [store] windows, which I did recently, to talking about organizational structure. Stuff that isn’t as glamourous. That’s the job of the CEO. But it’s a balance keeping the business on track while also throwing crazy ideas into the mix that make Nasty Gal what it is.

YS: What has been your craziest idea?
SA: I wanted to sell vibrators here. But I thought it might be too much. Maybe we will. I don’t know. There’s a nipple on our shopping bag.

YS: It actually seems like a logical fit. 
SA: I think vibrators are a positive thing, but I don’t want to be overt about anything. That’s borderline. But I thought it would be fun. And they can be beautiful objects.

YS: Do you think your employees here would consider you a good boss?
SA: I would say I’m a boss who’s learning and I hope people have the patience for the fact that I’m learning along the way because that’s a tough thing. We’re no longer a start-up but we’re also not a big business. We’re somewhere in between and it’s like puberty. We’re in an organizational puberty right now.