When we hear of a brand with a celebrity's name attached to it, we often wonder just how involved they are in catering to the business. After all, juggling a full-time job in the industry while running a company has to be nearly impossible, right?
Wrong!
In fact, several leading ladies—many who can also add "mom" to their list of careers—have proven that it's not only possible, it's also quite lucrative! From Jessica Alba's Honest Co. to Victoria Beckham's fashion line, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's Elizabeth & James to Gwyneth Paltrow's GOOP, there are several women in Hollywood who are successful in both their famous careers as well as their businesses.
But the question remains: just how involved are they in that success? Here's a breakdown of some of the top Hollywood businesswomen and their strong contributions to their companies:
Jessica Alba
This entrepreneur set the bar high for the other celebs who followed in her footsteps! Not only did she create the Honest Company, she turned it into one of the most successful brands in the industry—it was recently valued at $1.7 million!
With her own space right in the Honest offices and a one-on-one connection to her employees and investors, Alba is completely dedicated in being hands-on in overseeing the company. In fact, her husband, Cash Warren, told Vanity Fair, "This is the first time she knows she's smart. She wakes up thinking about Honest; she goes to bed thinking about it."
As for Alba's take on overseeing the successful business, she said, "If it was easy, everyone would do it. You have to be a little bit crazy; you have to have gumption and tenacity."
She not only says this, but she stands by it, being involved in every part of the business, from the biggest meetings with investors to cleaning display cases and fixing signs at events. "A lot of people give up at the first roadblock," she added. "But, for entrepreneurs, if there isn't another road, we create it. We break concrete; we throw dynamite; we figure it out."
Victoria Beckham
As the founder, designer and head of her Victoria Beckham fashion line, the formerSpice Girl deserves a huge amount of respect and credit for helping her company reach $50 million in sales last year.
As a former designer for brands like Rocawear and Robert Cavalli, Rock & Republic and Dolce & Gabbana, Beckham decided to take her fashion career in her own hands in 2008, which was a very risky move at first.
"For a long time there, I was a bit of a laughingstock," she admitted to the Business of Fashion. "And while everybody was busy laughing, what was I doing? I was laying the foundation to what I have in place now."
She debuted her first collection that year, and while everyone assumed she had tons of help to create the 10 pieces for the line, they were mistaken. "It makes me laugh even to this day the fact that people used to think I had this little stash of design elves, beavering away," she explained. "There was no secret design team."
In fact, at that point, it was just her, Melanie Clark—who was her right hand in design at the time—and Tracy Lowe, a production and development manager.But even now with a slightly larger team, Victoria is still just as involved and still viewed as an equal.
"I've only actually just had an office that has windows," she told BOF. "I was downstairs in the cupboard! There are no airs and graces here. Nobody treats me as if I'm a famous person. It is what it is."
Now that is what defines a real boss.
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
The twins may have gotten their start as child stars in some of our favorite '90s flicks, but they've completely transformed their career into full-time fashion moguls.
Their companies, The Row (which is more high-end, luxury) and Elizabeth & James (adorably named after their siblings) consists of a small team with whom they've worked hand-in-hand in creating well over a $70 million revenue, according to WWD.
"We've been doing The Row in-house for the past 10 years, and it's been a slow, steady growth and very strategic," the twins told the publication earlier this year, right before taking New York and Paris Fashion Weeks. "It was just the right time. We're very involved with product and very involved with make and quality. It was really important to tell the same story. When you have a brand, it's important that the message is the same."
Thus, they have their hands in almost every aspect of the companies. When asked if they even sketch the designs, they explained, "We drape."
Only recently did they hire a couple designers for Elizabeth & James, which adds to the team of 12 that they hope to grow to 20 or 30 over the next 6 months. "Everything is starting from scratch," Ashley said. "We're building a sales team, a merchandising team and we're going to have stores."
For now, though, the twins are fully invested in doing everything they can do—including marketing, social media, design, hiring and ordering product—to make sure their brands succeed in making their vision a reality.
John Sciulli/Getty Images
Nicole Richie
If you follow this fashionista on social media, her quirky personality and hilarious posts would probably make you question her abilities to be able to run anything, let alone a company...but sometimes the funniest people are also the most successful!
Case in point: House of Harlow 1960.
The reality-star-turned-businesswoman launched the brand in 2009 with spring 2010 as its debut season. Now, six years later, it's offering full-fledged collections, including ready-to-wear, jewelry, eye-wear, footwear, handbags and even candles...and Nicole is the major driving force behind it.
As the main designer for the brand, it's become her full-time, day-to-day career. Just like any job, she told Life + Times, "I have to keep showing up and designing for my customer. My work ethic stays true to who I am."
And it's obvious that House of Harlow is Nicole's vision, to a T. When explaining how she created the "look" of the brand, she told ELLE, "It's about freedom and labels not really being part of your wardrobe. It's about layering lots and lots of jewelry, and having everything transition from day to night. It's really about that free-spirited energy and excitement that you can see in those periods, not a definite or defined year."
But aside from designing, she's also in on big meetings, especially when it comes to collaborations. In fact, she has a collection with Revolve this summer. "They're based out of L.A., so they called me, and I went and spent some time with them; I got to tour their offices and just understand their business model," she told Nylon recently. "Right away, they were just somebody that I wanted to collaborate with."
How did she know? She's in-touch with her own customers, which helped her realize Revolve was a great match. "They're young and innovative thinkers and just had so many new and fresh ideas as far as ways to present apparel to customers," she added.
Gwyneth Paltrow
People might give her a hard time for the luxurious, over-the-top lifestyle brand she's created with GOOP, but you have to hand it to her: Gwyneth Paltrow has found some serious success!
After originally creating the newsletter as a creative outlet for Paltrow's favorite things to eat and do, GOOP now has close to a million subscribers and was the launching point for many other celebrity e-commerce websites.
"I never thought it would be a commercial venture," she told the New York Times. "It was a place to have some freedom."
So what is her exact title now that the company has soared beyond expectations and consists of a full team of writers and fashionistas? She calls herself a "generator of creative content."
Elise Loehnen, GOOP's editorial director, further explains, "Everything is pretty much signed off by GP. She's not repackaging stories or doing any heavy lifting, but we're recipe-testing in her kitchen, going over the issue on Tuesdays."
Paltrow also gives her final approval before the newsletter is sent out each week. "The brand is inextricably tied to her, but I think that she can't wait for the day when people will associate [it] with other people."
No comments:
Post a Comment