Nasty Gal lays off 10 percent of staff to cut costs

Online fashion retailer Nasty Gal announced Thursday it has laid off 10 percent of its staff aimed to reduce costs amid an uncertain financing and retail environment.

CEO Sheree Waterson told the company via email that the cuts were necessary as the “market in which we operate is changing, both in retail broadly and apparel specifically,” reported ‘RE/Code’.

Nasty Gal was founded by Sophia Amoruso in 2006 as a vintage shop on eBay. Over the years, she grew the Los Angeles-based company into an online business with more than 100 million dollars in sales. The company sells its own line of clothing as well as those of other brands and designers.

Amoruso passed the baton down to Waterson a year ago, saying at the time that the company needed a more experienced leader.

It’s noteworthy that the company has raised more than 60 million dollars in venture capital from investors including Index Ventures and former Apple retail chief Ron Johnson.

We believe that future growth comes from being where our customer is, and that is not purely online. We have two stores and a lot of room to grow,” confided the e-tailer’s founder to ‘RE/code’ in a recent interview.