Nasty Gal profile

Nasty Gal is one of the fastest growing companies in 2015. The American-based and owned online retailer specializes in fashion clothing, shoes, and accessories for young women. The company has more than 600,000 customers in over 50 countries. Founded by Sophia Amoruso in 2006, Nasty Gal was named “Fastest Growing Retailer” in 2012 by INC Magazine. Nasty Gal is based in Los Angeles.

Sophia Amoruso, who lived in San Francisco, launched an ebay store selling old pieces of clothing, named Nasty Gal Vintage. The name being inspired by Betty Davis,the ex-wife of Miles Davis. Amoruso would source at secondhand stores and sell the clothing in the eBay store. As part of the process of founding Nasty Gal, Amoruso was initially handling everything from buying merchandise to photographing the pieces and writing the item descriptions.

Amoruso primarily used MySpace and had built up a following of 60,000 friends on that network. Mid 2008 she moved Nasty Gal Vintage off of eBay and built the site nastygal.com. Christina Ferruci was the first Nasty Gal employee and still works as Nasty Gal’s Buying Director to date. Late 2012, Sarah Wilkinson from ASOS joined Nasty Gal as the company’s Vice President of Design.

In 2009, Nasty Gal moved into its first warehouse space in Berkeley California. Amoruso has emphasized in interviews the importance of social media to Nasty Gal’s growth. In 2010, Nasty Gal moved its HQ to Los Angeles. In 2012, the company joined the Index Portfolio with a $9 million series A investment in early 2012, followed by a $40 million series B round of funding in August of that year. In 2011 revenue reached $24 million, marking an 11,000% three-year growth rate.

Business Insider named Sophia Amoruso one of the sexiest CEO alive in 2013. As the Founder and CEO 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. Named by Forbes as “Fashion’s New Phenom,” Amoruso’s rising success and business savvy was touted for being “up there with retail’s most profitable ventures.”