Hi, and welcome back to Line Sheet. Today, Rachel
“Rachel@puck.news” Strugatz is back on the Gwyneth Paltrow beat. This past week, an expansive profile of Paltrow ran in Vanity Fair trumpeting her return to acting… in nine months, when Marty Supreme debuts on Christmas. That cover story was accentuated with a floofy Q&A in Fortune about the state of Goop, which partly addressed
Rachel’s previous reporting on Paltrow’s business. Anyway, Rachel has an update on what’s actually been going on at Goop since last year’s layoffs, and why Paltrow may have taken to Instagram yesterday to address a faux-rivalry with Meghan Markle.
Rachel also has the scoop on Savannah James’s new beauty line, developed in partnership with one of the chief architects of Glossier. And to round everything out, I’ve got the latest from this morning’s
Vogue World announcement at the Chateau Marmont, from who was in the room (no agents) to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s sort-of surprise appearance. (By the way, it’s just Anna, Gavin, not Ahna.) Plus, Louis Vuitton’s other creative director, haute joaillerie designer Francesca Amfitheatrof, is leaving the business.
Mentioned in this issue: Gwyneth Paltrow, Goop, Meghan
Markle, Savannah James, Vogue World, Timothée Chalamet, Skims, Kim Kardashian, Alexis Page, Amazon, Hailey Bieber, Rhode, Francesca Amfitheatrof, Marty Supreme, and many more…
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Three Things You Should Know…
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- LeBron’s
wife takes her shot: I know everyone, including me, has celebrity beauty brand fatigue, but Savannah James has managed to pique my interest this week. The wife of LeBron James is now preparing to launch a pretty serious skincare brand. I’m told that products are “in the vein of Augustinus Bader,” the upscale purveyor of nearly $300 creams, which is definitely not the typical celebrity playbook.
Notably, one of the people involved in the venture is serial entrepreneur
Nick Axelrod, the co-founder of Nécessaire and Homecourt, co-host of the Eyewitness Beauty podcast, and head of ventures at Klutch Sports Group, the UTA sports division that LeBron helped manifest. And he brought in Alexis Page, an IYKYK beauty “It” girl, to help develop the line. Page was Glossier’s original director of product development and the genius behind the pink pouch. She has also worked with some of the biggest names in the industry, from MAC
Cosmetics to Pat McGrath.
Like basketball, beauty is becoming a family business for the Jameses. About a year ago, LeBron launched a mass-priced grooming brand at Walmart, The Shop, a notion spun out of his HBO talk show of the same name. All products, including 2-in-1 shampoo, shave cream, and face lotion, cost under $10. I like that the husband-and-wife beauty ventures will play on completely different ends of the price and distribution spectrum, and look forward to
seeing what Savannah’s products will actually look like. ––Rachel Strugatz
- Vogue takes over the Paramount lot: The best thing about Vogue World, the magazine’s now-annual live event designed to showcase the power of its brand, may be the formal announcement that editor-in-chief Anna
Wintour orchestrates months earlier in each host city. For Vogue World Hollywood, which will take place October 26 at Paramount Studios, Wintour asked pretty much everyone connected to fashion in Los Angeles—from Loewe campaign star/Amazon MGM Studios marketing head Sue Kroll to Valentino
V.I.P.-er Katie Goodwin—to arrive at the Chateau Marmont on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. for 11 a.m. remarks. (The dress code: business casual, a cue needed in Los Angeles to prevent people from showing up in ball gowns and/or jeans.)
Anyway, they obliged, even though some thought that the formality around the invite indicated this was the actual event. They soon learned that this year’s Vogue World would be a performance of some kind, and one
highlighting the work of the industry’s costume designers. Arianne Phillips, Colleen Atwood, and Ruth Carter all spoke. Other costume designers, including Shirley Kurata and Jacqueline West, will also be involved. I like the angle: The clothing in film and television influences how people dress more than ever, and these designers deserve their
flowers. (And it’s always great news when Lisa Love, Wintour’s longtime right hand on the West Coast, is involved in the production of an event. She’s fun.)
But the day’s real feat was the people Wintour got in the Chateau courtyard. Other speakers included Louis Vuitton womenswear designer Nicolas Ghesquière—who did not participate in Vogue World Paris—as well as Casey Wasserman, who’s in charge of the 2028 Olympics here, and
podcaster Gavin Newsom, who also happens to be the governor of California. (As with all Vogue World events, there’s a charitable element, this time benefiting people affected by the fires.) Notably, there were virtually no agents or talent agency heads hanging around, in alignment with Wintour’s no-publicists rule. (Roger Lynch and his new chief revenue officer, Elizabeth Herbst-Brady, made the cut, though.)
Best dressed goes to Wintour
herself, who was wearing a shamrock satin Prada jacket (obviously custom); her deputy, Mark Guiducci, in a navy cotton double-breasted suit (very Wall Street); and stylist Jamie Mizrahi in vintage, Ghesquière-designed Balenciaga and a load of Louis Vuitton accoutrements. It’s a blessing having Wintour in Los Angeles. (I caught her out of the corner of my eye at the Sunset Tower last night having a quick pre-dinner meeting with some
local people of influence.) My final thought, for now: Maybe Wasserman should run for governor?
- The Francesca Files: Francesca Amfitheatrof, Louis Vuitton’s artistic director for fine jewelry and watches, is leaving the company, according to a source with firsthand knowledge of the situation. (Reps for LVMH and Louis Vuitton did not comment.) Amfitheatrof’s exit was first announced in
La Lettre, although I can’t confirm any of the details they reported.
Amfitheatrof’s departure is important. She was brought in to help Louis Vuitton, a €22 billion-plus business, drive sales to a fast-growing category—“high,” or fine, jewelry—and she’s also
the one of few known jewelers working in a public-facing role at one of the big houses. (At Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, etcetera, creative directors tend to duck behind the curtain.) Amfitheatrof first earned recognition at Tiffany, prior to its acquisition by LVMH, for the bestselling T line.
For a while, I wondered if Amfitheatrof, who raised her children in New York, would be reinstalled at Tiffany: Her collections were modern and easy for a lot of people to appreciate
and understand. But it seems Amfitheatrof may be destined for something else. I should have more in the coming days. (By the way, the jewelry on Nicolas Ghesquière’s runway is a different line, designed by Matthias Schneider.)
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A micro-targeted mini press tour proclaiming the revival of her acting career has
unintentionally turned a spotlight on Goop—Paltrow’s 17-year-old, unprofitable company currently in the throes of reinvention. Did she drop some clues about Goop’s future along the way?
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Gwyneth Paltrow’s annual press dump kicked off last week with a Vanity Fair
cover, a Goop-focused Q&A in Fortune, and the resolution of a nonexistent feud with her Montecito neighbor Meghan Markle, whose Loro Piana and Jenni Kayne knits are suddenly capturing attention. It seems like we are at the beginning of a nine-month reentry campaign that will culminate with the Christmas Day release of Marty Supreme, Paltrow’s first leading role in 15 years. What a time to be alive.
Paltrow has always displayed
exceptional aptitude at controlling the narrative; she knows exactly what to say to generate a near-instant ripple of headlines. Most recently, these public musings have centered on sex scenes with younger men (in this case, Marty Supreme co-star Timothée Chalamet), intimacy coordinators (a genre given bloom by the never-ending Blake Lively–Justin Baldoni legal scandal), and equivocating about R.F.K. Jr.’s MAHA
worldview.
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Her return to the stage also seems like a natural segue for the next iteration of Goop, which Paltrow has
been trying to reinvent forever, and whose investor base has been patiently waiting for years for an exit. (At this point, I suspect, many investors would be happy for a modest return on their capital.) It’s impressive how involved Paltrow remains in Goop, but her decision to remain C.E.O. inevitably dragged on the business. It’s true that monetizing a content platform now looks nothing like it did in 2008––a sweeping, industry-wide issue not specific to Goop––but it’s on
Paltrow for not installing proper leadership. Vagina-scented candle drops don’t make for sustainable, profitable businesses.
Goop often seems like the vanity brand of a creative celebrity who wanted to dabble in business, but Paltrow is running a company that closed a Series D in 2020 valuing the business at $380 million, pre-money. (Goop has raised more than $140 million.) “Gwyneth is very much engaged across the business,” a person close to the company assured me. “She’s running the
day-to-day operations.”
This isn’t a Skims situation, where Kim Kardashian has Jens Grede to run the business. Goop’s executive team includes a C.F.O. and a chief people officer, as well as a “V.P.-ish-level person” on each team, according to the person close to the company. But Goop doesn’t have a C.M.O. or president, and I’m told the C.T.O. and the E.V.P. of brand and communications left last year. Meanwhile, Westview Ventures, an advisory that also
works with Violet Grey and Flamingo Estate, came in to help restructure Goop last year, but I’ve heard conflicting reports about the scope and depth of the firm’s current role. “Westview is providing some consulting services,” the person close to the company said. Either way, the board has to be concerned.
Despite Paltrow’s insistence that Goop’s business is “healthy” and the company’s usual recitation of year-over-year and year-to-date rates of growth (but never actual revenue
or sales figures), the company still isn’t profitable some 17 years after its inception. Last year, on the heels of several rounds of layoffs, I was told by a person with knowledge of Goop’s financials that the company’s overall revenue has been more or less flat since 2021. Paltrow wouldn’t tell Vanity Fair if Goop was profitable. Instead, she offered marble-mouthed, almost Trumpian platitudes. “My business is a good business and it’s a strong business and the brand is
strong,” she said, adding that Goop “just had our best year.” (A company spokesperson declined to comment.)
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In some ways, Paltrow’s Fortune interview showed how far Goop has fallen behind its former
trajectory. Paltrow specifically called out Amazon as a highlight for Goop Beauty’s business. “You want to be where the customer is, which is why we have such a good business on Amazon,” she said, adding that the beauty line is “exploring” other big wholesalers.
But how “good” is Goop Beauty’s Amazon business? I’m told by someone with knowledge of the business that sales ranged from about $100,000 to $200,000 a month for the last four months, and that March is following a similar
trajectory. According to YipitData, Goop Beauty’s total Amazon sales are in the range of $1 million to $2 million per year, which means that Goop’s revenue is actually about half that number. For context, Hailey Bieber’s Rhode, which is solely focused on beauty, did about $200 million in revenue in 2024.
Another person close to the company told me that Goop Beauty’s wholesale “is always growing,” with global wholesale partnerships on the rise and a new,
yet-to-be-announced U.S. retail partner. But that doesn’t make up for Goop’s lack of traction in the retail space, at least domestically: Goop’s U.S. Sephora business remains tiny. Last spring, I reported that U.S. retail sales for the brand were only in the six figures at Sephora for the entirety of May—a fraction of the double-digit millions in revenue that some of the
LVMH-owned retailer’s brands can do in a month.
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Then in October, I
reported that the Goop team had scrambled to figure out what to do after its Target diffusion line, Good.clean.goop, had an underwhelming October 2023 launch. I’ve heard the line was in the “bottom 15” at Target. “I don’t see any indication based on what’s been prioritized at total company levels that the brand is being elevated at all,” said a person close to Target’s
business. Another insider with knowledge of the Target deal said the line will likely be sold at the retailer until exclusivity runs out. “I know their contract was pretty robust,” this insider added.
It’s true that the company has had some “big wins” this year, from two G Label fashion launches to a new retinol eye cream that debuts this weekend, plus a new Goop Kitchen location and a Goop retail expansion on the horizon. There’s also a “new retail concept”—a store with a
treatment room for “experiential facials” and other yet-to-be-revealed services––that was supposed to roll out last fall in Goop’s new Larkspur, California, location. (They should be open for booking by the end of April.) The aforementioned source also confirmed that Goop is now “strategically hiring” to enact a business plan born out of the restructuring and layoffs last year, one that emphasizes food, beauty, and fashion.
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Of course, founders are rarely omnipresent, often retreating and then reimmersing themselves in the
business (or getting forced out and replaced by a proven C.E.O.). Over the past year, Paltrow’s involvement has been inconsistent, according to a few sources, while others have suggested that she’s as around as ever. That said, someone who knows her intimately suggested that her involvement diminished greatly last summer, possibly because of the filming of Marty Supreme. “Before the big layoffs, she stepped back from the day-to-day in a dramatic way,” this person said. “People
said, Huh? Is this an extended vacation?” Both of these things can be true, and probably are, given the growing pains the company has endured during that time.
However, this same person pointed out something else: the strategically timed podcast that Goop released on the same day the VF cover dropped. The “special solo episode,” titled “Gwyneth on Change, Letting Go, and What Comes Next,” is presented as Paltrow’s reflections “on the transitions that shape our lives.”
But this source thinks “letting go” was the wrong message to send Goop’s future partners—if there are any. “If I were Gwyneth and I addressed my audience, I’d say how much I loved the company and how being in the job is so fulfilling that I don’t see myself stopping,” this person said, all of which would be reassuring to a potential acquirer or investor. Instead, this may be a rare example of Paltrow going off-message.
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Kirbie does a nice job outlining what’s going on with Thirteen Lune and the latest legal
woes surrounding co-founder Nyakio Grieco, who has been accused of fraud and embezzlement. [Ahead of the Kirb]
Chanel, eager to catch up with Carolina Herrera’s Good Girl perfume franchise, is expanding its Chance collection. This is the first scent to come out under Simona
Cattaneo, president of Chanel Fragrance and Beauty, a seasoned fragrance executive I interviewed many times during her tenure at Coty, where she was both C.M.O. and then president of luxury brands. [WWD]
After denying followers any context for her drastic weight loss, influencer Remi Bader
did an hourlong sit-down with Khloé Kardashian where Bader finally admitted to having weight loss surgery. [X]
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And finally… Should we make Shailene Woodley and Emily in Paris star
Lucas Bravo my new Taylor and Travis? Unfortunately, I’m having trouble coming up with a good reason to comment on the development of their personal brands via coupledom, because who cares. Ridiculous looks, though.
Until tomorrow,
Lauren
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Puck fashion correspondent Lauren Sherman and a rotating cast of industry insiders take you deep behind the scenes of this
multitrillion-dollar biz, from creative director switcheroos to M&A drama, D.T.C. downfalls, and magazine mishaps. Fashion People is an extension of Line Sheet, Lauren’s private email for Puck, where she tracks what’s happening beyond the press releases in fashion, beauty, and media. New episodes publish every Tuesday and Friday.
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