Fall Fashion Books

I’m celebrating fall this year by making an effort to enjoy the colours, the smell, the freshness – and with a stack of new books. By chance I put together a pile of fashion and beauty related reads, which I will be reviewing one by one here on our newsletter. Also, as I love a good listical I’ve put together some tipps if you want to dive into the world of the book even more.

Book 1: Glossy – Ambition, Beauty and the Inside Story of Emily Weiss’s Glossier

You could say I recently had an Emily Weiss moment. After watching a rerun of The Hills with her as super-intern, I stumbled upon Hillary Kerr’s podcast with Marissa Meltzer about her new book “Glossy – Ambition, Beauty and the Inside Story of Emily Weiss’s Glossier”. So, I just had to buy it. 

It brought me back to the 2010s, the time of the girlbosses, VC-backed growth stories and the heydays of the DTC business model. If you started your company as a young ambitious woman in the 2010s especially in the fashion, beauty and lifestyle sector, there was no way round these topics and few companies and founders caught more attention than Glossier. Glossier was not only “another” beauty start-up but it was “the” Millenial beauty brand which defined the aesthetic of a decade and the way of selling, presenting, reaching, encapsulating its customers. 

At that time I wondered how to adapt that playbook to our own ventures? I often felt insufficient in comparison with these uber-founders who were able to capture the spirit of a decade. 

In hindsight and reading the book it might have been the better way not to follow the playbook step by step. More than one of these DTC brands have been pushed by their investors on a growth route that wasn’t sustainable as soon as cheap customer acquisition via Paid Social Media wasn’t available anymore. Also Emily Weiss’s decision not to be as publicly open as other female founders might have been a smart decision. It separated Glossier from her as a person. Maybe that’s the way for a company to survive as it opens up the floor to expanding the leadership team and not only living by the fame of a person. 

The book also very good captures the question of how you grow and go on when the it-factor wears off. If you so much encapsulate the spirit of a generation and a point in time, it is immanent that this moment must go over. Often what feels “in” now, is outdated in a glimpse. 

In the end the book left me happy as the last chapter shows that Glossier might be able to surpass its beginning and open a new successful chapter: less as a darling of a moment, more as a normal company relying on decade-old strategies. Emily Weiss may still be elusive to the reader, however Glossier’s story still proves to be a playbook for all aspiring founders.

The Neu3bauer List for GLOSSY:

Shopping: If you’ve never tried one of the Glossier products, now is a good time with their Holiday Kits.

Wearing: Sew your own girlboss outfit, e.g. with sisterMAG Pattern 52-1 Box-cut linen blouse.

Dreaming about: New York in fall / winter. If you don’t have the time and money for a trip, here is a great YouTube playlist for some atmospheric NYC moments. 

Listening: “How I built this”-podcast for more stories on how the brands we know today started.

Watching: Want to dive into the 2010s start-up atmosphere then the movie “The Intern” is a good starting point.