Katherine Power

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the CEO of fashion company Clique Brands. For the bank robber, see Katherine Ann Power.
Katherine Power
Katherine Power from Clique Brands.tif
Born
Orange County, California
NationalityAmerican
OccupationCEO and co-founder of Clique Brands
Known forCEO and founder of Clique Brands; founder of Who What Wear and Merit Beauty; co-founder of Avaline Wine and the Powered Brands SPAC

Katherine Power is an American fashion entrepreneur and co-founder of Los Angeles, California-based Clique Brands. She also co-founded fashion brand Who What Wear, and its first spinoff, the Versed line of skincare products, which are part of Clique Brands. She also founded makeup line Merit Beauty, and co-founded both the wine company Avaline Wine with actress Cameron Diaz, and Powered Brands, a beauty-focused SPAC. She has also written several fashion books.

Life and career[]

Power was born in Orange County, California. Her parents were in the racehorse business.[1] She took a summer internship at Touchstone Pictures, which eventually led to her being hired as a production assistant.[1] She left Touchstone to work for special events promoter Brent Bolthouse, where her work was noticed by Elle Magazine.[2] She was hired by Elle and helped book celebrities for the cover of teen magazine Elle Girl.[3] She eventually became Elle's West Coast fashion editor.[4] While at Elle, she met fashion journalist Hillary Kerr on the set of Project Runway. The two became friends and in 2006 decided to start a fashion newsletter that they called Who What Wear.[4][5]

Who What Wear[]

Main article: Who What Wear

Who What Wear started in 2006, and evolved from a simple daily fashion eNewsletter and blog, with posts about the latest fashion news, to a media brand, including a co-branded line of clothing with retailer Target Corporation, and fashion books.[6] Power served as Creative Director when the brand first started.[1] In May 2019, Power launched the Versed line of skincare products as Who What Wear's first spinoff.[7]

Clique Brands[]

Main article: Clique Brands

In 2012, Power and Kerr founded Clique Brands as Clique Media Group, with Who What Wear as the group's first media brand.[5] The group's strategy was to launch or acquire media properties for different consumer segments, and collaborate with various brands to develop tailored content for the different audiences.[8] In 2014, Power took over as the group's CEO.[1] By August 2018, after several acquisitions, the group's portfolio included the fashion brands Who What Wear, Byrdie, Collegefashionista, JoyLab, MyDomaine, Obsessee and The Thirty.[4][9][10] In January 2019, the company sold Byrdie and MyDomain to American holding company IAC's Dotdash subsidiary, formerly known as About.com.[11]

Avaline Wine[]

In July 2020, Power launched Avaline wine with actress Cameron Diaz.[12] The company initially produced two flavors of organic wine.[12]

Merit Beauty[]

In January 2021, Power launched Merit Beauty, a line of makeup with seven products. The brand is marketed as fashionable minimalist, and was initially sold through a direct to consumer web site.[13] She also partnered with retailer Sephora to sell the line in its stores and on its website.[14]

Powered Brands[]

In January 2021, Power and business partner Dana Settle, a founding partner at venture capital firm Greycroft, launched Powered Brands, a beauty-focused Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC).[15] Powered Brands trades on NASDAQ under the symbol POWRU, and had over $1.5B in orders on its first pricing day. Powered Brands is reportedly planning to invest the funds in beauty, wellness and personal-care brands.[15]

Books[]

In August 2009, Power and Kerr co-wrote the fashion book, Who What Wear: Celebrity and Runway Style For Real Life.[16]

In March 2011, they co-authored their second book, What to Wear, Where.[17]

In May 2016, they published their third book, The Career Code, a professional development guide for young professionals.[18][19]

Awards and recognition[]

In 2016, Power was named to Fortune Magazine's 40 under 40 list.[20]

Personal life[]

Power lives in Beverly Hills, California, with editorial and commercial photographer Justin Coit, and their son Sebastian.[21][22]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d "Katherine Power of Clique Media: Think Like an Entrepreneur". nytimes.com. 2016-12-23. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  2. ^ "The CEO of a fashion business with $28 million and an audience of 25 million decided to skip college and go straight to work after 45 minutes driving around a parking lot". businessinsider.com. 2018-07-06. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  3. ^ "How The Founders Of 'Who What Wear' Built An Online Empire". huffingtonpost.com. 2017-12-06. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  4. ^ a b c "Who What Wear's Katherine Power: How We Grew A Fashion Site Into A Media Empire". businessinsider.com. 2016-09-27. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  5. ^ a b "Most Innovative Companies: Clique Media Group". fastcompany.com. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  6. ^ "How 'Who What Wear' Evolved From a Fashion Newsletter Into a Clothing Brand". fashionista.com. 2016-01-29. Retrieved 2018-06-21.
  7. ^ "This is how Who What Wear's Katherine Power creates Target brands customers love". Fast Company. 2019-08-29. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  8. ^ "Clique Media Group, Owner Of Who What Wear, Becomes A Bona Fide Fashion Brand". fastcompany.com. 2017-11-02. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  9. ^ "Clique Media Group Adds CollegeFashionista To Portfolio Of Women-Focused Web Brands". forbes.com. 2016-10-28. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  10. ^ "Clique Media Group launches new vertical The Thirty, inspired by a surge in wellness traffic". glossy.co. 2017-03-31. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  11. ^ "Dotdash, Riding Wave of Search Traffic, Acquires New Sites". wsj.com. 2019-01-08. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  12. ^ a b "Cameron Diaz Launched a New Wine Brand — and She Used a Baby-Naming Site to Name It!". People. July 9, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  13. ^ "Merit Beauty: Katherine Power's Five-Minute Makeup Brand". WWD. December 1, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  14. ^ "This minimalist make-up brand was made for life in quarantine". Fast Company. January 6, 2021. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  15. ^ a b "Female-backed SPAC, Powered Brands, aims to create new beauty conglomerate after public listing". CNBC. January 26, 2021. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  16. ^ "Book To Buy: Who What Wear: Celebrity and Runway Style For Real Life". instyle.com. 2009-08-26. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  17. ^ "How Hillary Kerr and Katherine Power, Founders of Who What Wear/Clique Media, Built a Media Empire". forbes.com. 2014-11-12. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  18. ^ "Who What Wear's Katherine Power: How We Grew A Fashion Site Into A Media Empire". forbes.com. 2016-09-27. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  19. ^ "5 Real-Talk Work Tips from The Career Code". instyle.com. 2016-05-17. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  20. ^ "Katherine Power, 36". fortune.com. 2016-09-22. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  21. ^ "15 Questions with Hillary Kerr and Katherine Power". cnn.com. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  22. ^ "A Creative Power Couple's Spanish-Colonial Retreat in L.A." architecturaldigest.com. 2018-06-13. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
Retrieved from ""