Netflix launches 'Girlboss' inspired by Nasty Gal's Sophia Amoruso

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
Apr 20, 2017

Netflix has launched a new series "Girlboss" that is loosely based on Nasty Gal's Sophia Amoruso.

If the timing seems a bit off for the launch, it is. The show was initially announced last winter during the height of Amoruso's rags to riches success. At the time, Amoruso had risen from her roots as a dumpster diving scrappy girl in San Francisco back in 2006, to being worth $280 million with Nasty Gal.

The show is a 13 episode half-hour stylized tale of Amoruso, who notably got her start stealing and label hunting to build her eBay store that ultimately became Nasty Gal.

Amoruso was called "the Cindarella of tech" by the New York Times for going from an unemployed 20-something to a multi-millionaire through an eBay shop in the span of 5 years. When she wrote her memoir, also named 'Girlboss', it caught the eye of actress Charlize Theron who bought the film options to the story at the time.

Unfortunately, for the Hollywood production timeline, by November 2016, Amoruso had resigned as CEO and her company was headed into bankruptcy.

Now, Nasty Gal operates through its new owner, British online retailer Boohoo.com, who paid a mere $20 million for the name and intellectual property.

While the story of Nasty Gal and Amoruso's rise and fall is noteworthy, the Netflix series opts for a less accurate portrayal of events befalling the business and its founder.

Britt Robertson plays the stylized version of Amoruso in the show, bringing a sweet television version of the female entrepreneur to life. It is produced by Kay Cannon, of 'Pitch Perfect' fame, and realistically targets a younger viewing audience than the real life Nasty Gal consumer.