Nasty Gal changed owners again this autumn, and the price says a lot about what happened to the brand after its founder left. On September 15, 2026, Retail Gazette reported that Debenhams Group had completed the sale of Nasty Gal, including its global intellectual property, to WSG Brands for £12 million, about $16 million. Nine years earlier Boohoo, the company that later renamed itself Debenhams Group, had paid $20 million for it.
Sophia Amoruso had nothing to do with either sale. She started the company on eBay in 2006 and it went bankrupt ten years later. Here’s the record of who has owned Nasty Gal since, and what its founder built next.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Founder | Sophia Amoruso, 2006 |
| Peak under the founder | $28 million in annual revenue by the early 2010s, per Fortune |
| Bankruptcy | Chapter 11, 2016 |
| 2017 buyer | Boohoo, for $20 million |
| 2026 buyer | WSG Brands, for £12 million (about $16 million) |
| Nasty Gal’s latest results | £12 million in gross merchandise value, £0.4 million adjusted EBITDA (FY26) |
| Amoruso now | Founder of Trust Fund, an early-stage venture firm |
The eBay store that became a brand
Amoruso began selling clothing finds on eBay in 2006, and that store became Nasty Gal. Retail Dive notes it opened its first physical store in 2014. Fortune reports she bootstrapped it to $28 million in annual revenue by the early 2010s. Her 2014 book, #GIRLBOSS, sold more than 500,000 copies by the company’s count, per TechCrunch, and later became a Netflix series.
Then it came apart. Nasty Gal filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2016. At the auction that followed, Boohoo was the only bidder, and in 2017 it bought the brand for $20 million, per Retail Dive.
Two sales, both lower than the legend
Under Boohoo, Nasty Gal became one label among many. By its last fiscal year in the group it was small: £12 million in gross merchandise value and £0.4 million in adjusted EBITDA in FY26, per Retail Gazette. Debenhams Group called it “non-core” and “not material” to the business, and sold it as part of a move toward what it calls a “capital-light, marketplace-led business model.” The sale came a week after Debenhams sold its Sheffield distribution centre to Primark for £90 million. “Our turnaround continues at pace,” said CEO Dan Finley.
A note on the arithmetic: £12 million for a brand with £12 million in annual GMV is roughly one times a year’s merchandise sales. That’s our calculation from the two reported figures, and GMV is not the same as revenue, so read it as a rough marker, not a valuation multiple.
Who owns Nasty Gal now
WSG Brands is a New York company that buys known consumer brands and grows them through licensing and wholesale. It acquired Von Dutch in 2024, and earlier in 2026 it became one of Allbirds’ new owners through a deal with Aerosoles owner American Exchange Group, per Retail Dive.
A month later it also bought Sanctuary, the Los Angeles brand Debra Polanco co-founded with her husband in 1997, with both founders staying on. Its plan for Nasty Gal is to push it into denim, footwear, bags, jewelry, activewear, swimwear, sleepwear, beauty and travel, largely through licensing, while it keeps selling through Nordstrom, Macy’s, Amazon and Boohoo. WSG founder and CEO Jack Cheika said the brand has “an incredibly strong identity and a level of cultural recognition that very few brands achieve.”
Where Sophia Amoruso went
Amoruso’s next company was Girlboss, a media business built on the book. It raised $3.1 million from Lightspeed Venture Partners in 2017, and in December 2019 Attention Capital bought 100% of it, on undisclosed terms, per TechCrunch. She stayed on as CEO.
In January 2023 she announced Trust Fund, an early-stage venture firm with plans to raise $5 million, per Fortune. By December 2023 it had made nine investments, including a creative operations tool and a merch site for small businesses. The interview’s headline quote was blunt about leaving the girlboss branding behind. “I don’t like operating companies,” she told Fortune.
The founder and the brand, separated
Founders whose names are tied to a brand often watch it keep trading after they have gone. Audrey Gelman left The Wing and started over with a small shop. Candace Nelson sold Sprinkles to private equity and found out about its closure two days before it happened. Amoruso’s version is a brand that has now been sold twice by people who never ran it, for less each time than the $28 million a year it once took in under her.
She has no reported interest in either sale, and no reliable figure for her net worth has been published.
Sources: Retail Gazette and Retail Dive (September 2026), Fortune (December 2023), TechCrunch (December 2019). Last checked October 28, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Nasty Gal now?
WSG Brands, a New York brand owner, bought Nasty Gal and its global intellectual property from Debenhams Group in September 2026 for £12 million, about $16 million, per Retail Gazette and Retail Dive. WSG also owns Von Dutch and is one of the new owners of Allbirds.
Does Sophia Amoruso still own Nasty Gal?
No. Amoruso founded Nasty Gal in 2006. It filed for Chapter 11 in 2016, Boohoo bought the brand out of bankruptcy in 2017, and she has had no reported role in either that sale or the 2026 sale to WSG Brands.
How much did Boohoo pay for Nasty Gal?
$20 million in 2017. Boohoo was the only bidder at the bankruptcy auction, per Retail Dive.
What is Sophia Amoruso doing now?
After Nasty Gal she founded Girlboss, a media company that Attention Capital bought in December 2019, per TechCrunch. In January 2023 she announced Trust Fund, an early-stage venture firm, with plans to raise $5 million, per Fortune.