It’s hard to believe there was a time when Gwyneth Paltrow’s goop wasn’t making headlines for vagina-scented candles, ‘Moon Dust’ that turned out to be cacao powder, and €44 rolls of toilet paper. Yet, it’s also equally unfathomable that it’s been 15 years since Paltrow – at the time married to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, and living in London – launched goop.
Since then, the company has become one of the world’s most talked-about lifestyle brands, worth a staggering $250 million – not bad considering this was just meant to be a website where Paltrow told friends and followers what products and services she liked and disliked.
goop’s formula for success has been a strange one, with bad publicity ensuring it remained in the spotlight and garner a dedicated following of, mostly, affluent women, which as Paltrow herself said in interviews, is the target audience.
And so, what do these people buy from goop? Well, pretty much anything Paltrow decides is worth her time: from $5,400 VRAM Cayrn Hoop earrings to a $45 Goop x Heretic ‘This Smells Like My Vagina’ Roll-on deodorant, and a $329 Avocado Wooden Bath Runner to a $66 Jade Egg which women can warm up and insert into their nether regions.
Yes, it is hilarious, but it’s also something that is impossible not to be curious about. So, as goop celebrates its 15th anniversary, we can’t wait to see what this brand will think of next.
