Gwyneth Paltrow may be phasing out Goop’s nine-year-old fashion line G. Label, but she has no intention of leaving the fashion game. On Sunday afternoon, in the middle of New York Fashion Week, she announced the launch of Gwyn, a new fashion line grounded in classic, wardrobe-building pieces, with a slightly more elevated sensibility than its predecessor. “We wanted to bring it more into the fashion conversation without being alienating or too avant garde. But a little more international, a little less California,” she said.
“We recently upgraded our whole site and did a big refresh, and I thought to myself, this is really the time to make the change,” Paltrow explained. She was wearing a simple, charcoal gray dress with a long wide-pleated skirt from the collection. “This part of the business is extremely personal to me. I spend the most creative time on this part of the business, and I wanted it to feel more reflective of that,” she went on. Hence the name. “And I love a four letter word,” she said, grinning.
The Goop founder, who recently sat front row at Michael Kors’s runway show, isn’t typically a New York Fashion Week fixture. Days before the weekend, rumors had begun swirling that something new was in the works. By Saturday, the newly-minted Gwyn had already amassed more than 70,000 Instagram followers with a placeholder logo as its only imagery.
For this new outing, Paltrow worked closely with creative director Sofía Menassé, formerly at Maison Margiela (and before that, The Row) who’s been with the Goop brand for a year now. Amongst the inaugural 36 styles, half of which will drop on September 21, with the remainder coming next month (same as with G. Label, Goop subscribers receive early access to every drop), expect thickly-knit sweaters in sumptuously soft woolens and cashmeres, knit polos, and several outerwear pieces, including a crisp navy peacoat. Everything is sourced and produced in Italy.
“I made these for the airplane,” Paltrow said, holding up a pair of wide-legged charcoal trousers with a drawstring-tie waist. They have the effortlessness of sweatpants, but with some serious polish. Indeed, the collection seems very much a reflection of Paltrow’s own life, “with each piece telling a story,” according to the collection’s notes. “Some of the things really come from my time as an expat living in London,” she said, pointing out a long, swishy black anorak with a corduroy collar—not unlike a classic British field jacket. Same goes with the sweaters, and “chunky, Scottish-feeling knits.”
For such a personally-rooted collection, Menassé seems to have a keen understanding of the Gwnneth Paltrow sensibility. “We start with a mood, and then we look at places, we look at towns. I think Goop is so well known for its travels—we all travel so much,” she said, explaining their collaborative process.
Paltrow added: “Depending on the time of year, I say a lot about myself, where am I going? What do I want to wear? And then Sofía has these beautiful mood boards, and we sort of get down to the brass tacks.”
Future Gwyn collections will continue to drop in monthly installments on Goop’s site and in the brand’s eight retail locations. As for what’s ahead? Hopefully international shipping capabilities, Paltrow said, indicating a vocal demand. As for future New York Fashion Weeks, she demurred on the idea of a runway show, but hinted that seasonal presentations may become a more regular occurrence now, given the energized feeling of showcasing the new line. “We’ve always been quite shy about marketing in the past, so it’s nice to be here.”
