Laura Lee, whose popular YouTube beauty channel has more than 4.5 million subscribers, today announced she has launched a fashion brand, Nudie Patootie, which sells apparel and accessories aimed at her millions of style-conscious followers.
Ms. Lee, one of the first beauty YouTubers to create a fashion brand, said Nudie Patootie is a natural extension of her beauty-focused channel. She said her apparel is “trendy, chic, neutral, simple yet fun, easy to wear, yet very stylish.”
“I created Nudie Patootie as a way to express my fashion and style interests and inspire others to join me on my fashion journey,” Ms. Lee said.
The fashion line includes loungewear, sweaters, slippers, earrings, hats, outerwear, dresses, pants, plus size, and more, at an affordable price point of roughly $30 to $60. The most popular item is her collection of soft, comfortable flannels. Early response to the brand has been beyond Ms. Lee’s expectations, with most items selling out on the first day of sales.
“We have been very blessed,” Ms. Lee said. “We try and keep items in stock, but items still sell out for us very quickly.”
The brand is available exclusively online at ShopNudiePatootie.com. She has no plans to sell through third-party retailers.
“We’d like to keep it small and niche for now, but who knows what the future holds. We are open to brick and mortar in the future,” Ms. Lee said.
Nudie Patootie apparel is manufactured by a variety of third-party wholesalers, hand-selected by Ms. Lee, and distributed by a small team of employees at her Los Angeles warehouse. Ms. Lee said she intends to release a line based 100% on her own designs later this year.
The opening of Nudie Patootie follows Ms. Lee’s highly successful cosmetics brand, Laura Lee Los Angeles, which she launched in 2017. In fact, Nudie Patootie was named after the most popular eyeshadow palette in her cosmetics line. She promotes both brands on YouTube and her other popular social media channels. Ms. Lee’s Instagram account has more than 1.8 million followers.
Ms. Lee launched her YouTube channel in 2012 and has uploaded more than 1,000 videos since then, creating a cult-like following that makes her one of the most popular beauty influencers in the industry. Even while operating a cosmetics brand and new fashion line, Ms. Lee still takes the time to upload two videos per week to her YouTube beauty channel.
Her strong influence on social media has created a platform that Ms. Lee expects will help her cosmetics and fashion lines grow.
“A lot of YouTubers have tapped into makeup lines and merch and I think many more fashion lines will be upon us in the coming years,” Ms. Lee said. “I can’t wait to see what the future holds. I am looking forward to supporting my fellow social media friends on their entrepreneurial journeys.”
