How Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Kathy Ireland Became a $350 Million Mogul
It’s staff meeting time for the biggest retail brand you’ve never heard of, which at Kathy Ireland Worldwide means marching up the hills outside Santa Barbara to the eponymous founder’s mission-style home for a corporate version of “I’m OK, You’re OK.” As the coastal air tempers the bright California sun, 15 staffers dressed in casual black sprawl on the plush sofas or sit cross-legged on the floor. An Academy Award rests nonchalantly on an end table, lending a surreal touch. “Don’t ask about the Oscar,” one of Ireland’s confidants says to me furtively. (It was from another fashion diva with a flair for retail, Elizabeth Taylor.)
The group’s breathing golden idol sits, chin in hand, in the middle of this group. At 48 Kathy Ireland is still as stunning as when she appeared in 13 consecutive Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues, including three covers (albeit now with bigger hair). “Thank you,” she says in her small voice as the group kicks off a brainstorming session about social media. “Thank you,” she repeats as ideas fly about ways to gain her company a bigger presence on Twitter and Facebook. “Thank you,” the group responds, the only two words invoked more over the next hour than “excuse me” and “please.”
If this isn’t how America’s best-known licensor, the famously demanding Martha Stewart, might do business, so be it. Kathy Ireland sells more product—some $2 billion at retail—and she’s worth more, too. If Martha Stewart represents WASP perfection (and those who aspire to it), then Kathy Ireland rules flyover country (and those content to stay there), bequeathing her taste—and/or slapping her name—onto more than 15,000 products, few of which jibe with the image most people have of her.
This swimsuit model doesn’t sell swimsuits, and while many women may still associate her name with a clothing line at Kmart, she barely sells clothes anymore, either. The bulk of her success comes instead from the kind of stuff that has likely never seen a celebrity’s name adorning it: ceiling fans, flooring, mattresses. And above all there’s furniture: desks, end tables, media centers, beds, ottomans and bookcases. There are area rugs, carpets and headboards. And lots and lots of windows. One of the biggest pieces of the Kathy Ireland empire is her namesake vinyl and plastic replacement windows, which purportedly insulate heat inexpensively; a retail outfit called Window World moves $400 million of them a year.