Glossy

Marisa Meltzer's book is an inside account of Glossier, the beauty company that became one of the most closely watched startups in the United States. Its polished branding and influencer-driven marketing quickly made it a major force, and its products drew devoted buyers who lined up to purchase them. The company also showed a generation of executives how to reach Millennial and Gen Z shoppers and how to grow an online following that felt like a community.

The story centers on Emily Weiss, a private figure who first drew attention as a so-called superintern at Teen Vogue, then appeared on the reality series The Hills, and later ran the beauty blog Into the Gloss. Weiss had the drive and nerve to found Glossier, and she used nearly every encounter as a chance to advance her own career. Known for an extravagant personal style and a strong sense of where consumer culture was heading, she seemed unstoppable. Meltzer asks how a young woman from suburban Connecticut, with little formal work experience, gained access to the private spaces of influential people and turned those connections into a company valued at 1.9 billion dollars. She also asks whether Weiss deserves sole credit for that success, and why she stepped down eight years later, at the height of the brand's popularity.

Meltzer, a journalist and author, draws on interviews with former Glossier employees, investors, and Weiss herself. The book covers fundraising, product launches, and hiring practices that broke with convention, and it examines the company's culture before building toward Weiss's own story.

The book is pitched as a portrait of one of the defining business leaders of her generation and as a record of its era. It is presented as a successor to The Devil Wears Prada for a younger, more online audience.