Even if you're not familiar with the luxe-y online store MyTheresa, you've probably heard of its uber stylish owners. No? Then here's your first lesson in the elusive art of fashion business alchemy.
Justin O'Shea and Veronika Heilbrunner are industry darlings—magazine editors' flock to their shores and flaunt them. On paper, they're just two gorgeous megalomaniacs who got together and systematically expanded their magnitude.
But in the social stratosphere they've become much more. They've promoted their brand by being interesting, stylish and eye-singeingly on all the time. They're a walking and talking lesson in modern day marketing—forget campaigns, be the campaign. Every day. He is the head buyer for the site, she's the senior fashion editor and together they're a juggernaut of visual decadence.
O'Shea is Australian, Heilbrunner is German, and the two reside in Munich. They work and now live together after meeting though the European fashion scene, posing an impossible harmony of business and pleasure. Their strategy pulls no stops—matching outfits, glamorous interviews, enviable Instagram accounts—anything goes. Her—long, lithe, understated yet edgy; him—bearded, brooding, modeling the very trendy 'huntsman in a suit' look. They're a couple few can resist. And apparently, these two can talk about the gender dynamics of getting dressed in the morning like it's their job.
The fact that MyTheresa is far out of reach for most human beings—it's decidedly luxurious and pricey—is inferior to the promotional machine the couple is proffering. The times we live vault the person high above the brand; if Kim Kardashian can be famous for absolutely nothing, a delectable duo can be celebrated for having an online business. (Sophia Amoruso of Nasty Gal understood it earlier on, but her book Girlboss lended her more legitimacy.)
O'Shea and Heilbrunner manifest the next step in the strange intersection of person-hood and marketing—promote the brand by publicly living it. We predict it's only the beginning of business owners stepping out of their own shadows to have a go at Instagram stardom.
The more the merrier? Perhaps, if only the products were more affordable. But being unattainable is part and parcel of their complicated social cache.
