How She Spends It

0:04Hello and welcome to Fashion People. I'm Lauren Sherman, writer of Puck's fashion and beauty memo line sheet. And today with me on the show is Morgan Stewart McGraw, founder of Wrangly. We talk growing up in Beverly Hills, why luxury brands are losing customers, being a non-influencer influencer, and the state of Angeleno style.

0:29Before we get going, I wanted to remind you that if you like this podcast, you'll definitely love Puck, where I send an email called Line Sheet. If you're a fashion person, you get that reference. it's an original look at what's really going on inside the fashion and beauty industries line she is scoopy analytical and above all fun along with me a subscription to puck gains you access to an unmatched roster of experts reporting on powerful people and companies in entertainment media sports politics finance the art world and much more if you're interested listeners of fashion people get a discount.

1:05Just go to puck.news slash fashion people to join puck or start a free trial. Happy Friday, everyone. I am coming at you from Los Angeles. This week on Line Sheet, we saw it all. Sarah Shapiro documented the rise of the shoe brand LaRude, co-founded by xstyle.com editor Marina LaRude, big fan of hers. And Sarah really got into the ups and downs of building a shoe business in 2025. I suggest you check it out. It's not an easy category to get into. So very impressive. Rachel Strugratz broke the news on Haley Bieber and Rhodes foray into multi-brand retail. And I was all over the place. Some HR news about a big exit at Celine now that Michael Ryder is in the creative director seat.

1:54Intel on a walkout threat by New York Magazine's Union, a report on a matches fashion relaunch. We don't love to see it, but you need to learn more on LineSheet. And of course, there's always lots of LVMH intel. I also wrote about how Ozempic, Manjaro, and the like are affecting the plus-size modeling industry. There's so much going on, so don't miss it. Let's get going with Morgan. Just an FYI, we recorded this before the fires in Los Angeles. So I just want you to know that we're not monsters. We don't talk about it because they hadn't happened. But I hope you enjoy the conversation and learn something anyway.

2:36And I hope to see many of you in New York next week. Morgan Stewart McGraw, welcome to Fashion People. Thank you so much. I'm so excited. I'm going to hear that. And by the way, and I'm going to hate how I said that. I always do the thank you so much, but we're here. I'm excited. You know, I'm from a place called Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I don't know if you've ever been there, but But the way people speak there, and I think it has to do with there's like something to do with, I want to say Scottish or something, some background, and they up talk. So at the end of sentences, and I still do it, but when I went to college in Boston, not Harvard, I just went to a regular school.

3:17But you know when people are like, I went to school in Boston, and you're like, F off. I know where you went to school. No, I really just went to school in Boston. but they would make fun of me constantly. Cause I'd be like, well, are we going there? Or like instead at the end, it always sounds like a question. So I understand there's all, we all have our weird stuff. I also wish like I had a cooler story to go with it, but mine is just like straight anxiety. There's no ground, nothing. Well, you know, you wear it. Well, thank you. First question. What'd you have for breakfast? Oh my God. This is all I think about.

3:50I had scrambled eggs, a side of blueberries and a piece of toast. It's a perfect meal. Yeah. I need it. I was just thinking about this this morning because I skipped breakfast because I went to the Doe N fundraiser. Yeah. And, um, ate a very small amount of food because it was at Genghis Cohen, which I'd never been there. It was fun. Okay. There was Adam Brody was there. He is a delight. He is way hotter in person. Like he is not my, that's not my vibe. And I like, I think he's cute, but I, but he's really cute in person. No, I feel like he's really cute on camera and in person. I feel like it was well.

4:33Yeah. He's doing very well. Uh, but I had like a butterfly, a butterfly, deep fried shrimp and some lo mein. And that's it at like 9 PM. So I was still hungry. It was not enough food, but I was like, you know, I'm not going to have breakfast. But the thing I was thinking about was the fact that I love toast and scrambled eggs. Like that's my, I could eat that for every single meal. That's your, is that your everyday breakfast breakfast when yeah, I tend to or or my lunch. It depends if I eat really late at night. I won't eat breakfast. But if I eat at 5 p.m., then I have breakfast, that type of thing.

5:15But do you feel like you're eating habits post having a child have changed? Like I am in a position where like if I don't eat breakfast, I'm the ambulance is being called by 11 o 'clock. Like I cannot function without food. And before I had kids, I could have gone two days, no food. Yeah, I think that my habits have changed in that I really love eating dinner early. And so the fact that he wants to eat dinner at five, I'm on board and we try to eat as only child. So we're we try to eat as a family. And my husband would eat at like 830 if it were up to him. And I'm like, it's 515. We got to get going.

5:51We got to get this meal moving because this kid's getting annoyed and he's going to end up eating a bunch of crap before dinner if we don't eat now. now. So yeah, it's interesting how your kids are, you said four and two. They're going to, yeah, no, they're going to be, Roe is going to be three in February. No, I've already fucked up how old she is. How old is she going to be? She's going to be four in February and Gray is going to be three in February. They're literally the year of the day. So she's the 16th and he's the 17th. Oh, wow. So Irish twins. Literally. That's why I have to have breakfast now.

6:23Yeah, that's the whole thing. But it makes me feel really good that you have the same family dynamic because my husband is the same way. I guess it's like a man thing. Dinner at 830 to me is not, it's like not ethical. Like I, there's not a shot in hell I'm eating dinner at 830. No, when I'm in Europe, I do it, but I really only eat dinner. Like I don't, you know what, you know, when you're traveling for the shows and stuff, like it's just so I'll eat at like 10 o 'clock at night there. And then for the rest of the day, I'm like, oops, I forgot to eat something, which doesn't affect you. It doesn't affect you.

6:52Nothing counts there. There's no hangovers. You can have a hundred cigarettes. Doesn't matter. No. Um, this is not a video video. It's not ever the video is never going to live, but I do notice some bags in the background. Is that a background or is that your real bag? This is real life. Oh my God. It's amazing. Well, this is all just to really like make it. I'm not, and then there's a new one up there that I haven't unpacked. So these, this, I had this case made because I had no room for any of these bags. So these are my size 25 Birkins and mini Kelly case. So all my 35 Birkins and my Hawks live in my main closet.

7:29So this is just for like the babies. And then I have on top, there's like some Chanel, if you can see. I love it. It is a piece of art. Thank you. It really looks so good. It really works. And it was really actually just more, it was less of a display case and more for functionality, but it's kind of giving both. do you have a favorite of these 25 inch

7:55yeah i'm gonna show it to you show me i have it's a kelly though it's not a burke and i haven't worn this one which is this is a disservice we have this matt gray birkin my favorite oh wow it's beautiful this 25 or excuse me 28 brick kelly box my favorite with the white stitching. Is this, I figured you'd appreciate this one. This is a special back. You know, I just did the Proust questionnaire with Monica who has like a fancy French last name who's based in Paris, who's Canadian. And it's the fashion Proust questionnaire. And it said, what would you, if you were going to come back as a luxury item, what would you, or a fashion item, And what would you come back to back as an, I said, a red Kelly?

8:44There's this is I would give every single one away and just keep this one above all the skins about everything. There's just because, you know, the more beaten up, it's just like one of those. It's just a beautiful. So good. Thank you. I love you with this one. So, Morgan, how did you get so into Hermes bags? Like, who are you? How did how did you how did you come to be a fashion person? I feel like I've always been a fashion person. I know that that's such a weird answer, but like my mom is a fashion person. I grew up around it. It's just literally something that has like been ingrained in me.

9:17Like clothes have always been really important. Like they've always been a priority. It's not something that was ever like an afterthought. Like clothes were prioritized and looking good was prioritized in terms of just like good taste, not in terms of like plastic surgery or a certain image. And so I feel like I was born with it. And I was also just, I was heavily influenced by my surroundings and the people that raised me. And that was just something that was the thing. The Hermes, I feel like when I was 25, it was just really popular and it was impossible to get one. It's not like now it's still impossible, but for some reason, every single person and their mother has one.

9:59It's almost starting to turn a bit. Like the Minnie Kelly is like, it's like, you kind of cringe a little bit like, oh, like, are we really going to wear these still? And I got, I was in Switzerland in Stad for Christmas break. And I somehow managed to get my hands on a brown 35 because I begged and I was like, that was it. I was hooked. And the 35 was like the size to have at that point. It was like 10 years ago. Yeah. And I guess since the last few years, I've just sort of started collecting, but it's almost just like happened. It wasn't I didn't set out to do it. Yeah. And I do think if so, if you're going to collect a fashion thing, that is the thing or or Chanel jackets.

10:42And that's another thing. But these are things that you can really become a connoisseur of them in the same way people collect cigars or whatever. It's a similar thing. Right. Or rocks. I mean, everyone has something. And these I mean, I think the smartest part is that obviously it's such an investment. I mean, I could flip any of these bags for like triple the amount I paid for them. And I'm a connoisseur in the sense of like, I love them. I'm emotional about them. I buy them if I like them, but I'm not like, this is, you know, this color and this size. Like if somebody brings something out and I like it, I like it.

11:15And I forget all the facts about it. Like I am not like things aren't in the box and they don't have the stuff around them. And I'm like, I know this one's called brick because I remembered. I couldn't tell you any other color behind me. Yeah. You know, like it just sort of is. Well, this is what they say about art. it's kind of like you're supposed to just buy the stuff you like and not worry about what the value is or what the context like you're just supposed to buy what you like. And if you do that, then you do it. They do end up creating value unless you're really bad taste. But we don't.

11:47So you grew up in Los Angeles. Yes. I grew up in L.A., born and raised, went to school here my whole life. What do you think in terms of your personal style and also the way you think about fashion, how did that inform your way of being? Well, this is the thing. I hate to always bring up my mom and go back to that. My mom is not American. So I feel like I - Where is she from? My mom is Swiss. So she was in Jill Sonder my whole life. That was sort of like that. I grew up - Oh, wow. We were going to Barney's. Her Jill Sonder was my row. Yes, totally. Or like there was some Etro or a crease or like just all of these sort of like, you know, different Chanel pieces sprinkled in.

12:34And so I kind of followed in those footsteps where I don't feel like I have such L.A. style except for the fact that like I wear jeans basically every single day. And I don't feel the need to get dressed up all the time. But I guess my L.A. style is really just sort of how Californian I am and the fact that like I wear jeans everywhere. It's like I'm casual, but it's not really, you know? Yeah. You're really polished. Do I look polished? Oh yeah. Oh, please. You know, you look great every day, but you are very polished, but not in, it doesn't feel forced. It's very, um, it just feels like that's who you are.

13:14And so you always look really put together. And I, I know what you mean. I was looking through my closet today because I'm going to a couple of holiday parties and I realized I really, my closet is, I have really nice clothes, but it's jeans now and it's not, and it's, yeah. And there's just, I have dresses and things, but they don't feel appropriate for here. So especially going out at night, unless you're going to a really fancy thing, it's a little bit odd to dress, get dressed for here. I think that's a huge reason high sport has been so popular here because it's the sort of medium between wearing jeans and like a leg kind of.

13:55Yeah. Yeah. And I think, and that, that is sort of the thing that's sort of depressing here. Cause you always feel a bit overdressed, but then if I'm like in New York, I'm like, I have nothing to wear. I know. Yeah. It's really tricky. And then I have a 4 ,000 pairs of slacks, but then I'm like, do I want to wear baggy slacks that only look good in jeans? Like there's just some holes that I'm struggling with. I think the trouser situation in fashion is not great either. There are, I have the same issue. I have tons of pants and I don't even end up wearing them when I go to New York, even though I buy them for New York essentially.

14:32But then when I get there, I'm like, I think I actually am just going to wear jeans all day. I know. I really, I just appreciate having these conversations so much because these are the things that take priority in my brain. And I'm like, you should probably think about something else. And all I do is stare at like these mountains of clothes in front of me. And I genuinely, sometimes I'm like, I'm so overwhelmed by that. I just like put some, like the thing that's on the floor on and I just go on about my day and I keep trying to solve the problem. And I, it's making it worse. I think Lauren Sandra Domingo was just on this new podcast that Harper's Bazaar is doing called the goodbye.

15:09And she actually had a lot of very pragmatic shopping advice, even if you are not buying the row boots and whatever coat she suggested, which sound fabulous. Uh, I mean, it is a luxury magazine, but the, uh, what she said that I was really helpful for me was she does. It's not even the one in one out role, which I do try to do. She does one in two out. I know that is wild. That is a really big commitment. She was talking about black sweaters. And I've just recently bought several black sweaters because I feel like I don't have the right one. And I thought, oh, I really do need to get rid of the other ones.

15:51If I'm going to keep, keep, I still haven't found the right one, to be honest. Okay. Well, you don't, not even to do shameless plug, but like you don't have the wrangly crew neck, like thin cashmere sweater. I need to get it. No, that is, I'm not, I made that sweater for this exact purpose because I could not find the right sweater. it will solve your problems.

16:16So how did you end up? You went from being a fashion collector and a fashion person to being a fashion designer and a fashion entrepreneur. Tell me about your journey, Morgan. How did you get from here to here, from there to here? There to there. To be honest with you, I really feel like it was just sort of destiny. I don't even know if there was a journey. I did a reality show in 2014 called Rich Kids of Beverly Hills. I don't know if you watched it. I'm sure. I don't watch reality television, but I love the concept of it. Who else was on it with you? I feel like the people, the vibes were good on this television.

16:54It was a great, it was a great, I mean, look, I never watched it when it was on and I can barely watch it now, but it was with my friend, Dorothy Wang, who was kind of the originator of the show. Like she, it was her sort of like, they basically came to us together, but she was the one that spearheaded it. And, um, and then some other kids, I like another friend of mine, this girl, Roxy, just like we were a group of friends. We grew up Beverly Hills together. It was fantastic. I was always like really into fashion, war fashion, um, on the show consistent to the fashion I wear now. And then I think it was like my third season and somebody approached my agent to do, um, a line and it ended up being a sportswear line.

17:30And so I did active wear for like five years. So that was amazing and really successful. And I did like, I hate to say this, but I was like the first person to do like seamless leggings, really. And I think, and then it just sort of became like, do you know what I'm, you know what that means? It's like the high-waisted seamless leggings. I was doing them in a bunch of different colors. And so I did that for five years. We had some unbelievable pieces that I still like wear and people really loved it. And And then that fell to shit. And then I continued. The show ended two years after the clothing line ended.

18:05I went to go work at E! And I did their nighttime show, daytime show, and then a bunch of digital shows for them. And then in 2022, that ended. And I think it was like a few months later. And then somebody put me in touch. My agent put me in touch with my business partners that do Wrangly now. The lacrosse boys. The lacrosse boys who we love. We love the lacrosse boys. Max and Xander. Guys, come on the pod. Come on the pod. Can you imagine? They'll be like. Oh, like mumbling the whole time. Oh, but no, no, no. They're wonderful. And we were, we did that deal and it just, that, it just worked out.

18:38When you say it went to shit, what happened? Was it just like not a great situation? It was not a great situation. And the people that I did it with, it just sort of, it really just fell to shit, to be honest with you. And it was, it was probably time to move on. And Wrangly always existed in my brain. Like I, at like 16, I was like, I'm going to have a brand. It's going to be called Wrangly. I don't know how that's going to happen, but that's just going to happen. And then it happened. What is, what does the name, is it like a surname? What does the name mean? So it's my mom's maiden name. Okay.

19:09It's my middle name and it's my daughter's middle name as well. And I actually hated the name growing up. I was like, you know, to use this, I was like, why can't my middle name be Molly? Like, why do I have to say this name out loud? Like, this is fucking crazy. And when they approached me and I was working on this deal, I was like, it has to be called Wrangly. And I think it fits perfectly. I love it. It's such a great name. And what did you want to do? What was, especially after you had this experience that wasn't, it was good in some ways and not good in others. Right. What was like sort of your vision for what you were going to put together?

19:46I mean, I wanted to make wearable clothing that like was my exact taste and to go back to the point of like filling the holes in my closet and just sort of like instead of buying it, like making things that I need. Like that black sweater we talked about, like we came out our first season, it was a black sweater, a yellow sweater, and a beige sweater in this like very fine cashmere because I could not find that. I couldn't find the fit I want. And that was the sweater that I wanted to wear like for a lunch meeting with a t-shirt underneath and then also kind of wear it as a blouse to dinner and sort of be able to like fit both of those roles.

20:17So just sort of paying attention and creating the sort of detail in clothing that I was lacking was really important to me. I feel like that's just something like there's a different variation, a million variations of things, except for the thing you want. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's always like so like shopping for me lately, especially has become challenging. And I'm really fortunate where I can buy a lot of what I want. And I'm like, what is this crap? Yeah. Yeah. I think that's how a lot of people feel right now. Yeah. And because the thing is, the luxury industry has been relying on people like you who can buy stuff.

20:56Right. And if you're not satisfied, they're really screwed. There's just no attention to like, I feel like I'm going to all of these high luxury. First of all, I'm going to most of these luxury brands because there is no multi brand store anymore that I can walk into and find or discover like a lesser known brand that's Japanese or something cool where I can pick an item up that like not everybody has. Like that does not exist. And it used to. So that's also really depressing. And then I'm kind of getting fed all of these different things. Like somebody from Gucci just messaged me a bunch of dresses and I'm like, I'm never wearing that dress.

21:29Yeah. You know, so it's kind of sad. yeah because you also actually have taste whereas a lot of people they're betting this is the thing they are betting that people don't have taste and that they'll do whatever they say but the problem is everybody has taste and is has developed their taste because they've been consuming this stuff for the last 20 years and so now there there aren't options why did you decide to do something like Like the prices are very reasonable. The sweaters are like 400 bucks for a cashmere sweater or whatever. It's not, it's not cheap. It's not like quince.com or something, but it's not, it's not crazy expensive.

22:11Why did you decide on that price point? Because I wanted things just simply to be appropriately priced. I think the inflation of some of these pieces as my light dies, thank God this isn't being recorded. Kind of chic though. It's very chic. I just feel like it was so inflated. Like it genuinely was like unethical. Like this is not$4 ,000 worth of merchandise. Like you need to, we need to stay in reality a little bit. And I think for me, it was really important for my consumer to trust me and get a piece of clothing from Wrangley and be like, holy shit. Like this is legit. Like they have done their research.

22:46She has sourced this material. She is most importantly going to wear this, right? Like Mary Kay and Ashley, like they're wearing some of the robe, but it's really hard to really love the thing. It's like, I've said this before, but when you make dinner for someone, you don't really want to eat it. You're like, I snack the whole time. Like I prepared it for someone else when it's time to eat, you're over it. And that's the same thing with, I think if you make clothes, but so that's why with Wrangley, I was really specific that this stuff was stuff I was going to wear. And what, I know that it, you do a drop and stuff sells out immediately, but what has the reaction been?

23:19And, and you have a lot of followers on Instagram. I don't know if you're on TikTok because I never go on there, but I'm sure you're doing it. But you have, I mean, that's a built-in audience. So people are going to be interested. But like, what has the feedback been? And what did you learn in the first, I mean, you've only been doing this for what, two years? No, not even. It's been a year. It was a year in September. Yeah. And the feedback has been honestly unbelievable because I think like we really cared. I really cared. And I wanted to make sure that like, I am not going to sell to the audience that has watched me for the last 12 years, put different clothes on.

23:59That's been consistent, right? Like I didn't have that big of a different taste 10 years ago than I do now. And I wanted them to kind of be able to trust that. So when they started to get stuff in the mail, they were like, oh, you weren't playing. like you really you really showed up and you really made sure that this was going to be an extension of your actual taste and point of view so it's been great so I want to talk about your career as and the interesting thing is maybe it's because I met you via wrangley and obviously I knew who you were but I didn't think of you as a traditional influencer and perhaps it's because you did reality TV, you did presenting, as they would say in the UK.