Katherine Power is an American fashion entrepreneur and co-founder of Los Angeles, California-based Clique Brands. She also co-founded fashion brand Who What Wear, and its first spinoff, the Versed line of skincare products, which are part of Clique Brands. She has also written several fashion books.
Life and career
Power was born in Orange County, California. Her parents were in the racehorse business. She took a summer internship at Touchstone Pictures, which eventually led to her being hired as a production assistant. She left Touchstone to work for special events promoter Brent Bolthouse, where her work was noticed by Elle Magazine. She was hired by Elle and helped book celebrities for the cover of teen magazine Elle Girl. She eventually became Elle's West Coastfashion editor. While at Elle, she met fashion journalist Hillary Kerr on the set of Project Runway. The two became friends and in 2006 decided to start a fashion newsletter that they called Who What Wear.
Who What Wear
Who What Wear started in 2006, and evolved from a simple daily fashion eNewsletter and blog, with posts about the latest fashion news, to a media brand, including a co-branded line of clothing with retailer Target Corporation, and fashion books. Power served as Creative Director when the brand first started. In May 2019, Power launched the Versed line of skincare products as Who What Wear's first spinoff.
Clique Brands
In 2012, Power and Kerr founded Clique Brands as Clique Media Group, with Who What Wear as the group's first media brand. The group's strategy was to launch or acquire media properties for different consumer segments, and collaborate with various brands to develop tailored content for the different audiences. In 2014, Power took over as the group's CEO. By August 2018, after several acquisitions, the group's portfolio included the fashion brands Who What Wear, Byrdie, Collegefashionista, JoyLab, MyDomaine, Obsessee and The Thirty. In January 2019, the company sold Byrdie and MyDomain to American holding company IAC's Dotdash subsidiary, formerly known as About.com.
Books
In August 2009, Power and Kerr co-wrote the fashion book, Who What Wear: Celebrity and Runway Style For Real Life. In March 2011, they co-authored their second book, What to Wear, Where. In May 2016, they published their third book, "The Career Code", a professional development guide for young professionals.
Awards and recognition
In 2016, Power was named to Fortune Magazine's 40 under 40 list.
