Written for Fashion & Beauty Monitor
Southwest London-born Georgie Coleridge-Cole founded online lifestyle outlet Sheerluxe in 2007. The publisher covers fashion, beauty, culture, lifestyle and more, featuring news, views, edits and opinions aimed at the modern woman. Now with a team of around 60 employees and commercial partners including Net-a-Porter, MatchesFashion, Harvey Nichols, Charlotte Tilbury and Chanel, Sheerluxe supports British business and entrepreneurship.
Formerly in the marketing team at COTY Beauty, Georgie also runs Luxe & Co, a branding and design agency and regularly collaborates with charitable organisations. We caught up with the woman herself to find out the fashion trends on her radar, the causes she’s most passionate about and the future of e-commerce…
Who is Sheerluxe’s target audience?
It's pretty broad. SheerLuxe’s audience is made up of women in their mid-20s through to their 60s. We also have LuxeGirl, which is aimed at the pre-SL generation (we find readers tend to subscribe to SL when they start their first job). We also have Gold, which is aimed at a more mature audience, although it's hard to pin an age on Gold as it's more about a state of mind. We have women in their 40s that love the Gold fashion edits and women in their 60s who feel more of an affiliation with SL. We also have the Parenting, Wedding and UltraLuxe editions. Then there’s SLMan – aimed at men wanting to live their best life via our fashion, grooming and lifestyle edits. Our readers, listeners, and viewers come to us to be inspired, educated and entertained. We're like their in-the-know friend.
Tell us about the SheerLuxe Show.
The show runs weekly and is filmed in our studio and on location. We have a handful of hosts who alternate and lead relevant conversations with a panel of industry influencers, entrepreneurs and all-round inspiring women. In and around the panel chat, there are segments that cover everything from fashion to beauty, as well as real life stories. We've interviewed the youngest British woman to climb Everest, a woman who lost her arm when she was run over by a tube, women living with stage four cancer and numerous entrepreneurs. While our mission has always been to curate, entertain, inspire and educate our followers, the means via which we do all of this continues to change. Today, we produce content across the site, the podcast, our YouTube channel, Instagram and more recently, TikTok.
How did you come up with the idea for SheerLuxe?
I was one of those people, others would ask me all the time, “Where did you get that?” As a teenager – when H&M was quite different to today – I'd spend hours rummaging and loved the satisfaction of finding something good. I toyed with being a personal shopper and tried having one or two clients, but it was tedious traipsing around the shops on a Saturday. So instead I thought I'd write a book about where to find good clothes, but that idea turned into an online directory. Then, digital content became key in publishing and here we are 16 years later.
What did you learn at COTY?
Detail and delegating. I had a couple of bosses who were very different but both made real impressions on me. I also had a horrible boss and that taught me a lot too!
What causes are you most passionate about?
Giving ex-offenders opportunities so they aren't left with any alternative but to reoffend. As a society, we need to understand that, for many, it's a case of nurture not nature – and the path is so often pre-determined. We need to take an active approach by working on early prevention far sooner. I'd love to see underprivileged children given a mentor at 11-years-old. Like having a TV licence, it should be compulsory if you earn over a certain amount. So many underprivileged children don't have great role models. I’m also trying to use our platform to take the conversation about neurodiversity more mainstream. I have a neuro-diverse son, and while change is afoot, the idea of neurotypical and neurodiverse is fundamentally wrong. We’re all bespoke, we’re all somewhere on a spectrum and we need to stop thinking that someone who just isn’t a people person is autistic (I'm generalising) and someone who has poor tolerance has ADHD. Different people present in different ways. Unfortunately, while I understand the need for it, we have a national curriculum that has to work for the masses but the idea that you're more valuable because you’re good at languages (compulsory at GCSE) or regurgitating information for exams is mad.
What are the fashion trends currently on your radar?
I'm not hugely into trends. My style is a simple formula of tailoring, a neutral colour palette and a slightly oversized fit. I tend to avoid too much colour and print.
Who is your style icon?
There are three – Corine Roitfield, Giorgia Tordini and Caroline Daur.
How do you prefer to hear from PRs?
Email!
How do brand partnerships work at Sheerluxe?
At SL, we’re all about partnerships. There has to be a trade, a transaction and a business reason to feature a brand, service or product. We’re running a business – just like a PR agency – so at some point, money needs to exchange hands or there needs to be a really good reason to feature something, like an exclusive interview with Victoria Beckham. There are always ways to work around tighter budgets but it's not okay for a brand to pay a PR agency and then the agency to expect unlimited free support.
How have you cultivated your own Instagram following?
It’s not been a conscious thing. It's a double edge sword to be honest and it comes with pros and cons. I have a lot of respect for influencers – the work they do, the endless comments...
Is there anything you’d change about the fashion industry?
I don't think of myself as someone in fashion. I run a publishing business that makes money from several categories – one of which is fashion. That said, I love fashion, how good you feel in the right outfit, with good nails, good hair, good make-up... I enjoy making an effort and putting my best foot forward.
In your view, what’s the future of e-commerce?
That's a big question. Virtual changing rooms, algorithms that match you with your perfect wardrobe, voice searching.... These are all things that have been bandied around for years. Ultimately, an e-commerce business is only as good as its product. When you have a great product and best practices combined with strong imagery and quick delivery, that’s the magic formula.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
That being driven and being nice don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
What does the future hold?
Ask ChatGPT.
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