What Would Gwyneth Do?
Fast Company|September 2015
Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow's newly ambitious lifestyle platform, has been polarizing since the day it was launched seven years ago - and that might be its greatest asset.
Anjali Mullany, photograph by Williams + Hirakawa
What Would Gwyneth Do?

Gwyneth Paltrow removes her coat, revealing a sleeveless black Atea Oceanie wrap dress. The dress is simple, trimmed in white and very low cut, the effect both wholesome and daring. Her hair and skin glow. Her arms look soft and strong, like those of a woman decades younger than 42.

Paltrow is the founder-and the living embodiment-of the lifestyle brand Goop and is in Chicago on this April afternoon to oversee the launch of a pop-up store in Chicago's Waldorf Astoria hotel. She walks across the showroom, past racks of $2,000 Stella McCartney dresses and $400 Phillip Lim gym shorts, to sit beside Goop's CEO, Lisa Gersh, on a burnished steel French daybed. She folds her arms, clutches her elbows, and calls out to her head of brand collaborations, Brittany Weinstein, to turn up the heat. Then she crosses her legs, stretches her neck as high as it will go, poses her arms to one side, and looks off serenely into the distance.

 

Paltrow is often criticized for seeming, at best, removed from the cares of ordinary life, and right now she does look like she belongs to a different, superior species. The public has always felt this way about her simultaneously drawn to, and repelled by, her seemingly unattainable perfection. In 2013, for example, she was named People magazine's Most Beautiful Woman and also Star magazine's Most Hated Celebrity. Spend a little time on the Internet-or mention Paltrow's name at a dinner party-and you'll quickly see that people tend to have a strong, visceral reaction to her.

 

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM FAST COMPANYView all
THE NEW RULES OF BUSINESS TRAVEL
Fast Company

THE NEW RULES OF BUSINESS TRAVEL

In the era of hybrid teams, everyone is a road warrior-not just sales teams and C-suite execs. It's part of why business travel spending is expected to finally reach, and perhaps surpass, pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year, according to Deloitte. But, as with everything, work trips are not what they were in 2019. From airlines to banks, companies are finding new ways to make business travel easier-and even a little fun.

time-read
5 mins  |
Fall 2024
INTELLIGENT IMPACT
Fast Company

INTELLIGENT IMPACT

BUSINESS LUMINARIES SHARE HOW AI CAN INTERSECT WITH SOCIAL MISSION.

time-read
1 min  |
Fall 2024
REDDIT'S REVENGE
Fast Company

REDDIT'S REVENGE

IN AN ERA OF AI UPHEAVAL. THE CACOPHONOUS SOCIAL HUB EMERGES AS THE HUMAN-DRIVEN INTERNET'S LAST GREAT HOPE.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Fall 2024
SO MANY WAYS TO LOSE
Fast Company

SO MANY WAYS TO LOSE

In the Ozempic era, Weight-Watchers is remaking itself to be something for everyone meal-plan program and a tele-health prescription service. But have consumers already lost their appetite?

time-read
10+ mins  |
Fall 2024
10/10 - THE 10 MOST INNOVATIVE PEOPLE OF THE LAST 10 YEARS
Fast Company

10/10 - THE 10 MOST INNOVATIVE PEOPLE OF THE LAST 10 YEARS

In honor of Fast Company's 10th Innovation Festival in September, we identified 10 industrious leaders whose groundbreaking efforts defined the past decade in business. We spoke to them about their extraordinary achievements in tech, medicine, entertainment, and more. And we explored how the impact of their work has withstood passing fads, various presidential administrations, a pandemic, and many, many quarterly reports.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Fall 2024
The Mysterious Reappearance of the Reggie Bar
Fast Company

The Mysterious Reappearance of the Reggie Bar

How a beloved 1970s candy got called back up to the major leagues.

time-read
8 mins  |
Fall 2024
Gabriella Khalil
Fast Company

Gabriella Khalil

Gabriella Khalil, creative director, answers our career questionnaire.

time-read
2 mins  |
Fall 2024
The Fast and the Furious
Fast Company

The Fast and the Furious

High prices at McDonald's, Taco Bell, and other chains are sparking consumer revolt.

time-read
6 mins  |
Fall 2024
Lost in Truncation
Fast Company

Lost in Truncation

Lost in Truncation Generative AI was supposed to unleash our creativity. Instead, it became our cultural trash compactor. Welcome to the age of summarization.

time-read
4 mins  |
Fall 2024
Campus Radicals
Fast Company

Campus Radicals

Welcome to UATX, Austin's new well-funded and controversial anti-woke university.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Summer 2024