When partners in business and life, Matthew Malin and Andrew Goetz, launched Malin + Goetz in 2004, it was with $150,000 of personal savings and a single door, a website in the nascent days of the internet and now-defunct Barneys New York as its retailer., the market dynamics have shifted dramatically.
“We were the only ones doing gender-neutral products at the time,” Malin continued. “Fresh had gone to LVMH, Stila went to Estée Lauder and Kiehl’s to L’Oréal. We thought we could be part of the next generation of independent brands.” Though the pair see value in newness, grapefruit cleanser and vitamin E moisturizer, Malin + Goetz’s heroes it launched with, are still its bestsellers. Though both declined to comment on sales, industry sources place last year’s global revenues around $50 million.
We also started in a world before social media, which was fortunate. I don’t know that we were that strategic, it was a matter of fate. So many brands now launch direct-to-consumer, which wasn’t even remotely an option for us. We wanted to touch our customer, which is why the store was so important.Men were just starting to look at luxury grooming products, it wasn’t a focus in the way that it is today.