Meet The 24-Year-Old Heir To The Getty Family Fortune, Who Is Banking On Ball Gowns As Big Business (2024)

Streetwear is the direction of choice across today’s fashion industry at large. But in the world of fashion designer August Getty, founder of womenswear brand August Getty Atelier, the curb must make room for the red carpet. The 24-year-old great-grandson of oil tycoon Jean Paul Getty – at one point considered the richest living American in recorded history - is on a mission to implement Old Hollywood glamour, in an everyday context: “I think somebody can walk to Starbucks in a gown. For Paris fashion week I dressed my friends in ball gowns and we went to L’Avenue.”

As we sit inside the restaurant of Milan’s Armani Hotel the self-taught designer gushes, “Glam is what me and my friends do, we love to...glam. It comes from the fascination I have with Old Hollywood, and the fascination that people had for these actresses at the time. You didn’t see those girls taking out the trash in their sweatpants and they weren’t wearing sneakers. Streetwear is amazing but it’s not what I do. I think there’s a place for it, but not on the Getty girl.”

The coined “Getty girl” – often written as a hashtag across August’s Instagram business profile – is a reference to the woman wearing the Getty heir’s designs. These women often include Los Angeles it-girls of a Hailey Baldwin caliber, the designer’s best friend and muse Gigi (social media star Gigi Gorgeous that is - not Hadid), plus entertainment industry staples such as Zendaya Coleman and Miley Cyrus. “I think women could take over the world if men just get the f*ck out of the way,” the fashion designer exclaims as part of our conversation in which he professes his love for women and the female form.

“LA is where the influencers are, where the celebrities are. That’s where everything is happening and it’s all on the internet asap. Even though it’s not known as a fashion capital, this is where the fashion goes to – it’s a red carpet city,” the youngest child of Ariadne Getty explains.

Each of August’s ultra-feminine – in the traditional sense of the word – designs carry an element of sexy with them. The aforementioned is typically executed in the form of tight silhouettes, regular use of silk, and exposed limbs. Critics might argue that August’s access to the world of red carpet fashion would not have been possible, had he not been born into the Getty dynasty. A dynasty, which story about the 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III triggered the creation of Ridley Scott’s All the money in the world, as well as FX series Trust. The founder behind his eponymous fashion label insists however, that as much as a last name synonymous with wealth and power may facilitate access,having to deal with preconceived notions is an ongoing battle. “I’ve had to deal with rejection because of my last name, as some people will not trust my work ethic. People just think that I have, like, whatever. And that I don’t need to work. But you cannot get where you want to be without being good at it. And I’m really good at my job. When I was around the age of six, I used to take my mom’s Christian Louboutin shoe bags and tie them onto my Barbies as gowns. I then went on to sketching and draping. I never said I wanted to be a designer – I was born one,” Getty says, whose work atelier is based in Los Angeles County’s Culver City.

In his atelier, August works alongside a team of 25 staff members. This includes his mother Ariadne, who acts as the company CEO. “I’m looking to create a smaller atelier in Milan and kind of expand the brand. Stylists often come to the atelier, we sketch together and then we create something. Many of my designs are custom looks, but I do have seasonal collections. I think I’m ready-to-wear, but you can call me couture if you want.”

August’s signature tan, paired with his Valleyspeak, a family fortune, personal bodyguard and fashion-filled lifestyle, sound like the perfect ingredients for reality TV. And offers have been coming in. “My family and I have been reached out to a couple of times to do a reality TV show. It’s definitely up for discussion - that’s it. It would be incredible I think to do a nine-part docuseries for Netflix. Something more documented. Like, I’m not going to do a confessional.”