Shopping under the influence

LTK CO-FOUNDER AMBER VENZ BOX SAW THE FUTURE OF RETAIL. IT TOOK YEARS FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD TO CATCH UP

- ELIANA DOCKTERMAN

TWO WOMEN CLAD IN SHEER PEARL-DOTTED bodysuits with giant white roses strapped to their heads greet guests entering a Fashion Week party at Hotel Fouquet's in New York City. A sign outside the room notes that the capacity is 74 people, but more than 200 guests have RSVP'd. The noise is deafening, though that matters little: the point of this party is to photograph and be photographed.

One woman wears a leopard-print minidress with a matching coat, another a blazer with no shirt underneath. Several women fix their makeup in the mirrored cocktail tables scattered around the room. Even the DJ pauses to take a selfie.

Many of the attendees have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of followers on social media, but the star of the night is Amber Venz Box, the host of the event and president and co-founder of LTK, one of the most popular influencer platforms in the world. Box, 36, usually keeps a relatively low profile: She lives on a ranch in Texas with her co-founder, CEO, and husband Baxter Box and their four kids in a location she won't disclose for privacy reasons. But in this room, influencers clamor for a picture with the willowy redhead. Several call her their hero. One of the richest self-made women in the U.S., with Forbes estimating her net worth at $315 million in 2021, she helped pioneer the modern influencer economy by building a bridge between content creators and advertising dollars.

"We've come such a long way," she says in a welcome speech. "Looking at the guest list for today, 10% of you in the room are LTK millionaires." Everyone swivels their heads in search of these mystery super earners. A man next to me, clad entirely in black, whispers, "Damn, let me take off my sunglasses and take a look around."