Faherty’s Kerry Docherty on Losing Herself While Building the Brand

by · WWD
"Selfish" will be published on April 21.Courtesy of Penguin Random House.

Kerry Docherty is selfish — at least that’s how the cofounder of the Faherty brand unabashedly describes herself in her new memoir.

Titled “Selfish: Unlearning, Reclaiming and Telling the Truth,” the book chronicles Docherty’s decision to put herself first after a lifetime of doing things for other people.

She grew up the “dutiful, well-behaved middle child” in Buffalo, N.Y., excelling in both academics and athletics at school. Early on she decided that she would never burden anyone with her needs and would instead strive to be successful, happy, helpful, need-free and selfless.

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She met her husband, Alex Faherty — “a Jersey Shore Ken doll” — on their first day at Yale and he said his goal was to one day have his own clothing company. That eventually happened shortly after they were married and living in a small apartment in New York’s East Village with Alex Faherty’s twin brother, Mike.

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At Faherty in the beginning, Docherty, who had a law degree and taught mindfulness, handled everything from social media and human resources to general counsel for the nascent brand — and also doubled as the fit model.

The business, which lost money and operated on a shoestring at first, eventually became successful. But Docherty always felt like an outsider to the twins and their mother as they worked 24-7 to build the Faherty brand.

Kerry DochertyCourtesy of Faherty

Throughout the book, she returns time and again to her relationship with a popular musician she refers to as Beau. For years, they dance around their attraction to each other but never consummate the relationship. Although it caused pain to her husband when she articulated the depth of their feelings, it was Beau who helped Docherty rediscover herself and everything she loved — including writing poetry — that had taken a back seat to her quest to grow Faherty, make her marriage work and become a mother of two.

A quick, breezy read, Docherty doesn’t hold anything back in the book, outlining in graphic detail her intimate grooming techniques, her visit to a naked yoga class, her use of vibrators, her sister’s alcoholism, Alex Faherty‘s kidney donation, their marital struggles, and other highly personal details.

This is actually Docherty’s second book. She is also the author of “Somewhere, Right Now,” a children’s book published in 2022. “Selfish,” from the Harmony division of Penguin Random House, will be on sale beginning April 21.