Television series

Cashmere Mafia

Name: Cashmere Mafia
Released: 2008
Cast: Bonnie Somerville, Frances O'Connor, Julian Ovenden, Lucy Liu, Miranda Otto

Workplace drama

Cashmere Mafia follows four Ivy League friends navigating careers, love, and loyalty in Manhattan's high-stakes corporate world. It's a glossy ensemble drama about ambition, friendship, and the particular pressures facing women in finance and media. Sharp-tongued, fashionable, and surprisingly earnest about female friendship—think Sex and the City meets Wall Street, but with real stakes.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want a workplace drama where the friendships carry as much weight as the boardroom politics, and you enjoy watching ambitious friends navigate corporate power together.

Skip it if you want slow-burning character arcs, since seven hour-long episodes give the story little room to linger.

What it asks of you: Sixty-minute episodes, one short season, and a steady run of boardroom scenes and late-night talks; each hour moves quickly and stays chatty rather than slow.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Gossip Girl2007

Manhattan wealth, intricate plotting, a core group of friends whose bonds matter as much as their dramas. The same DNA: high stakes, designer clothes, and characters who are unreliable narrators of their own lives.

But Gossip Girl goes much darker and messier; if you want something closer to Cashmere Mafia's corporate focus, this veers more into melodrama. Also, the first season's mystery wears thin fast.

The Good Wife2009

A woman finding her footing in a male-dominated profession, surrounded by complicated allies and rivals. Exceptional writing about power, loyalty, and how ambition shapes relationships. Far more substantive than the premise suggests.

But Slower-paced and more legally procedural than Cashmere Mafia; less focus on the friendship group, more on individual moral compromise.

Working Girl1988

The spiritual ancestor: a working-class woman crashes the corporate world through brains and grit, making friends and enemies on her way up. Pure 80s glamour with real stakes about class and gender. Endlessly rewatchable.

But A two-hour film, not an ongoing ensemble; the tone is breezier and more comedic than Cashmere Mafia's drama.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Cashmere Mafia

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Lipstick Jungle2008

Both are ensemble comedydramas about groups of female professionals supporting each other through ambition in glamorous industries, both premiered on network TV in the same era, both capture a specific moment in how America imagined female friendship at work.

Also from 2008, also about female ambition in New York—but Lipstick Jungle is about women in fashion, publishing, and film rather than finance. Same mood of stylish camaraderie and workplace wins, but with a wilder, more colorful energy. Shameless and fun.

But Even lighter and less grounded than Cashmere Mafia; the drama is sometimes silly, the plotting less sophisticated. It was cancelled after two seasons, so the ending feels abrupt.

Succession2018

Corporate warfare at the highest level, with ensemble plotting that rewards close attention. Sharp dialogue, morally compromised characters you still root for, and a keen eye for how power actually works in closed rooms.

But Darker and more nihilistic; the friendships are weapons, not support systems. Also, it's about inherited power, not climbing—completely different engine.

The Devil Wears Prada2006

Fashion, ambition, and the peculiar alchemy of female mentorship and rivalry. Meryl Streep is a masterclass; the film understands that workplace dynamics are about respect and control, not just jealousy.

But A single protagonist's arc rather than an ensemble; much lighter in tone. The workplace is a dictatorship, not a peer group.

Sex and the City1998

The obvious reference point: four friends, one city, careers woven through every episode. The template for Cashmere Mafia's tone. If you haven't seen it or want to revisit what this show was trying to channel, start here.

But Carrie's not in corporate finance; the focus is romance over work. Also, some of it has aged awkwardly.

Damages2007

Corporate drama with real legal teeth. Glenn Close is predatory brilliance; the show's plotting is intricate and morally complex. Every character is using everyone else, and that tension is electric.

But Much grittier and more cynical than Cashmere Mafia; no real friendship or warmth—everyone's transactional. The non-linear timeline can be confusing.

House of Cards2013

Ambitious people clawing their way through hierarchies, forming alliances, and betraying each other. The mechanics of power are intoxicating; it's impossible to look away from people who are genuinely good at wanting things.

But Political rather than corporate; Kevin Spacey's Frank Underwood is a monster who won't apologize for it. Much darker than Cashmere Mafia's world, where people still have consciences.

902102008

Another show about a friend group navigating wealth, status, and competing ambitions; premiered the same year as Cashmere Mafia. If you're in the mood for ensemble drama with fashion and California glamour, it scratches a similar itch.

But About teenagers and young adults, not seasoned professionals; the tone is more teen soap than corporate thriller. Much less sophisticated in its writing.

In Good Company2004

Both are affectionate portraits of professional ambition in media and publishing, where the workplace itself becomes a character, and both root for their characters' success without cynicism.

A workplace comedy-drama about magazine culture and generational tension, with surprising emotional depth. Dennis Quaid and Topher Grace have real chemistry; the film loves its corporate setting the way Cashmere Mafia does. Warm and smart.

But Focused on two men (one older, one younger) rather than a female ensemble; much smaller in scope and more romantic-comedy than corporate thriller.