Jenna Lyons doesn’t mind admitting that she likes attention.
She’s a style icon, a fashion designer, a reality TV star, and more.
That is so nice.
I love that."
However, she’s also bristled at her life in the spotlight.
She added, “Too bad I’m six feet tall.”
“My mom … had pretty severe Asperger’s and had trouble forming emotional connections.
However, they also led Lyons to a transformative discover in her life: Finding fashion.
She toldThe Guardianthat once she began dressing herself, she noticed that people’s reactions to her would change.
She recalled, “That was when I knew I wanted to be a part of it.”
While there, she picked up an internship with designer Donna Karan.
“Back then this was 1990 a jacket back then was $2,200.
That was an exorbitant amount of money at the time, and for me.
I couldn’t afford to wear any of the clothes.”
“I couldn’t afford to do the job,” she recalled.
That choice would soon come to define her career, because right after college, Jenna Lyons found J.
Her time at J.
Crew
Jenna Lyons' first role at J.
Crew was at the bottom of a long ladder of assistants.
“They are equal.”
Lyons' hard work took J. Michelle Obama wore J.
During Barack Obama’s 2013 inauguration, FLOTUS once again wore J.
After 20 years at J.
Crew, she had become “The Woman Who Dresses America.”
Jenna Lyons: Interior Designer
As Jenna Lyons' position at J.
Crew grew into a larger role, that meant more resources and freedom in Lyons' personal life.
“And ironically, I got more attention for that than I did for my career in fashion.”
Though Lyons might be exaggerating for effect, the renovated brownstone did indeed bring her a flurry of press.
In 2008,Domino Magazinefeatured her renovated home on the cover.
“Everything is so predictable!”
She told the magazine.
“We don’t need to be so predictable.
Instead, be inspired by something unique.”
The designer later flipped the home amid her divorce.
In a segment called “Toemageddon,” the comedian shot back at critics of Lyons' photo.
You make it sound like it’s a story about incest or cannibalism!”
Speaking withNew York Magazine, Lyons explained that her son simply wanted to copy her.
“My God, my toes went from white to hot pink,” she recounted.
“It was very exciting.”
She reflected on the ad viaInstagramin 2023, writing that her son was all grown up.
She was outed amid her divorce
In 2011,Jenna Lyons divorced her husband, Vincent Mazeau.
At the same time, she began dating a friend named Courtney Crangi.
One night they got dinner together, and apparently, someone told the New York Post about it.
Before she knew it, Lyons had said the word “confirm.”
As she recounted in an essay forThe Cut, the experience felt violating.
She later told “The View” that she didn’t like the attention.
She took a cab around Manhattan, purchasing every copy of the Post she could find.
“All [of a] sudden, everyone cared.”
Nowadays, Lyons is out and proud.
“I do feel less responsibility to explain,” she wrote for The Cut.
Jenna Lyons' wedding fashion
Jenna Lyons is no stranger to wedding fashion.
In fact, when she married Vincent Mazeau in 2002, she designed her own dress.
More than a decade later, it was Lyons' fashion as a wedding guest that made headlines.
She attended the 2014 nuptials of Solange Knowles and Alan Ferguson, turning heads in a feathered ensemble.
The whole thing also happened at the last minute.
“The T-shirt went on, the T-shirt did not work,” she recalled.
“The T-shirt came off.
She left J.
Crew in 2017
After working at J.
Crew for almost three decades, Jenna Lyons left the company in 2017 amid years of declining sales.
They’ve insisted it was a mutual decision ever since.
After leaving the company, Lyons was surprised to find that more than just her job had changed.
No longer being connected to such an iconic fashion brand meant that her social status shifted as well.
She toldThe New York Times, “I really faded away.
Up next for Lyons, however, was yet another transformation.
“Emily’s been one of my biggest supporters.”
Nowadays, they remain great friends.
In 2022, Hampshire posted anInstagramphoto to mark Pride Month.
“#happypride NYC,” she wrote.
“I’ve moved into @jennalyonsnyc closet.”
The photo shows Hampshire reclining on a couch, sandwiched between Lyons' massive shelves of shoes.
(The “closet” metaphor, of course, seems tongue in cheek.)
Hampshire has also spoken about the former J.
Now that she’s got Lyons in her corner, of course, all of that has changed.
“I didn’t smile ever covered my mouth.”
In an essay forOprah Daily, she explained that she got veneers in tenth grade.
As an adult, Lyons decided to get extensive reconstructive surgery as a preparation for tooth implants.
My nose was slowly collapsing because of the lack of bone,” she wrote.
In 2022, she shared viaInstagramthat her struggles with her teeth were finally nearing the end.
Her Max competition series
After leaving J.
Crew, Jenna Lyons embarked on a new phase of her career: Television stardom.
I’ve realized it’s ok to be a little scared to pivot.
The show materialized two years later, as she hosted “Stylish with Jenna Lyons” on HBO Max.
“If I’m going to hire someone, I want to see what they can actually do.”
Unfortunately, the show wasn’t a hit.
Lyons aimed to rectify that by launching a false eyelash company called Loveseen.
“I thought maybe this could be a sweet spot for me.”
“This feels natch!”
he said, to much audience laughter.
“I like it.”
Crew head’s involvement in her new beauty company led to a new venture into reality TV.
Putting it as simply as possible, Lyons stated, “We need the exposure.”
Bravo producer Andy Cohen replied, “You know what … this is a good idea.”
Cohen told “Today” that Lyons still took some convincing.
“We had a few long conversations.
Come-to-Jesus conversations, as they were,” Cohen explained.
And that is my choice.
Like, more seen?”
Lyons confirmed that it was the opposite.
