Jenna Lyons

Jenna Lyons (born June 8, 1968) is an American fashion designer, businesswoman, and television personality.

Lyons was the executive creative director and president of retailer J.Crew from 2010 until April 2017, when she announced her departure from the company.

She is also known for starring in the reality television series Stylish with Jenna Lyons and The Real Housewives of New York City, which she joined in the show's fourteenth season.

[5][6] Her family then moved to Palos Verdes, California, when she was four,[4][7] where she endured heavy bullying throughout her youth due to her "gawkiness" and specific health problems;[8] Lyons suffered from incontinentia pigmenti, a genetic disorder which scars the skin, causes hair to fall out in patches, and causes teeth to be malformed—hence the reason she wears dentures.

[8] Lyons, in spite of any setbacks, loved to rebel against her school uniform,[2] and learned to sew by the seventh grade, which gave her more confidence.

[4] One of her personal motivations for success stems from witnessing her parents' divorce, and forming the subsequent conviction at a young age to never need to rely on a man to get-by.

[8] When former CEO and chairman Millard Drexler was hired in 2003, he and Lyons began to form a close relationship.

It also highlighted Lyons' personal clothing style, described by The New York Times as "geek-chic quirkiness, which mixed camouflage and sequins for day, and denim and taffeta for evening, all of it layered with big costume jewelry".

Crew contributed to her fame, she also faced controversy in 2011 when she was featured painting her then 4-year-old son's toenails hot pink.

Despite it gaining national attention, such as being featured on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart where it was labeled "Toemaggedon", both Lyons and J.Crew initially declined to comment.

Lyons later recounted that the publication contacted her while she was at work to tell her that they would be running a story about her being in a relationship with a woman, Courtney Crangi.

[4] In 2013 Lyons was selected for the Time 100 list of top 100 most influential people as a Tastemaker, noted for how "she has made fashion relatable... She understands our zeitgeist.