Fashion Icon Friday: Jenna Lyons
Jenna Lyons proves that you truly can work your way up to the top. J. Crew’s creative director started at the company about 20 years ago as an assistant to someone’s assistant; now she is the one responsible for turning the prepster brand into a fashion-forward multimillion dollar mass retailer. Did you know they were the official partner of the CFDA this year? That’s impressive!
Jenna moved to New York in 1987 to study at Parsons School of Design. After graduating, she worked briefly at Donna Karan before switching over to J.Crew, and the rest is history. Jenna has grown with J.Crew from a small mom and pop company, to the international retailer it is today. Teaming up with CEO Mickey Drexler, together they have found the perfect balance of creative and commerical that draws millions into J.Crew. “Jenna’s Picks,” items handpicked by her, widely influence shoppers who are inspired by her mix-and-match style.
In an interview with Business of Fashion, Jenna talks about how she makes decisions that have gotten her and the company to where they are today: “Ultimately, fashion is all about gut anyway—there’s no science to what this should look like or that should look like or how many times you can redraw that or resketch that or redo that catalogue cover. The fact of the matter is, either it grabs you or it doesn’t.”
She’s not just fashion-forward, but also a forward thinker—and we love that.
