Designer of the week is Jenna Lyons. American designer born in Boston, Massachusetts but her family moved to California when she turned four years old. Growing up, she was bullied due to being different and having health problems. The genetic disorder she faced was incontinentia pigmenti. This disorder scared her skin which caused her hair to fall out in patches and teeth to grow malformed. Even though this made her an introvert, this is also why fashion became an important part to her life. You can change who you are and how you feel with that perfect outfit. She learned how to sew in seventh grade which helped in deciding to go into fashion. Over time, her skills and interest got her into Parsons where she graduated by 1990. Lyons landed her first job as an assistant designer in men's wear at J.Crew. By 2003, she became J.Crew's Vice President of Women's Design. Working beside Millard Drexler, the two formed a close relationship and became tow key players in tripling J.Crews revenue. Lyon made J.Crew a tastemaker in the industry. She crafter the brand and style around her trademark style. With Lyons nerdy-tomboy glam, she managed to be talked about more than the average retail executives. The biggest news piece was when she painted her four year old sons toe nails pink. This became the next subject of debate on national tv. Follow by her leaving her husband for a woman. These represented a refreshing demonstration of authenticity that made her all the more desirable to her admirers. 
By 2017, Lyons decided to depart from J.Crews after two years of declining sales to find her own footing. She could see that J.Crew was struggling. So instead of trying to hold on while it's going down, she decided to leave. This wasn't an easy decision to make but when she started noticing that her team that she's been working with for years started to assume she would agree to something or look at something, she knew it was time to make a change for herself. She didn't want to stand in the way of a shift that could better the company. When your team is use to a certain way that you work, it's hard to get the team to still bring up things that are outside the box. Which is something that each company needs to stay on top. By 2018, she joined partnership with Turner Entertainment for her unscripted reality show called Stylish with Jenna Lyons. This show was released in 2020 on HBO Max. At the same time, she also launched LoveSeen that same year where the company focuses on fake lashes. When you work for a company, you can get lost in it's success. Being careful to remind yourself that the success isn't 100% you but the company. So when she started her own company, her success would be because of her. Due to the pandemic, Lyons did struggle but it's nice to see that she is still influencing each generation.
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