J.Crew's Jenna Lyons is the Go-To Girl

A big "thanks!" to KitsMommy (in this post), who shared the following article from the London Times Online (click here):

The go-to girl for fortysomething fashion
Jenna Lyons is the creative director of J.Crew, the American brand worn by the First Lady and other stylish US women
By Lisa Armstrong
April 14, 2010

In your 40s and can’t find anything to wear? This woman thinks she has the answers. And she has form. Because this is Jenna Lyons, 41, the creative director — and according to many saviour — of J.Crew, the American clothing chain to which Michelle Obama, among others, turns when she needs a chic wardrobe reality check.

The 6ft New Yorker with a three-and-a-half-year-old son and a 75-year-old mother (both J.Crew customers), along with the 55 other designers who work with her at J.Crew, has been so successful at tapping in to what grown-up but still fashion aware women want to wear that at the end of last year her bosses slapped a million dollar handcuffs deal on her.

Her secret? “I like what we do, and I wear what we do. I wouldn’t say I’ve made J.Crew over in my image, that would be presumptuous. You do have to work from instinct, while keeping a very clear head about what it is your brand stands for.”

Under the helm of Lyons, J.Crew has come to stand for a clear, reassuring refuge for women who are desperate for a dose of fashion flair combined with a bracing accessibility and clean lines. It is a combination that it is frustratingly hard to find on this side of the Atlantic, where the high street excels at throwaway trends but can’t seem to step up to the challenge of well-made, contemporary classics. The labels that do manage to come up with a more sophisticated, thoughtful take — such as Joseph or Jaeger — operate at the upper end of the high street.

Lyons seems at a loss to explain why others find the task so tough. “Looked at from one point of view, there are a lot of clothes that women of any age can wear now. I love short skirts, for instance, but I wear them with tights. And the twentysomething who sits down the corridor from me wears the same dress, but with bare legs. My mother wears my toothpick jeans — actually she stole mine — but she’ll team them with ballet flats, a blazer and a stripy Breton T-shirt whereas I always wear mine with a high heel and a nude colour top.”

Every time she visits, Lyons ends up pulling all the clothes out of her mother’s closet, styling them into new permutations and then taking Polaroids of all the outfits for her mother. That could be why she has such an empathy with the dilemmas women face down daily when it comes to getting dressed.

“It’s easy to get overwhelmed, bored or alienated by what’s out there,” she acknowledges. “My mother’s always saying she has nothing to wear — and she has tons. What’s lacking are role models. I think that it is symptomatic of a lot of other issues we have about ageing. When I go to LA I see that everyone is dressing like a teenager. Maybe it’s panic,” she muses. “Or the cult of fame — everyone wants to dress like celebrities, and celebrities are all chasing youth.”

Lyons, who is married to an artist and commutes daily to her Manhattan office from her home in Brooklyn, says: “The fact is, you have to get more selective as you get older. You need to learn what works for you, both in terms of functionality and shape.” Lyons is impressively clear-headed about what works for J.Crew. “We’re a clean, American brand.

“Military is good for us — it’s versatile, chic, timeless. Rock chics aren’t us, although we would do a biker boot because that’s a classic which looks great with everything. Ethnic is something we tend to steer clear of, especially if everyone else is doing it. Pale, nude colours are great. Camel is a much tougher call — most women don’t like how they look in camel. I know it’s what Phoebe Philo’s done a lot of at Céline, and I love what she’s doing there, but it succeeds because she’s working with the best, most expensive fabrics.”

J.Crew has been known to push the boat out, however. Lyons laughs when I tell her how last winter I became obsessed tracking down a bouclé tweed jacket that had sold out in every branch in New York (damn Michelle Obama, she wore the matching skirt and the vultures swooped before I got there). I eventually found the last one in town — two sizes too small, but nothing that couldn’t be (drastically) altered. It was worth it. The tweed is excellent and the jacket even has a gold chain stitched into the inside hem, a nice further homage to Chanel. It’s better, in other words, than it needed to be.

“It’s true. We could have got away with less,” she notes. “But you noticed that it was good \[the tweed came from Linton, the Cumbrian company that also makes tweeds for Chanel\] and that cannot be underestimated as a marketing tool. In fact, forget everything else — what our research has told us over again is that the key factor in turning customers on to our brand is word of mouth. Women trust their friends over and above anything else.”

While Lyons loves fashion (“it’s frightening how much I shop”), she’s not wildly interested in trends. Unlike British high street chains, J.Crew, guided by Lyons, scythes a path through this season’s key looks (“we’d do ruffles, although I’m not a huge fan of droopy or wispy ...”).

When she studies the catwalk, she’s looking for moods rather than specifics. “The problem as you move through your thirties, forties and beyond,” she muses, “is that there’s almost too much choice. So many women have no idea how to put it all together.” Her advice: aim for a degree of counter-balance, and edit ruthlessly. “If you like a soft, slouchy feel — a pyjama style pair of trousers, for instance — wear it with a tailored jacket, a menswear jacket and a pair of heels. Structure is your friend.”

So, too, are beautiful items that transcend (and justify) that feverish impulse to buy that infects the most restrained consumer. “Ask yourself when you’d wear it and how long you’ll love it for. Does it make you look better than the outfit you walked in in? It’s not so much about limiting your choices as empowering them.”

I enjoyed this article! There were a lot of great quotes from Ms. Lyons like being more selective about clothing as you become older & knowing what works for you. I also think that J.Crew's collection (for the most part) consists of classic staples. I know what I buy will be worn for years to come. So its great to hear the different ways I can wear a piece as I mature.

What are your thoughts on the article? Any points you found particularly interesting? What is your take on Jenna Lyons' contribution for the Women's line? :)