Garance sat down with President and Creative Director of J.Crew, Jenna Lyons during New York Fashion Week Spring 2013. The video is about 9 minutes long- perfect to watch while sipping your morning coffee or evening tea.
Jenna always comes off so personable. She seems like she could get along with almost anyone.
P.S. Is the high tight bun the latest hair trend? Is the bun donut trend over? Please let me know!
What are your thoughts on the video/interview? What part of the interview did you think was the most interesting? Did you like Jenna's outfit?
I'm not a huge fan of the outfit, but it's very Jenna. The glasses seem even more severe w/the tight bun and while they may be a Rx, she could benefit by moving onto a new frame. I agree that she seems down-to-earth and easy to talk to. I'm guessing the hype hasn't changed her too much, which is refreshing. I found it funny how many times she mentioned blogs & social media.
ReplyDeleteCar service!
I am not a fan of the bun or the glasses, but I love the outfit! She seems very personable.
ReplyDeleteI just wonder if she ever reads the comments and reviews that JCAs post. I can't imagine the horror that she would feel about some of the reviews. But, she must know that some of the things they are putting out are not high quality. I just thought things would have changed by now, so I think she probably doesn't read what we have to say.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this - she sounds so busy. WFF made an excellent point on her blog post about the plastic tweed dress that sometimes the JC original idea is good but then in the interest of cost-cutting the execution leaves something to be desired. Maybe Jenna's not that involved in the overall 'cheapening' of the design as it goes to production?
DeleteThere are definitely some horror stories on JCA. I have a new Tippi and a pencil skirt that I'm wary of clipping the tags off and and wearing because of the stories I've heard of pilling and split seams. Lately, I don't think that JC cares if we wear the clothes, just as long as with continue to buy them.
thanks,silver_lining! I just returned a cashmere Tippi because it was pilling on arrival. I called CS first to make sure it wasn't FS, the back & forth around here can get hectic, and got a lecture on the qualities of cashmere. The sweater is safely returned, I'm still steaming!
DeleteIf Jenna is still the President of the company, her responsibility must include production costs and their effects on products. We wouldn't excuse such willful ignorance on the part of the president of an auto company, or a pharmaceutical company, or a toy company.
I agree! I also think that their idea of social media is more along the lines of their FB and tumblr pages - talking at customers instead of with them.
Deletesilver_lining, I think you put it perfectly with the words "talking at customers instead of with them". I most certainly agree. While I love hearing what Mickey or Jenna have to say about the brand, were there more of a dialogue between the company and its customers, or if they were truly taking note of customer complaints time and time again with respect to issues like pilling, splitting seams, the dream yarn which is more like a nightmare, unlined suiting pieces, etc., they would want to address them, right? And yet as much as we've heard Mickey openly admit to the brand having made mistakes in producing certain pieces that did not sell or that he's concerned with customer issues regarding quality, the evidence seems to be to the contrary as many items seem to be more shoddily produced from year to year. While this is admittedly a ridiculous notion, what if Mickey and Jenna decided for an entire season to dress in nothing but current J.Crew items? Can we imagine Jenna on TV in a pilling cashmere sweater, half-tucked and bulging from underneath her unlined pants?
DeleteThanks, Dara - I had another thought watching the video when Jenna talked about people connecting via blogs and stuff. Sure, it benefits JC big time when JCA's enable other JCA's (how many have said their purchasing has gone up since reading all the blogs?) but they're not doing much to return the favor. They've got so much customer feedback at their disposal but it's largely been ignored.
DeleteJ. Crew is mostly certainly aware of social media brand sentiment, and employs web-crawling, data-mining research consultants like MotiveQuest to track it.
DeleteAs long as sales and margins are at forecast, meaning that we bitch all day long about the poor quality of $150 shirts and $400 shoes but still buy them,our opinions are alot more important to each other than they are to J. Crew.
Dara, yes please! And of course trailing sequins behind her!
DeleteThe glasses seem to be her signature style piece. OK everyone. Please get over them and move on:) I think she is going to be rocking that pair for a long time. (Plus I am sure she has more than one pair probably!)
ReplyDeleteMy horror was with Garance...what is with the severely hacked off sleeves of her blouse ? and of coarse Jenna sans bra(looks like what she has is at her waist) and those terrible oversized glasses...They make her nose look large...Wow am I ever opinionated. Sorry Carolyn from Vancouver
DeleteSigh...wasted breath....oh well at least I tried. Off to work here in lovely UK
DeleteI highly doubt she worried about the salary for her first job if she was buying clothes at Nordstrom and her grandmother was sending her navy blazers and wool kilts from Brooks Brothers... she is trying to be relatable, but it doesn't come off that way (for me, at least).
ReplyDeleteit did occur to me that if concerns about financial matters had been even a small part of her background, she'd have asked about salary. Even if she expected a subsidy from home, at least at first.
DeleteAm I just naturally suspicious, or am I still recovering from the immortal words that started my day yesterday: "pilling is a natural characteristic of cashmere."
Also, I hope the donut bun is still in and the tight bun trend is not the new thing! I think I look ridiculous in a tight bun (not to be mean, but I think Jenna does too - it's just too severe and manly a look for my taste) and I just went out and bought one of those donut bun rings that my friend is going to teach me how to use. I'm great at coloring my own hair but a totally dummy when it comes to styling; without my flat iron I am beyond lost.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the video but I would have liked to know more about her day or what she actually does now that she is President. I think many of us still associate her mostly with the design but I think she moved to on to other responsabilities and they are not clear to me.
ReplyDeleteI loved when she said that she wore a quilt with a surf tee on her first day of school, that explains a lot about her style!
Oh, c'mon, what's not to love about Jenna AND Garance? I'd love to have lunch with them anywhere.
ReplyDeleteJenna is a big part of what has made JCrew aficionada fare instead of a provider of varsity staples. Because she and Garance are willing to take some risks, they get quite a few "hits."
Fidele, I agree with your comments. And even if Garance and Jenna aren't conventional beauties, they each have their own "look", and both are refreshingly upbeat and down-to-earth.
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