My 18 Hours with J.Crew

I was invited by our very favorite Personal Shopper and Stylist at J.Crew, Sylvia Gesell, to meet and greet in Boston last week with Jenna Lyons of J.Crew.   Now if you don’t know who the Creative Director and President is, then you are clearly not a regular J.Crew shopper.  

Image from Lisa Bida.

Nicknamed the “Woman Who Dresses America,” Jenna Lyons has been called “a creative force and style have been called the reason that J.Crew turned the corner into cult brand status” and has had profits more than triple in ten years up until 2013. 

Image from Lisa Bida.

It’s been the two years since then that have been tough on J.Crew, as quality has been off, and Jenna’s formerly spot-on sense of style has missed the mark. Not by a little, but by A LOT.  Jen and I have hosted a bunch of style and shop events at J.Crew over the years, and frankly, as of late, we’ve been uninspired. When Sylvia invited me to attend the meet-and-greet at the Copley store on Wednesday night with Jenna and Somsack Sikhounmuong, her new director of design, I thought "ok, let's go see what Som has got to say". He worked some magic as the head of design at Madewell, so much so that I spent more dollars in the past 6 months at the sister store rather than at J.Crew.

I had a chance to speak one-on-one with Somsack about his vision for J.Crew.   "My job is make sure it’s beautifully designed and manufactured.”  Amen.  Now just get the designs right.   We talked mostly about what hasn’t been working (dresses too short, need some good prints, less bling) and he was very receptive.

Image from thecoveteur.com.

After the meet and greet with Jenna and Som, attendees rushed to the photo booth for a picture with Jenna.  Not my cup of tea, but when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Jenna was as you would expect…looked exactly as she does in the media, was dressed in a cool metallic fringe skirt and awesome gold metallic loafers.

Image from Lisa Bida.

She was personable and funny, two words that would NOT be used to describe me after getting my picture taken a 200 times with 200 people.  She did look me over when I got up from the picture and said, “you’re so chic!”  I’m not gonna lie, that kind of made my day.

The next morning was a roundtable breakfast with the top brass at J.Crew - sans Jenna and Som.  President Libby Wadle lead the discussion with about 8 of us civilians and 5 members of her team.  There were stories of our first pieces of J.Crew (for me, a sweater from my husband, then boyfriend) and questions around if we wear yoga pants around town when we’re not working out (UGH NO!).  There was one women who had 12 Regent Blazers and 15 pairs of one style of pants, all in a rainbow of colors!  She was a super user for sure.  That’s not how most people shop J.Crew though, and for the rest of us, I spoke.  

We need a crisp, white button down blouse that’s not see-through, said I.  No mini-skirt-length dresses.   Enough statement necklaces and gold-tone bling….silver jewelry please!  A good pair of pull-on ponte pants and ponte blazer a la Veronica Beard. Trends from the season that were missed….fisherman knit sweater, sleeveless turtleneck, tie neck blouse.  All around better quality sweaters and cashmere. Classics with a twist, not a 180 degree u-turn.    The team took it all in, shaking their heads in mutual agreement.  It was a relief frankly, that they know where they missed the mark. Fashion works 12 months out so they are well aware of what’s going to hit or not before product even sees the stores.  

As the breakfast ended and I was departing, Libby thanked me for my insight and asked to photograph my first and favorite piece of J.Crew jewelry.  A link bracelet that was part of their first jewelry collection and one you may see 12 months from now in J.Crew near you.  

Image from popsugar.com.

All in all, it was a fun 18 hours with an iconic American retailer that is finding it’s way back into our hearts and wardrobe. ~ LB