As Lyons Heads for Exit, J.Crew’s Drexler Takes More Control

After 26 years, the face of J.Crew, Jenna Lyons, has been pushed out of the company. Her career began and grew at J.Crew, where she began working at 21 and eventually was appointed creative director in 2008 and president in 2010. Regardless of title, she possessed a wide reach in the company. As WWD highlights, her departure is extremely monumental and the views on it have been vast and divisive.

Some say the cause for her departure was that her inextricable ties to the J.Crew brand had grown stale. Vivaldi Engagement Manager Gedina Gudehus-Wittern had a different perspective: “This close association of Lyons’ personal style and personality in the customers’ eyes is a lot more common for luxury brands and quite unique for a mass market retailer, but has been one of the most successful elements of the J.Crew brand that others have tried to replicate without success.” As of late, J.Crew has been struggling and is trying to rebound and successfully grow with its consumers. It is clear that this personnel change is a big step, but only time will tell if it is a move in the right direction.