Jenna Lyons, Woman Who Dresses America, dating partner Courtney Crangi, Lyons 'came out' lesbian following her divorce with her ex husband

J. Crew fired 175 staff members just last month. Among those who were laid off was the Head of Women's Design, Tom Mora.  According to reports, this change was made following the slump the company experienced. With a huge fall in sales, the once popular company has lost a lot of its loyal customers in the last few years.

While J. crew’s sales (mostly in women’s clothing) were going down, its sister company, Madewell was making a huge progress. And maybe that’s why Somsack Sikhounmuong, who was previously the Head of Design at Madewell, has now been appointed the Head of Women’s Design for J. Crew. Sikhounmuong is expected to bring a fresh perspective to the company.  His position at Madewell will be filled by Joyce Lee. Lee has been a senior team member at Madewell for the last seven years.  Both Lee and Sikhounmuong will be reporting to the creative director and President of J. Crew, Jenna Lyons.

 About the recent changes in the company, CEO Millard Drexler said, "We are making meaningful and strategic changes across our organization to better position us for future growth.  While many of these decisions were difficult, they are necessary,"

Drexler, who is also the Chairperson of the company, continued "With Somsack in his new role, we will continue to focus on making critical improvements to our J.Crew women's assortment including fit, design aesthetic and styling.  We know what needs to be done and while many of these initiatives take time, we have a committed team in place to make it happen."

J. Crew had been doing very well in the last ten years (with even the first lady Michelle Obama donning one of their dresses once.) This was in a large part due to Lyons, who has been working for the company since 1948.  Lyons was appointed the creative director of the company in 2008 and the president in 2010. The hiring of current CEO, Drexler helped the company a lot, as Drexler and Lyons established a close relationship and were able to move the company forward.

While her net worth is not determined, Lyons has had an estimated compensation of upto $3 million. She has been appropriately nicknamed “Woman Who Dresses America”, all thanks to her creative clothing ideas. Lyons, who attended Parsons was interested in fashion even as a kid. Talking about her childhood, Lyons had said that, incontinetia pigmenti (a genetic disorder) drove her towards fashion in a way.

Lyons married her longtime boyfriend, artist Vincent Mazeau in 2002. But the couple split up in 2011. In 2012, Lyons came out as lesbian. Lyons announced her relationship with her girlfriend and partner Courtney Crangi the same year, they have been dating for more than three years now. While some reports suggest that Lyons had an affair with Crangi before her divorce to Mazeau, there have been no confirmations of it.

Lyons currently resides in Tribeca, New York with her son Beckett, whom she had with her ex-husband, Mazeau.