Everything to Know About Jenna Lyons, the New RHONY Season 14 Cast Member (2024)

Jenna Lyons is joining the cast of The Real Housewives of New York City season 14.

The fashion designer recently joined her costars during a taping of Watch What Happens Live at BravoCon 2022, where her casting was officially announced.

While the upcoming season will be Lyons's first introduction into the world of the Real Housewives, it won't be her first time on TV.

In 2020, she had her own reality show on HBO Max, called Stylish, which followed Lyons and her team of designers as they tackled various projects.

Lyons rose to fame in the early 2010s as the lead designer for J.Crew; her work at the time popularized the concept of "high-low dressing" and earned her the title of the "Woman Who Dresses America" due to the massive success of her campaign to reinvigorate the then-struggling brand.

From her educational background to her notable work in the fashion industry, here's everything to know about Jenna Lyons.

She graduated from Parsons

Before making fashion a full-time living for herself, Lyons got her degree from the prestigious fashion school Parsons School of Design in N.Y.C.

She has a rare genetic disorder called incontinentia pigmenti

Lyons was born with Bloch-Sulzberger syndrome, or incontinentia pigmenti, which is "a genetic disorder that can cause skin scarring, loss of hair and malformed teeth," per ABC News.

Lyons previously told The Guardian that while her genetic disorder, which has caused her to wear dentures, made her insecure growing up, it also inspired her love of fashion.

"It made me introverted, but it was also the reason I loved fashion, because it can change who you are and how you feel, and that can be magical," she told the publication.

She is the former creative director and president of J.Crew

After graduating from Parsons, Lyons scored her first job at J.Crew when she was 21. Starting as an assistant designer, she eventually moved up in the company over the years.

In 2008, former CEO and chairman Millard Drexler appointed Lyons the executive creative director, and in 2010 he appointed her president.

Dressing A-list stars such as Michelle Obama and Beyoncé, Lyons became known as the "woman who dresses America" during her time with the company.

Lyons eventually announced her departure from J.Crew in 2017.

"Jenna and I got together and we both agreed it was time for a change," Drexler told Business of Fashion at the time. "That being said, she's got plans to do other things. It's been a great run. There's a lot of mutual respect between Jenna and me."

She's a mom

Lyons has a son named Beckett, whom she shares with her ex-husband Vincent Mazeau. While Beckett isn't in the public eye as much as his mom, he has been by her side for a handful of fashion events, including Glamour's 2017 Women of the Year Summit where they walked the red carpet together.

Lyons and her son notably made headlines in 2011 when the fashion designer shared a photo of her painting Beckett's nails pink in a J.Crew catalog. "Lucky for me, I ended up with a boy whose favorite color is pink," she wrote alongside the image.

At the time, it caused a stir in conservative circles, but Lyons brushed off the drama to Beauty Pie, saying "It was an innocuous slice-of-motherhood moment that wound up becoming a subject of debate on national television ... Everyone with kids of their own was saying 'are you kidding me? All boys and girls want to do what their parents are doing, I paint my son's toenails all the time.' "

She's had some high-profile relationships

Lyons was married to artist Vincent Mazeau for nine years before their split in 2011. Following her split from Mazeau, Lyons began dating Courtney Crangi, who is the sister and business partner of jeweler Philip Crangi. The couple was together for six years, before breaking up in 2017.

She has her own HBO Max series

Lyons is no stranger to reality television. Before booking The Real Housewives of New York City, she had her own HBO Max series titled Stylish with Jenna Lyons, which showed the fashion designer and her team of designers taking on various design projects.

She's in a relationship with Cass Bird

Lyons is dating acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Cass Bird, a relationship the RHONY star madeknown in aNew York Timesfeature published in June 2023.

News of Lyons' relationship came as a surprise to many, specifically fans who tuned into theJuly 23episode, when the reality starmade it clear thatshewouldn't be discussing her partneron the show.

However, when speaking to theNew York Times, she revealed that she told her castmates before the end of the season. “The words come out of your mouth, and you’re like, I can’t take those back,” Lyons said of talking to her costars. “It has not been the part of my life that I have been very successful in," she continued.

In September 2023, Lyons sparked engagement rumors when fans spotted a large ring onthatfinger in hercozy picturealongside Bird. Meanwhile, a source close to Lyons told PEOPLE "she's not engaged," despite what it might look like.