Photo: COLIENA RENTMEESTER
Lyons' feature appears in theFebruary 2021 issue of the fashion magazine(on newsstands now) starringGemma Chanon the cover. During the interview, Lyons toldELLE UKshe hopes to see more acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community asPresident Donald Trump’s term comes to an end.
“In this current regime [the Trump administration], we’re seeing more prejudice than ever and we’ve just sworn someone into the Supreme Court [Amy Coney Barrett] who could help overturn same-sex marriage,” Lyons said. “I hope that things shift. Where we are now is very scary.”
ELLE UK
“I remember my mom saying, ‘What am I supposed to tell people?’ I said, ‘You don’t have to make them comfortable. You don’t have to say anything, or you could say that it’s weird for you too.’ I wanted her to know that she didn’t have to take care of other people’s feelings.”
At the time, theNew York Postreported that after Lyons split from Vincent Mazeau, her husband of nine years, she “fell in love” with a woman. ThePostidentified her as Courtney Crangi, the sister of celebrity jeweler Philip Crangi.
Asource told PEOPLE in 2011that the Lyons-Crangi relationship “absolutely” did not break up the Lyons-Mazeau marriage.
“They met at a fashion event several years ago … at least three years ago … and became friends,” the source said. “They got together this summer after Jenna’s [nine-year] relationship [with Mazeau] ended.”
COLIENA RENTMEESTER
Lyons and Crangisplitin December 2017 — around the same time the fashion personality left J.Crew. Looking back at the break-up, Lyons toldELLE UK, “I had a girlfriend, a massive job and three assistants and they all went away. I didn’t control my finances or pay my bills. There may have been some collection notices.”
Speaking withPEOPLE in December, Lyons said she was trying to figure out her next step during that time.
The new HBO Max show follows Lyons and her trusty sidekicks, chief of staff Kyle DeFord (formerly chief of staff to J.Crew CEO Mickey Drexler) and creative director Sarah Clary (a New York-based stylist) as they kick-start Lyons' new venture — a creative agency calledLyons L.A.D., which stands for “life after death.”
The agency takes on projects that go beyond the fashion sphere and into home decor and beauty (Lyons started her own false lash line,LoveSeen) and viewers get to see Lyons' perfectionism and unparalleled attention to detail range from styling outfits to decorating a home.
The competition aspect comes in as Lyons tries to pick a new addition to the team. We see her interviewing candidates, assigning out styling challenges and testing the crew of hopefuls on all-things design through different projects the agency is taking on (like decorating an N.Y.C. brownstone and curating apop-up shop).
While the show is somewhat of aThe Rachel Zoe Project-and-Project Runwayhybrid, what viewers don’t see is the typical sort of elimination format.
“Somehow along the way [of filming], they were like, ‘Well, what if there were real stakes involved and real people are actually going to vie for a job?’ I was like, ‘Okay, but I don’t want to do a reality contest show. So, how do we make it different? How do we make it ours?'” Lyons explained.
The February issue ofELLE UKis on newsstands now.
source: people.com
