Jenna Lyons is making her entrance into the publishing world at lifestyle and fashion brand Coveteur. While there hasn’t been an official announcement from Lyons or the publication, her name appears on its masthead as “Editor-in-Chief (at Large),” and the Daily Front Row announced her new role. Lyons, who was most recently on season 14 of The Real Housewives of New York, is also known for her 27-year tenure at J.Crew; she was the executive creative director and president of retail for seven of those years, making the brand highly successful and sought-after.
Lyons’s path following her J.Crew days have been quite unconventional, from launching a false-eyelash brand, LoveSeen, in 2020 to becoming a reality-television star last year. In September, she told the Cut she had a “really different idea of what success looks like now.” It appears that she’s trying every possible lane she can. Lyons will become the successor to Jessica Teves, the former Coveteur EIC who left the publication early last year.
Another new name that appears on Coveteur’s masthead directly under Lyons is Sarah Clary, with the title “Fashion Editor (at Large).” Clary is one of Lyons’s good friends and was an art director at J.Crew and ran all of their shoots while Lyons was there.
This appointment continues the publishing trend of non-journalistic figures running magazines. While the age of stylist turned EIC may be ending, it seems like there may be a new trend of social figures at the helm of publications, from Karlie Kloss acquiring i-D Magazine to Lyons becoming an EIC. But will that be enough to sustain a publication? We’ll have to see.