1K
For Jenny Lauren, a love of fashion and storytelling has always been something of a family affair, but her latest chapter is distinctly her own. With Jenny’s Barn in Southampton, Lauren has created a world that feels both deeply personal and effortlessly nostalgic, drawing on the kind of timeless American style, collected treasures, and lived-in charm that never really goes out of fashion. Would you expect anything less from the niece of Ralph Lauren? It’s an aesthetic informed by a lifetime spent around the creativity of her entire family, but filtered through her own point of view, one that favors authenticity and pieces with a story to tell. The Daily caught up with Lauren to talk about the inspiration behind Jenny’s Barn, the influence of growing up in one of fashion’s most iconic families, and what she’s learned about defining a style, and a space, entirely on her own terms.
Jenny’s Barn feels less like a traditional store and more like stepping inside someone’s very personal world. What was the original idea behind it, and what did you want people to feel when they walked through the door?
As I was creating Jenny’s Barn, I knew I wanted it to be a unique experience for customers and also to interact in person and get to know people. For a few years prior, I had an online store to sell my handmade jewelry and I didn’t like the idea that people could not feel or hold the pieces. Jewelry is tactile, and since most of my work is one of a kind, I wanted people to be able to have a personal connection with it. So originally, I was looking for a space to create and sell my jewelry collections, yet when I saw the barn, I had an even bigger breakthrough. I started jotting down all the things I loved, have collected, and even reminisced about the outfits I wore as a child and teenager. So much of what I loved were outfits that my mother had dressed me in that I had seen in pictures of me from early days in the Hamptons, to my rebellious teenage years in rubber crop tops and all the vintage items my brother Greg and I would go hunting for together on Canal Street. As I wrote my list, I remembered long Thunderbird earrings I used to wear that I got in Santa Fe, to my favorite fringe and leather jackets, and then the first pair of cowboy boots I got at 14. After going down memory lane, I knew I wanted to create a shop in the barn and fill it with everything I loved from the past and the present of my life in NYC, the Hamptons and Santa Fe. I focused mainly on the idea of mixing Western with Coastal vibes. The barn is a personal expression of many different parts of my life coming together and is constantly growing!
The mix at Jenny’s Barn is incredibly eclectic, from your own jewelry and vintage treasures to Western pieces, books, art, and objects for the home. What makes something feel distinctly “Jenny” enough to earn a place in Jenny’s Barn?
It’s funny because when people I have known for years have come into the barn, they have said, “It’s so Jenny,” and it has made me ask myself what makes them feel that way. I know that I’m very passionate, I love researching, I love exploring, solving puzzles, and I have many different interests. I am also obsessive when it comes to the things I love like color, beads, clothing, and art. I also think I’m half child, half woman, so I can get excited about stickers, journals, as well as a fabulous suede jacket! Whether it’s a long white lace dress, my favorite children’s book by Paul Goble, Oshkosh overalls, or prickly pear lipstick, everything I have put in the barn is distinctly Jenny.
You’ve spent years in the Hamptons, and Jenny’s Barn feels particularly at home in Southampton. What is it about the East End that has always resonated with you, and how has it influenced your eye and the world you’ve created at Jenny’s Barn?
Well, I always loved the beaches here and feeling the sand of the dunes under my feet and splashing the ocean water on my face and hair. I love the fruit markets. I love having a coffee while standing by the bay. I love summer here, yet I love winter even more. My experience in the Hamptons has always been laid-back, calm, playful, cozy, and at times, invigorating. So I wanted to find sundresses and sarongs that one could wear with a western concho belt to a bonfire at night or wear minimally with flip-flops, and searched for bikinis that look great with faded denim shorts or skirts and a cowboy hat to wear to a pool party. I wanted to find overalls, loungy pants, and soft sweatshirts that work through all the seasons here. There’s no doubt that there is also an element of glam here if you want to do it up. That’s where I had fun adding sequin halter tops and sleek black slip dresses, and of course colorful or vintage cowboy boots that are a classic now wherever you go.
Fashion was obviously part of the fabric of your childhood. Your father, Jerry, spent much of his career at Ralph Lauren, your uncle Ralph created one of the most influential American fashion brands, and your brother Greg went on to become a designer as well. What was it actually like growing up in such an extraordinarily creative family?
Surreal at times. Intense. Emotional. Fun! It’s the creativity of my family that influenced me greatly, and that gave me permission to have my own ideas and execute them. I feel blessed to be a creative person, to have vision, and to collaborate with great artists and people similar to me who simply need to create 90% of the time to function well.
Ralph Lauren has always been about much more than clothing. It’s about creating an entire world and telling a story through fashion, interiors, objects, travel, and lifestyle. Do you think growing up around that philosophy influenced the way you approach Jenny’s Barn, even subconsciously?
Absolutely! I learned that it was about creating a mood, and remaining cohesive with a touch of surprise whether it was for an event, an outfit, a jewelry collection, or a shop. I also studied art history and painting in college, and creating a cohesive body of paintings that made a statement or had a running theme throughout it was fundamental.
Your mother began taking you to New York’s bead district when you were just seven, and you’ve credited those trips with beginning your lifelong fascination with jewelry. What do you remember about those days together, and how did your parents influence your sense of personal style and your appreciation for beauty?
You ask about my mother Susan taking me to the bead district, yet there’s so much to say first about her. She had style and grace, yet was very humble about her beauty and talents. At her sweet 16, she had a platinum blonde pixie haircut and the face of an angel. When she married my dad, she wore a floor-length, white lace, a-line dress with long sleeves, yet no makeup at all. Watching her as I grew up, I was always inspired by what she wore and how she dressed us kids. She could throw on a faded green T-shirt with rugged jeans and sandals in the Hamptons and put her hair back in a ponytail and she always looked natural, fresh, and cool. She also looked amazing when she threw on a chambray shirt with a concho belt, jodhpurs, and boots, or wore a simple herringbone tweed jacket with a crisp white button-down and jeans. She dressed us in Oshkosh overalls, striped tees, and moccasins as children when we were at the beach. She made me denim short skirts out of my brother’s hand-me-down jeans, and dressed me in the plaid shirts and suspenders they out wore. She also made sure I was in a white lace dress for every childhood party, and I fought her at times, yet now I look back at those photos and understand that it was not a punishment but a classic, beautiful look for me.
Whether my mother took me to the bead district when I was young, to go get ballet slippers at Capezio, or showed my brothers and me how to dye T-shirts, she fostered in us a joy for the arts. Both my parents encouraged us to be creative, however. My father, Jerry became head of menswear design at Ralph Lauren before I was born and to say he had style is an understatement. I would visit him at his office as well and see tons of swatches all over and I loved seeing the original one-floor office with all this creativity rushing through. He would bring me back navy Paddington coats from his work trips to England or beautiful plaid kilts from Scotland. That in itself was the best part of my childhood. The barn would not be the way it is today if I had not learned from my parents, as they have had the most influence on the things and clothing I love and the enthusiasm I have for it all.
You were making and selling jewelry long before launching your jewelry line. Then, years later, your work was discovered at Donna Karan’s Urban Zen and eventually carried by Ralph Lauren. How did those early experiences shape your confidence in developing an aesthetic that was distinctly your own?
These were the greatest opportunities and I feel so fortunate that my work was seen and valued. I am always grateful to the manager at Donna Karan’s Urban Zen in Sag Harbor who noticed my necklaces I had made and was wearing when I walked in the store. Through the years creating pieces, I learned a lot through my own exploration and getting to interact with the head of womenswear at Ralph Lauren, Buffy Birrittella, and of course, my Uncle Ralph. They inspired me to explore and keep creating. In many ways, they were my muses. I also loved solving the puzzles of creating jewelry pieces that went with a collection of clothing. My confidence though, is based on the joy I experience from designing jewelry and creating it by hand. It’s always by doing and putting the time in that one learns the most. I can work day and night making jewelry. It’s my favorite activity in the world!
You studied fine arts and art history at Barnard and spent years painting before jewelry became your primary medium. How does your background as an artist inform the way you design, collect, merchandise, and even arrange Jenny’s Barn today?
I apply the metaphor of both doing a painting and creating a cohesive collection of work to everything I do. The instinctual gestures, the composition, the texture, even the asymmetry in a painting have to create a balanced expression. So I try to shape a necklace, or hunt for merchandise, or rig Jenny’s Barn to create a living painting. A successful painting looks great even turned upside down. I try to treat everything like that and study Jenny’s Barn from every angle. The wrong colors in one area can upset me, yet I also realize that shifts continually take place, and a painting can become a new one with a few new brush strokes or added textures. That’s what’s exciting about the barn; it’s a moveable feast.
You’ve described your aesthetic as drawing from art, dance, literature, nature, and travel, while Jenny’s Barn brings together coastal ease with a very strong Western spirit. Where are you finding inspiration right now, and are there certain places, eras, artists, or women whose style you continually return to?
I’m having a blast finding new artisans and designers, as well as studying vintage pieces of Western and Native American art. I learn something from everything I watch: movies, pop culture, etcetera, yet I don’t necessarily like to follow trends. I’m a chameleon who has many interests and dresses differently all the time. Feeling like a cowgirl is the most inspiring, though: it feels sexy, yet wholesome, and earthy. I would like to road trip through the U.S. soon, traveling to places like Nashville, Austin, and Wyoming. The thing is, it’s hard to find time when you own a store. I constantly have inspiration from having lived in Santa Fe and living here in the Hamptons, and I need to force myself to go to the beach so I remember why I’m out here. I think my mother was my greatest mentor, and I always go back to her for inspiration. However, everything we take in during the day, at night, what we read, watch, and see in person, gets absorbed like a sponge. I never know how, where, or what I might be inspired by next. I do know that anything timeless and authentic inspires me.
After jewelry, painting, writing, and now Jenny’s Barn, it feels as though you’ve spent your life expressing your point of view through different creative mediums. Jenny’s Barn feels like the fullest expression of your aesthetic so far. Where do you see the Barn going next?
Jenny’s Barn is truly just beginning. I’m excited to see it grow, develop and expand. Maybe it will move to another location in the Hamptons and to another city as well! I hope wherever it is or goes, it’s a joyful experience for customers to come in, chat and explore!
*This interview was edited for length and clarity.
You can view the original article HERE.
