On Wednesday night, Instagram feeds started filling with selfies of J. Crew’s celebrity creative director Jenna Lyons and local women at Georgetown’s J. Crew store. And if you’re wondering, “Where was my invitation?” then know that for one, you’re not alone. And secondly, it may have to do with how often you shop at J. Crew.
The event was an invite-only soiree for select J. Crew shoppers, with the intention of showing customer appreciation. The whole event has a very hush-hush feel about it: local blogger, Meg Biram, a guest at last night’s event, says she received a paper invitation in the mail with a request for an RSVP.
“There really wasn’t any media there at all except a few bloggers that I think were probably there because we actually shop there regularly,” says Biram.
The anti-media-coverage attitude continued today when Washingtonian contacted the store to request information about Lyon’s visit to DC. The J. Crew store manager declined to comment. The brand’s corporate office did confirm that the event took place and that it was meant to show appreciation to customers, but told Washingtonian that they weren’t sure anyone could provide a quote about what brought Lyons to town. And when Washingtonian got in touch with the photo booth company, The Bosco, which was behind last night’s selfies, a representative said that Washingtonian’s request to publish the photo booth photos was denied by J. Crew.
The store closed for the night so guests could enjoy the event in privacy with J. Crew executives and participate in a Q&A session with Lyons. Local event designer, Laura Ritchie, was another of the lucky guests in attendance, and she was thrilled when Lyons answered her question, “If you could bring a style or fad back from the 80s or 90s what would it be?”
“She said she wouldn’t bring it back, but she loved the prairie look with high ruffled collars,” says Ritchie.
Throughout the night, Lyons hopped in front of the camera with guests. And the results aren’t stiff, forced meet-and-greet photos–Lyons got into it, hugging, sticking her tongue out, and showing us all just what a #GirlBoss she is.
Caroline Cunningham joined Washingtonian in 2014 after moving to the DC area from Cincinnati, where she interned and freelanced for Cincinnati Magazine and worked in content marketing. She currently resides in College Park.
