When Lauren Conrad first launched her namesake brand, LC Lauren Conrad, at Kohl’s in 2009, she was 23 years old and three years post “Laguna Beach.”
“It was a major career pivot,” the entrepreneur told WWD in an exclusive interview. “But it was always the intent.”
Seventeen years, two kids and a fashion empire later, it’s safe to say the gamble paid off. What once was a small clothing line, limited to womenswear only, has now blossomed into a multifaceted business, offering items across several product categories, including handbags, jewelry, shoes, decor and even childrenswear, aka Little Co. by Lauren Conrad.
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Inspired by her personal style, the brand, which remains the most searched By Kohl’s brand at Kohl’s today, was founded with a hyper-feminine point of view but has since adopted a more masculine mood. Think retired surfer meets coquette, country girl. The evolution, and the category expansions, Conrad explained, have been largely determined by her audience, an audience that’s remained loyal since her time on reality TV.
“As a brand, you want to continue to evolve. You want to stay relevant. You want to make sure that you are continuing to provide the basics that your customers look for, but you also want to keep people interested. So we’re always walking that fine line. On social media, when people are sending messages, we’re reading them, we’re taking that in, it’s all really valuable information,” she continued. “We want to make sure we’re making the best product possible.”
In 2026, the line, like Conrad, will return to its feminine, SoCal roots, starting with its latest collection, out now, which pays homage to the place where it all began, and just in time for “The Reunion: Laguna Beach.” Airing April 10 on The Roku Channel, the special will see Conrad come face-to-face with the full cast of the MTV series, including her high school “frenemy” Kristin Cavallari and her old flame Stephen Colletti.
“I was full of feelings going into it,” Conrad said. “I was an executive producer on this project, which means that I pitched it, and then was in all the meetings. I felt a little more control because I knew that I would see everything edited. But it’s been around 20 years since I did this with this group of people. So I was also just really nervous to be on camera again. We all had a stage day, and that day was very difficult for me because it was a lot of lights and a long day and a lot of uncomfortable questions.”
“I was a child when I started this,” she continued. “We also were living in a time where social media wasn’t a thing. So, I think that we all felt safer to be ourselves on camera. We didn’t live in a time where we were putting it out there for millions and millions of people to share their opinion and have thoughts about it, or if they did, we would never hear about it and it didn’t matter.”
The Conrad today is also vastly different than the 18-year-old who garnered widespread attention on the show in 2004. For starters, she’s taking care of herself. “I live a very different life now. I’m very focused on taking care of myself, not just because I want to feel good, but I’m a mother, so I need to show up for others,” Conrad said. “I loved my late teens and early 20s. I had so much fun, but I just couldn’t physically do it today.”