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Lauren Conrad
Lauren Conrad 2009.jpg
Conrad at the 6th Annual Hollywood Style Awards in October 2009
Born
Lauren Katherine Conrad

(1986-02-01) February 1, 1986 (age 38)
Laguna Beach, California, U.S.
Alma mater Academy of Art University (attended)
Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (attended)
Occupation
  • Television personality
  • fashion designer
  • author
Years active 2004–present
Television
  • Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County
  • The Hills
Spouse(s)
William Tell
(m. 2014)
Children 2

Lauren Katherine Conrad Tell (born February 1, 1986) is an American television personality, fashion designer and author. In 2004, she came to prominence after being cast in the reality television series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, which documented her and her friends' lives in their hometown of Laguna Beach, California.

Conrad later moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the fashion industry. She received her own spin-off series The Hills and starred in five of its six seasons from 2006 to 2009. During its production, she also attended the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising and interned for Teen Vogue and Kelly Cutrone's public relations firm People's Revolution. Conrad later founded the fashion line LC Lauren Conrad and co-founded the fair trade online store The Little Market. She has published nine books, including L.A. Candy and The Fame Game trilogies.

Life and career

Early life

Conrad was born in Laguna Beach, California on February 1, 1986, to Jim, an architect, and Kathy (née Lawrence). She has two younger siblings, a sister named Breanna, also a television personality, and a brother, Brandon. Conrad first expressed an interest in a career in the fashion industry when she was in the sixth grade. Her father added that Conrad "wasn't a great student [and] wasn't that interested" during her childhood, although noted that "we figured out along the way that she was an artist and her real love was fashion."

Reality television

Alongside eventual castmates Lo Bosworth, Kristin Cavallari, and Stephen Colletti, Conrad attended Laguna Beach High School. In 2004, they starred in Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, an MTV reality television series which documented their lives during high school. During its production, she was often referred to by the initialism "L.C.", although she has since expressed her distaste for the nickname. The series proved successful for the network; she described the lifestyle it imposed on her as being "definitely a different way to grow up". The first season notably focused on the love triangle between Conrad, Cavallari, and Colletti, and the subsequent feud between the former two. Upon the conclusion of the first season, Conrad appeared on an episode of MTV Cribs. After graduating from high school in 2004, Conrad attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco for one semester, where she met Heidi Montag. Conrad left the series after the second season, during which period she moved back home and transferred to the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles, though she did not graduate with a degree. After her sister Breanna became a primary cast member, Conrad made a guest appearance on the series during the third season in 2006.

Lauren Conrad 2008-03-15
Conrad at The Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 2008

After moving to Los Angeles in 2005, the spin-off series The Hills was developed to chronicle the lives of Conrad, her housemate Montag, her neighbor Audrina Patridge and her work colleague Whitney Port. During production of the first season, Conrad and Port held internships with Teen Vogue under the direction of West Coast Vogue editor Lisa Love; she stated that they had to interview successfully for the positions, "regardless of what the cameras wanted". By the second season, Lauren's friendship with Heidi had deteriorated after Montag began dating Spencer Pratt. After Montag moved in with Pratt, Patridge and Lo Bosworth later became roommates with Conrad.

..... Conrad briefly dated fellow castmate Brody Jenner, which she commented had been subject to "editing to drag it out" during the series. In 2008, Conrad and Port began interning with Kelly Cutrone's PR firm, People's Revolution.

Upon the conclusion of the fourth season of The Hills in December 2008, Conrad wished to leave the series to pursue other career opportunities. However, per the producers' requests, she filmed ten episodes for the following season, in which she closed her storylines. Conrad made her final appearance on the series in May 2009, attending Montag and Pratt's wedding after much deliberation during the mid-season finale of the fifth season. However, in the July 2009 issue of Cosmopolitan, she stated that producers had pressured her into a reconciliation with Montag throughout the season, adding that she was displeased when they would not allow otherwise. Conrad was replaced by former Laguna Beach castmate Kristin Cavallari until the series' conclusion in July 2010.

In September 2010, Conrad was to star in an MTV series that would have focused on her career endeavors, though the network chose not to pick up the program after Conrad preferred not to film her private life. That month, Conrad revealed that she had filmed an alternate ending for The Hills with Jenner. Upon the conclusion of their month-long morning marathon of the series, titled "RetroMTV Brunch", MTV aired the footage in August 2013. The scene depicts Jenner returning to his apartment after seeing Cavallari's limousine off to Europe. Conrad is revealed to be sitting on his couch, and comforts him that "it's hard to say goodbye" to a "friend of [his]", before the camera focuses on a smiling Conrad. In December 2013, Montag stated that she and Conrad have "talked a few times" since the series' conclusion, elaborating that "it's unfortunate things happened the way that it did, but we're both different people now, older and more mature."

Fashion, beauty, and fragrance

Lauren Conrad 2009 VH1 Divas 2 (cropped)
Conrad attending the VH1 Divas concert in 2009

In January 2007, Conrad was announced as the inaugural spokeswoman of Avon Products's "mark." line, marketed towards young women; she was succeeded by actress Ashley Greene in June 2010.

In March 2008, Conrad premiered her first fashion line The Lauren Conrad Collection. After underwhelming sales figures, Conrad ended the line the following year to further familiarize herself with the industry.

In October 2009, Conrad collaborated with Kohl's to launch her second fashion line LC Lauren Conrad. Conrad introduced an upscale runway collection for the line during New York Fashion Week in September 2012. In May 2020, her Kohl's collaboration expanded to include children's clothing and bedding in a line called LC Little Co.

In July 2011, Conrad released her third fashion line called Paper Crown with high school friend Maura (McManus) Oehm. Paper Crown was discontinued in 2018.

In July 2012, Conrad collaborated with BlueAvocado to launch XO(eco), an environmentally-friendly collection of bags.

In October 2013, Conrad and her friend Hannah Skvarla opened a nonprofit and online store called The Little Market, which distributed handmade pieces by artisans from underserved communities around the world. In May 2023, The Little Market switched to connecting artisans with wholesale buyers.

In August 2020, Conrad launched Lauren Conrad Beauty as a line of affordable and eco-friendly make-up. Lauren Conrad Beauty was discontinued in 2021.

In April 2022, Conrad launched her first fragrance, LOVED by Lauren Conrad on ScentBeauty.com.

Media projects

In 2007, Conrad appeared as a satirical version of herself alongside Carmen Electra in the comedy film Epic Movie. Conrad made a cameo appearance in an episode of Greek in 2008 and provided her voice for an animated version of herself in the "We Love You, Conrad" episode of Family Guy (episode 14, season 7, first broadcast on May 3, 2009). She later made appearances on the syndicated game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, playing for her charity "m.powerment by mark" and Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, and also served as a guest judge on the thirteenth cycle of America's Next Top Model.

Conrad's first novel L.A. Candy was released in June 2009, and became a bestseller on The New York Times. It was inspired by her life, focusing on a woman named Jane Roberts who moves to Los Angeles. It was followed by sequels Sweet Little Lies and Sugar and Spice in 2010. Conrad also released the fashion guide Lauren Conrad Style in 2010. Conrad released her fourth novel The Fame Game as a spin-off to the L.A. Candy series in April 2012. In October 2012, Conrad released The Fame Game continuation novel Starstruck and the style guide Lauren Conrad Beauty. The final novel of the trilogy, Infamous, was released in June 2013. Conrad released a party planning guide Lauren Conrad Celebrate in April 2016.

From 2011-2023, Conrad ran a lifestyle blog called LaurenConrad.com. In 2011 she launched a website called The Beauty Department with her hairstylist, Kristin Ess, and her makeup artist, Amy Nadine.

In 2019, Conrad launched a podcast Asking for a Friend. The podcast ended after one season.

Personal life

Conrad dated her Laguna Beach and The Hills co-star Jason Wahler from 2005-2006.

In 2008, Conrad began dating actor Kyle Howard. Howard expressed concern that appearing on reality television would interfere with his acting career; consequently, their relationship was not documented on The Hills. After three years together, Conrad and Howard ended their relationship in 2011.

Conrad began dating former Something Corporate guitarist William Tell in February 2012. They moved into a shared residence in Westwood, Los Angeles in September 2013, and announced their engagement the following month. Conrad and Tell married on September 13, 2014, in California. Together they have two sons: William “Liam” James (born on July 5, 2017) and Charles “Charlie” Wolf (born on October 9, 2019).

Filmography

As herself
Year Title Notes Ref.
2004–2006 Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County TV series (26 episodes)
2006–2009 The Hills TV series (86 episodes)
2006, 2009 Family Guy Episodes: "Prick Up Your Ears", "We Love You, Conrad"
2007 Epic Movie Cameo
2008 Greek TV series (Episode: "Hell Week")
2008 Privileged TV series (Episode: "All About Friends and Family")
2009 Bromance TV series (Episode: "Who's Got Game?”)
2009 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire 10th Anniversary Celebration
2009 America's Next Top Model TV series (Episode: "Fortress of Fierceness”)
2010 Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List TV series (Episode: "Moving the Merch")
2012 Punk'd TV series (Episode: "Dax Shepard")
2012 L!fe Happens Cameo
2014 Fashion Police TV series (Episode: "Lauren Conrad & Nigel Barker")
2014 Pop Innovators TV series (Episode: "Lauren Conrad")
2014 The Eric Andre Show TV series (Episode: "Lauren Conrad; Reese Witherspoon")

Published works

  • L.A. Candy (2009)
  • Sweet Little Lies (2010)
  • Sugar and Spice (2010)
  • Lauren Conrad Style (2010)
  • The Fame Game (2012)
  • Lauren Conrad Beauty (2012)
  • Starstruck (2012)
  • Infamous (2013)
  • Lauren Conrad Celebrate (2016)

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Series Result Ref.
2006 Teen Choice Awards Choice Female Reality TV The Hills Won
2007
2008
2009
2010 Nominated
2013 Young Hollywood Awards SodaStream UnBottle the World Award N/A Won

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Lauren Conrad para niños

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