From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lauren Conrad
Conrad attending "The 6th Annual Hollywood Style Awards" Beverly Hills, CA on Oct. 10, 2009
Born	Lauren Katherine Conrad February 1, 1986 (1986-02-01) (age 24) Laguna Beach, California, U.S.
Other names	L.C.[1]
Occupation	Television personality, fashion student, People's Revolution coordinator, author, fashion designer
Years active	2004–present
Website http://www.laurenconrad.com

Lauren Katherine Conrad (born February 1, 1986) is an American television personality, celebutante, author and fashion designer. She is best known for being featured in the MTV reality series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and for her spin-off show, The Hills, which at one point followed her personal and professional life as she pursues a career in the fashion industry.

Early life

Lauren Conrad was born in Laguna Beach, California, the eldest of three children of Jim and Kathy. Her younger siblings are Breanna and Brandon.^[2]

Reality television

2004–2006: Laguna Beach

During Conrad's senior year of high school, she appeared in the MTV reality series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. Upon graduation in 2004, she attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco for one semester where she first met Heidi Montag. During the second season of Laguna Beach, she returned home and began taking classes at a local college before subsequently transferring to the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising.^[2]

2006–2009: The Hills

The first season of The Hills premiered on MTV on May 31, 2006. The series documents Conrad's move to Los Angeles, her work at Teen Vogue, and her personal life and the lives of her friends, including then-roommate Heidi Montag.^[3]

MTV renewed The Hills for a second season, which filmed from late summer 2006 through February 2007. The premiere episode of season 2 aired January 15, 2007. During that time, the friendship between Conrad and Montag deteriorated as Montag increasingly spent her time with her new boyfriend, Spencer Pratt. By February 2007, Audrina Patridge replaced Montag as Conrad's roommate after Montag moved into a separate apartment with Pratt.^[4]

Filming the third season of The Hills began in mid-summer 2007 and lasted through March 2008. The premiere episode of season 3 aired August 13, 2007. During that time, Conrad was able to revive her position at Teen Vogue and was offered a second trip to Paris alongside Whitney Port. By March 2008, Port had already left Teen Vogue for fashion PR firm People's Revolution, and after asking Conrad to assist at an event, Kelly Cutrone noticed her work ethic and invited her to work for her company.

Filming for the fourth season of The Hills began in mid-summer 2008 and lasted through November 2008. The premiere episode of Season 4 aired August 18, 2008. Filming for Season 5 began in January 2009, and the premiere episode aired April 6, 2009. Conrad has stated that Season 5 will be her last,^[5] even with her departure, the program is continuing without her. She was also a guest judge on America's Next Top Model.

Fashion career

Conrad at VH1's 2009 Divas concert

Conrad landed an internship at Teen Vogue while filming season one of The Hills.^[2] Conrad and her reality show appearances have been credited with improving sales of Teen Vogue. It was reported in March 2007 that since the second season of The Hills began airing in mid-January, newsstand sales for the magazine increased by double digits over 2006 sales.^[6] According to Lisa Love, the West Coast editor of Vogue who evaluated Conrad for the internship position, Conrad had to interview successfully in order to get the job, "regardless of what the cameras wanted".^[7]

Conrad developed a new fashion line, the Lauren Conrad Collection, that debuted at the Mercedes Benz LA Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios in March 2008.^[8] In March 2009, Conrad announced that she would be taking a hiatus from the fashion line; the spring and summer 2009 lines have been canceled.^[9] She earns an estimated $1.5 million annually for her television appearances, fashion line, and product endorsements. In fall 2009, Conrad launched LC by Lauren Conrad in Kohl's stores nationwide.^[10]

Other ventures

Endorsements

In January 2007, Conrad was named the first official spokesperson of "mark.", a line created by Avon and marketed toward young women. She will partner with "mark." and collaborate in both beauty and fashion initiatives. She will be featured in the brand’s magalog (reaching over six million customers every month), and in the "mark." online community. A line of exclusive co-branded items are part of future plans and will be available on the website and through "mark." representatives.^[11]

As of April 24, 2008, Conrad is also the national spokesperson for College Tonight.^[12]

Television

In 2008, Conrad made a cameo appearance in an episode of Greek. In May 2009, Conrad appeared as an animated smart version of herself in an episode of Family Guy.^[13]

Conrad will appear as a guest judge during Cycle 13 of America's Next Top Model.^[14] She also appeared on television series Privileged as herself.

In August 2009, Conrad appeared on an episode of the 10th anniversary edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, playing for her charity: m.powerment by mark. She was asked one question for $50,000 and answered correctly.

Books

In June 2009, Conrad released her first novel, L.A. Candy.^[15][16] Based on Conrad's personal life, L.A. Candy is a semi-autobiographical novel about a 19-year-old girl who moves to Los Angeles and becomes the star of a reality TV show.^[17]

Conrad's second novel, Sweet Little Lies: An L.A. Candy Novel, was released in February 2010.

Serious literary critics have given her books unfavorable reviews.^[18] Accusations have been raised that Conrad did not even write the books, instead, the publishing company hired a ghostwriter to write it, then used Conrad's image to sell the books.

Personal life

Conrad has previously dated fellow Laguna Beach cast members Stephen Colletti and Jason Wahler. She also dated Brody Jenner and baseball player Doug Reinhardt. In 2008, Conrad began dating My Boys actor Kyle Howard.^[2]

Awards

References

External links

	Los Angeles portal
	Biography portal

• Official website
• Lauren Conrad at the Internet Movie Database
• Lauren Conrad at TV.com