J.Crew’s New Lee Collaboration Gives Classic Americana a Western Twist
In an exclusive interview with 'Marie Claire', Olympia Gayot shares the inspiration behind the collab.
While the rest of New York struggles through another "fake spring" full of snow flurries and frigid temperatures, my mind is admittedly elsewhere: out west. The mental road trip across the United States is spurred on by J.Crew's latest collaboration with Lee, the iconic denim label.
The selection, priced from $45 to $268, will be available on the brand's website starting March 19. It's a mix of western-feeling Lee essentials, like its iconic Storm Rider Jacket, outfitted with J.Crew-ified details—the plaid lining inside is meant to emulate the look of classic button-downs. Add in a few must-have tanks, overalls, straight-leg jeans, and mini pencil skirts, and you've got an edit worth living in.
The assortment speaks to J.Crew's history as an authority on All-American dressing—not just as a preppy style mainstay. So many of the brand's vintage catalogs from the '80s and '90s explored the idea of going across the country, and Olympia Gayot, J.Crew’s Creative Director of Women’s and Kids, sees this collection as a way to expand the idea of what "American Fashion" means to the modern J.Crew shopper.
Article continues below"There are a lot of codes to Americana—and they're not necessarily only East Coast codes," she tells me ahead of the launch. "We have such a long history of going across America, and we wanted to explore that again in a modern way."
Exploring those codes with Lee made sense, given its over 130 years in the denim game. "We're always interested in working with brands that have a history or have an identity that is similar to some of the pieces that we have in our line," Gayot continues. In short, it just fit the bill.
Vivian Rivetti, Lee's vice-president of global design, says its "heritage styles laid the foundation of the capsule, while adding in freshness with reimagined details and design elements from J. Crew." She points to the remixed Storm Rider as the encapsulation of how the two brands worked together. The printed interior, she says, is "a twist that makes me smile."
It's not hard to imagine any of the pieces from the new drop styled with a trendy bandana or a pair of cowboy boots—but Gayot's vision for the pieces' IRL lifespan goes beyond just a Canadian tuxedo.
"That's what's fun about fashion, unrelated to a brand—it's nice to try on different things," she gushes. "It's just fun to play with different codes and mix them in." As someone whose personal style includes lots of black (and maybe some navy, if you're lucky), styling these pieces did just that.
Why not include, say, an oversized work jacket with your summery linen trousers? Or follow Gayot's lead and team the white iteration of the J.Crew x Lee jeans with a chunky cashmere knit during the transitional weather period? The fun lies in the mix.
