This Is What Laguna Beach Got Wrong About Lauren Conrad: ‘You’re Seeing a Very Edited Snapshot’
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Lauren Conrad may be back for The Reunion: Laguna Beach (it airs tonight on The Roku Channel), but don’t expect a permanent return to reality TV. For the last 17 years, Conrad has been hyper-focused on her LC Lauren Conrad fashion line at Kohl’s—and given the success of the brand and its following, she’s doubling down even more.
StyleCaster had a chance to chat with Conrad a couple weeks before The Reunion aired, asking Conrad to really reflect back on who she was (or who we thought she was) 20 years ago, what her teen self would be most surprised by if she learned what she was up to these days, and how clearly she was always on the fashion path. We also asked which eyeliner Conrad uses to achieve that iconic black cat-eye, because of course we did.
Conrad did, indeed, come clean.
StyleCaster (SC): You went from reality TV star to fashion/lifestyle entrepreneur — was there a specific moment when you knew design was the path you wanted to commit to fully?
Lauren Conrad (LC): I’ve wanted to work in fashion since I was young, and it’s what I went to college for. I had multiple internships, some of which were filmed and some were not, and the more time I spent in that environment the more I fell in love with it. Launching my line with Kohl’s in 2009 was a turning point. Over the past 16 years, I’ve been able to grow that into a full lifestyle brand, which has been incredibly rewarding.
SC: The fashion industry can be notoriously dismissive of celebrities who try to cross over into design. How did you prove yourself creatively, and whose validation mattered most to you early on?
LC: I think what separated me from a lot of people was that I was on this path with or without television. It wasn’t just something I decided to do once I gained some notoriety. And I understood early on that I needed to approach it with a lot of humility and a willingness to learn. I’ve always tried to stay very hands-on in the design process and focus on creating pieces that women actually want to wear in their everyday lives. Working with Kohl’s gave me the opportunity to build something over time, rather than just launch something quickly.
SC: How do you approach the balance between what you personally want to put out into the world creatively vs. what you know your customer actually wants to buy?
LC: I think it’s about finding the right balance. There are certain colors and silhouettes that don’t necessarily suit me, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t look great on my customer. At the same time you want the brand to have a clear aesthetic so you have to be thoughtful about what you’re including in each collection. Every season there are trends that we have to create our own version of or walk away from altogether.
SC: Tell us the fashion trends you’re predicting for summer 2026. What should we be on the lookout for?
LC: I’m always drawn to pieces that feel timeless with a seasonal update. For summer, we’re seeing a lot of soft, feminine details, lightweight fabrics, subtle texture, and relaxed silhouettes that still feel polished. In our most recent collection, we created some feminine cream tops that are great basics with jeans. From my collection, I love a breezy midi dress for summer, it’s one of those pieces you can wear anywhere.
SC: Looking back at Laguna Beach now, how accurately do you think it captured who you actually were at 17 — and what did it get completely wrong?
LC: I think it captured a version of me, but not the full picture, which is understandable. You’re seeing a very edited snapshot of a specific time in someone’s life.
SC: If a teen version of you could see where you are now, what do you think would surprise her most?
LC: I think she’d be surprised that I was able to turn something I cared about so much into a long-term career. Building LC Lauren Conrad and Little Co. with Kohl’s over the past 16 years is something I’m really proud of. What started as a small collection has grown into a full lifestyle brand, and I don’t think my 17 year old self could have fully imagined that.
SC: What do you want people who only know you from that TV era to understand about who you are now?
LC: That it was just one chapter of my life. Since then, I’ve been able to build a career and a life that feels very true to who I am now. I’m a mom, I run my brands, and I design collections that reflect real, everyday life. In a lot of ways, that early dream I had during Laguna Beach [to work in fashion] is still at the center of everything I do. It’s just grown and evolved over time.
As for Conrad’s legendary cat-eye? Conrad’s makeup artist Olivia Madorma and hairstylist Kathleen Riley exclusively tell StyleCaster that she uses Makeup by Mario’s Master Pigment Pro eyeliner pencil (in Super Black), and she buffs it out using Patrick Ta’s Major Dimension III Matte Eyeshadow Palette.
While you won’t be seeing Conrad on TV anytime soon (on April 7, the former Laguna Beach star told colleague and ex-nemesis Kristin Cavallari on her podcast Let’s Be Honest, she saw the reunion special as a way to say “goodbye” to everyone and to “hang up that entertainment hat”), LC Lauren Conrad and Little Co (Conrad’s children’s line, also at Kohl’s) still have plenty of seasons to go.
