Biography

Lauren Katherine Conrad (born February 1, 1986), often referred to as “L.C.”, is an American reality television star and student. She is best known for her role in the MTV reality series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and The Hills, the latter of which earned her a Teen Choice Award in 2006.

Lauren Conrad was born in Newport Beach, California on February 1, 1986 to Jim and Katherine Conrad. Her father is an architect (designer of the Conrad family home) and her mother helps to manage his business. Lauren Conrad has a sister three years younger named Breanna (featured in Laguna Beach season three), and a brother six years younger named Brandon.

Conrad lived with her parents in Laguna Beach throughout her childhood and high school years, In early February of 2004, her senior year at Laguna Beach High School, MTV began filming Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, which followed the personal lives of Conrad and seven other Laguna Beach teens. The show made the introverted Conrad an overnight celebrity. She credits the television exposure with bringing her out of her shell, saying “I went from, ‘You can’t take a picture of me,’ to it doesn’t faze me to have five cameras in the room,”. After graduation from high school, Conrad’s new-found independence led her to Academy of Art University in San Francisco. According to Kaitlyn Healey, one of Conrad’s closest friends since elementary school, it was a shock that Conrad went away to school because before Laguna Beach she was always “the most shy, reserved person;” the show “made her a completely different person.”

Conrad entered Academy of Art University in the fall of 2004. She met Heidi Montag (Conrad’s co-star in The Hills) at freshmen orientation and the two immediately became friends. After only one semester, Conrad left San Francisco and moved back to her parents’ house. Conrad transferred to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles and worked as an intern at Three Dots clothing company beginning in early 2005. She also briefly dated Jason Wahler, a Laguna Beach cast member. Conrad was featured on the second season of Laguna Beach, filmed over a period of approximately eight months beginning in December of 2004.

In the summer of 2005 Conrad moved into a Los Angeles apartment with new roommate Montag. Conrad continued her studies at the Fashion Institute and started an internship at Teen Vogue. MTV began filming Conrad for a new reality series, The Hills, which was announced in the fall of 2005. Around that time Conrad resumed dating Wahler, who also moved to Los Angeles from Laguna Beach. When Teen Vogue offered Conrad an opportunity to spend the summer of 2006 working in Paris, France, she turned it down so that she could spend time with Wahler. Conrad and Wahler stayed together until the beginning of August 2006. Conrad acknowledged that the breakup with Wahler (described as her first love) was “the hardest thing [she has] ever done” because she “still wanted to be with him, but knew that [she] could not be.” Conrad credited Montag with helping her get through the rough period following the split.

MTV renewed The Hills for a second season, which filmed from late summer of 2006 through February of 2007. Throughout that time the friendship between Conrad and Montag deteriorated, as Montag increasingly spent her time with new boyfriend Spencer Pratt. By February 2007 Audrina Patridge, another co-star on The Hills, replaced Montag as Conrad’s roommate after Montag moved into a separate apartment. This is seen as a symbol of the end of Montag and Conrad’s friendship.  As of the spring of 2007, Conrad continues to attend the Fashion Institute and intern at Teen Vogue.

Conrad confronted a scandal in April of 2007, when rumors circulated on hollywood gossip websites that Wahler was planning to sell a sex tape he supposedly made with Conrad when they were a couple. A representative for SugarDVD.com indicated the company was approached by a third party claiming to have a video of Lauren and Wahler. However, the existence of a sex tape is questionable, as it has thus far failed to surface. In response to the story, Conrad posted a statement on her website asserting that she and Wahler did not make a sex tape. According to Conrad’s post, Jason had nothing to do with starting the sex tape rumor. Conrad’s statement also indicated that the individual responsible for the rumor was trying to damage her reputation.

Entertainment career

Laguna Beach: The Complete First Season on DVD
Laguna Beach: The Complete First Season on DVD

Lauren Conrad has been featured on two reality television series on MTV: Laguna Beach and The Hills. She also had a cameo role as herself in the film Epic Movie.

Despite Conrad’s success in entertainment, she has explained that she has no interest in an acting career because she does not enjoy it and she is not good at it.

Laguna Beach

Conrad was the narrator of the first season of Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. The show featured eight teenagers from wealthy families in Laguna Beach, California. It followed their daily lives and otherwise typical high school activities such as parties, spring break and prom. The show depicted Conrad as nursing a crush for castmate Stephen Colletti, who was constantly stuck in an ongoingtriangle between Conrad and Kristin Cavallari. At the end of season one, Conrad and Colletti both went off to attend college in San Francisco.
Lauren Conrad and Stephen Colletti in season two of Laguna Beach
Lauren Conrad and Stephen Colletti in season two of Laguna Beach

Conrad also appeared on the second season of the show, but narrating duties were passed on to Cavallari.In that season, both girls lost interest in Colletti.Season two showed Conrad return home to Laguna Beach from San Francisco, after deciding to transfer to fashion school in Los Angeles. Conrad’s storyline in the last few episodes focused on her relationship with new boyfriend Jason Wahler.

The Hills

The Hills: The Complete First Season on DVD
The Hills: The Complete First Season on DVD

After the success of Laguna Beach, MTV gave Conrad her own spin-off series, The Hills. The show’s first season followed Conrad post-high school as she studied fashion design and began her career in the fashion industry. The Hills introduced three supporting characters as core cast members: Heidi Montag (Conrad’s roommate), Audrina Patridge (Conrad’s and Montag’s friend) and Whitney Port (Conrad’s co-worker). On season one of The Hills, some time after Conrad’s Laguna Beach break-up with Wahler, she resumed dating him.

At the beginning of season two on The Hills, Conrad ended her relationship with Wahler after approximately one year with him. The couple broke up because they argued too much, in part, because he partied excessively. The second season featured Conrad’s short-lived romance with Brody Jenner, who had previously dated her buddy Cavallari, Conrad’s supposed adversary on Laguna Beach.

Conrad will return for season three of The Hills, which is set to debut on MTV in the summer of 2007. The hour long season premiere will air August 13th, 2007.

Professional career

Lauren Conrad’s interest in fashion design began at a very young age, when a neighbor taught her to draw and helped her make clothes for her Barbie doll. This passion led her to the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Conrad attended for one semester but eventually transferred to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, where she currently majors in product development. Conrad has described her reality television career as an opportunity to make contacts “hopefully that will help [her] . . . move into a fashion career.”

Internship

Conrad landed her internship at Teen Vogue while filming season one of The Hills.
Conrad and Whitney Port in their boss’ office at Teen Vogue
Conrad and Whitney Port in their boss’ office at Teen Vogue

According to Lisa Love, the West Coast editor of Vogue who evaluated Conrad for the internship position, the reality star had to interview successfully in order to get the job, “regardless of what the cameras wanted.” Love, who had not seen any of Conrad’s television shows, did not know what to expect, but found Conrad to be “a very good interview.”Conrad “knew photographers, she knew magazines, she knew why she wanted to work at Teen Vogue.” Conrad joined Teen Vogue as an intern in September of 2005.

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.

Spokesperson

In January 2007, Conrad was named the first official spokesperson of “mark.,” a line created by Avon and marketed towards fun, fresh, young women. She will partner with “mark.” and collaborate in both beauty and fashion initiatives. She will be featured in the brand’s magalog (a combination magazine and catalog 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.

Fashion line

MTV and Lauren Conrad announced the launch of the first-ever celebrity-inspired digital fashion line, available on the Virtual Hills website, in March of 2007.In connection with the project, Conrad will also develop a real-world fashion line, scheduled to hit stores in fall of 2007.