Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss (born May 29, 1975) is an American writer and

fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...

and the founder and creative director of the fashion label Shoshanna, which was launched in 1998.

Career

In 1998, with a loan from her father, Zach Lonstein,

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of Infocrossing, she started a eponymous clothing line, Shoshanna, focusing on "women’s fashions for different body types." In 2013,

Elizabeth Arden, Inc. Elizabeth Arden, Inc. is a major American cosmetics, skin care and fragrance company founded by Elizabeth Arden. As of September 7, 2016, the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Revlon, Inc. History The company was founded as ''Red Door' ...

named Gruss the brand's first-ever Style Director. In this new role, Gruss served as a spokesperson and adviser for the design label.

Television

Gruss has appeared in numerous television programs, webcasts, and interviews, including a 2008 episode of ''

America's Next Top Model ''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to b ...

''.

Personal life

In 1993, as a 17-year-old high school student, Lonstein met then 39-year-old

Jerry Seinfeld Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. As a stand-up comedian, Seinfeld specializes in observational comedy. Seinfeld gained stardom playing a semi-fictionalized version ...

in Central Park. She later came to public attention by dating Seinfeld, who was at the time starring in his eponymous sitcom. Early in their relationship, '' Spy'' magazine referred to her as "a legal voter", since she had turned 18 by then. They dated for approximately four years, from 1993 to 1997. During the relationship, she transferred from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, in part to be with Seinfeld; she cited constant press coverage and missing New York City as reasons for the relationship ending."Shoshanna Lonstein." ''Biography in Context''. Detroit: Gale, 2003. February 10, 2011. Lonstein married Josh Gruss on May 10, 2003, and they had three children. They announced their plan to divorce in November 2014 and divorced later that year. As of 2016, she was living on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...

of Manhattan with their children.

Philanthropy

Gruss is a member of the

Board of Trustees A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

Reform synagogue Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous rev ...

Temple Emanu-El of New York, and the

Nightingale-Bamford School The Nightingale-Bamford School is an independent all-female university-preparatory school founded in 1920 by Frances Nicolau Nightingale and Maya Stevens Bamford. Located in Manhattan on the Upper East Side, Nightingale-Bamford is a member ...

where she is also a member of its Alumnae Board Committee. Gruss was Vice Chairman of the associate committee of the

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a oncology, cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute–NCI-designated Cancer Center, designated Comprehen ...

and its Children's Committee from 2012 to 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gruss, Shoshanna Lonstein 1975 births 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century American women artists American fashion designers American philanthropists American women fashion designers Fashion designers from New York City Businesspeople from New York City George Washington University alumni Jewish fashion designers Living people Nightingale-Bamford School alumni People from the Upper East Side University of California, Los Angeles alumni