Jenna Lyons

Back in April, Banana Republic announced that it had appointed Marissa Webb its new creative director in the pursuit of a more fashionable image. After posting a cryptic Instagram on Wednesday night signaling the forthcoming arrival of #thenewBR, the brand has now dropped the first images from its fall campaign under Webb's direction. From what we can tell so far, the look involves a lot of slim silhouettes in shades of

Jenna Lyons and the J.Crew design team as well as CEO Mickey Drexler are in Hong Kong to celebrate the opening of the brand's first store in the city-state, the first in Asia to have free-standing J.Crew stores. Below, I talk to Jenna about J.Crew and fashion, Lena Dunham and her role on "Girls," and why she refuses to join the social media craze.

J.Crew, the retail chain owned by TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners LP, reported a 42 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit amid a broader decline in shopping mall traffic. Net income tumbled to $5.92 million in the quarter, down from $10.2 million a year earlier, the New York-based company said yesterday. Still, revenue grew almost 7 percent to $686.2 million in the period, which ended Feb. 1. At the same time, the company is contemplating an initial public offering for later this year, according to people familiar with the matter. 

J.Crew has been plotting its U.K. expansion for a while. The company launched a U.K. website in 2011, and later this year it plans to open its first store in London. But the Sunday Times discovered something curious about the British version of J.Crew: the same clothes are offered at prices much higher than at the U.S. J.Crew. Around 40 percent higher, on average. If you browse J.Crew's website with the country set to the United Kingdom, you can see this price difference for yourself.