Penny Lovell was born and raised in London and had no clue what to do with her life except to dream that it would be something creative. When she wasn't reading, she could be found holed up in her bedroom singing along to Wham and repurposing vintage clothes to serve her love of fashion. After graduating high school, and with much-teenaged grumbling, Penny reluctantly did as she was told and took (and passed) a typing course - without which, she now humbly acknowledges, she probably would not have had much success at all.
Long-early career-short, Penny took temping assignments until she landed at the hairdressing firm John Frieda, where, at the tender age of 19, she became his office assistant/product tester and general hair girl Friday. Fast-forward a few years (which included a wild year drinking around Australia in Day-Glo biker shorts) to Penny being hired by a fashion PR firm to handle accounts, including Burberry and Margaret Howell. Various gigs assisting fashion stylists and editors followed until Kim Hunt, her final boss and queen of the mentors, fired her with the words, "You are past ready to go." Then promptly rehired her to style freelance editorials for the UK's Sunday Telegraph Magazine.
When ants in her pants eventually struck again, Penny moved to NYC, where she continued styling editorials and added advertising clients. And, after meeting Keira Knightly on a photo shoot, her first foray into working with celebrities. She was recruited for Keira's next press tour, which brought her a trip to Los Angeles. After experiencing five days of balmy Beverly Hills life from a 5-star hotel, Penny—entirely rationally—decided this would be her next home. She packed up her tiny East Village box room, booked a one-way ticket, and flew west. And so, her focus on red-carpet dressing began.
Starting again in a new town, Penny worked on every project/client she was offered and gradually built a portfolio of regular clients. She was drawn inherently to creative women with a strong point of view. In the years that followed, she collaborated with a wide range of clients, including Rose Byrne, Anne Hathaway, Kristen Wiig, Taylor Schilling, Celeste Barber, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Bella Heathcote, Chrissy Metz, Emma Watson, Emily Deschanel, Melissa Barrera, Lisa Kudrow, Florence Pugh, Melanie Lynskey and Hustlers writer-director Lorene Scafaria. Her work also graced the pages of W, Japanese Vogue, Vogue Mexico, Interview, Glamour, Harper's Bazaar, and InStyle.
She also started writing during this time, composing fictional short stories for fun and penning a biweekly column entitled “Tricks of the Trade” for Harpers Bazaar.
And so it went until lockdown when Hollywood ground to a halt, and sweatpants became the only style trend. Eager to stay busy—read sane—she decided to weave her tales into a satirical novel. Dispel some of the red carpet myths, reckon with the misogyny and, along the way, answer many of the questions about what really goes on behind the scenes.
And so, here we are…
I Never Signed an NDA
Penny and her hybrid accent remain in LA with her daughter, two small dogs, too many handbags, and some brilliant friends, all of whom pitched in and supported her dogmatic insistence on indie publishing. She apologizes profusely for boring most of them to tears.
To date she has never lived in Beverly Hills.