Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss (born May 29, 1975) is an American writer and fashion designer and the founder and creative director of the fashion label Shoshanna, which was launched in 1998.

Career

With a loan from her father, Zach Lonstein, chief executive officer of Infocrossing, she started her clothing company in 1998 with the mission to design a clothing line that appealed to different body types. In 2013, Elizabeth Arden, Inc. 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.

Personal life

As a 17-year-old high school student, she met then 38-year-old Jerry Seinfeld in a public park. At that point, Seinfeld got her phone number. Lonstein 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 to UCLA, in part to be with Seinfeld; she cited constant press coverage and missing New York City as reasons for the relationship ending. Lonstein married Josh Gruss on May 10, 2003, and they had three children. They announced their plan to divorce in November 2014. She lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with their children.

Philanthropy

Gruss is a trustee of Reform synagogue Temple Emanu-El of New York, and the Nightingale-Bamford School 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 and its Children's Committee from 2012 to 2014.