Women at Work: Jenni Lee
For our final installment, we revisit the founder of Comme Si, an original Woman at Work and maker of luxury socks and lounge wear.
There’s a saying we’ve been thinking about a lot at the office: ‘Sublimé le quotidien,’ loosely meaning ‘to make the everyday sublime.’ Finding beauty in the things we might usually take for granted. Like socks — that’s where Jenni Lee started when she founded Comme Si in 2019, focusing on how this humble accessory can bring comfort and be a tool of self-expression for women.
When Tory Daily, the predecessor of “What Should I Wear?” ran an interview with Jenni in our Women at Work series in 2020, Jenni joked about wanting to be “the Asian Martha Stewart. I saw Martha’s face everywhere — on bedding, on cleaning products, on the cover of her own magazine,” she said. “I was like, ‘Why not me?’”
True to most founder stories, Jenni wore many hats when launching Comme Si, pulling from her experience as head of marketing at Harry’s, the men’s grooming company. She even learned to code in order to get her direct-to-consumer business off the ground.
While her brand has grown to include the chicest boxer shorts, pants, button-downs and recently, modular furniture, she remains true to the sock. Comme Si socks feel like luxury, made in Italy from Egyptian cotton, merino, cashmere or silk and coming in a range of colors from neutrals to vibrant shades.
Over the last few years, Comme Si socks have become a fashion insider’s go-to, the brand’s signature loop tab a marker of someone who gets it, who understands that the right sock can provide a world of styling options.
In fact, the name Comme Si comes from the French conjunction, a phrase like “as though” that holds sentences together, Lee said, much like a sock pulls a look together. To celebrate the launch of our new lug-sole loafer, Jenni styled it with favorites from her own line.
My daily work uniform is… the La Boxer Alta pants, since I’m working from home most days. They’re designed to be as comfortable as pajama pants, while still being appropriate to wear out of the home. I wear mine to school drop-off — different colors every day.
My go-to look for an important meeting… a clean button-down shirt tucked into a midi skirt or high-waisted pants, with loafers or kitten heel mules.
My workwear vibe for fall is… all about fluid textures and statement outerwear. I’m wearing the Comme Si Silk Bias Pant (find them here when they launch next month) with oversized sweaters. The combination of silk charmeuse and knitwear is elegant, and the silhouette of the pants is flattering.
The most rewarding thing about being an entrepreneur… is seeing people love what I’ve created and become fans of the brand — it never gets old!
And the most challenging… it can be lonely at times, especially because every decision starts and ends with me. Having a great team that I can trust implicitly has been key to getting through the lows.
The best career advice I’ve received… is to be a problem solver. Ask questions after you’ve already considered three solutions of your own.
1. Calf-hair Jacket and Skirt: “I’m a sucker for distinct transitional outerwear, and this being a matching set is a win-win.”
2. The Neutra VDL House: “This is an exciting iteration of our collaboration with USM, a furniture collection I designed that imagines a Comme Si home through USM systems. The pieces will be exhibited in the iconic Neutra VDL House in Los Angeles.
3. Pierced Mule: “Green is my favorite color, and I love the unexpected detail of the piercing that makes the shoe much more interesting than a typical mule.”
4. Two tickets to Korea and a Rimowa Cabin suitcase: “I’m so excited to visit Seoul this winter, where I’ll be eating incredible foods, visiting kids cafes with my son and finding inspiration in all the exciting art and creative retail that’s happening in Korea right now.”
5. Ghia Le Fizz: “It’s fun; it’s bubbly; it’s non-alcoholic. I’ll be bringing this to dinner parties.”
6. Multi-Buckle Monk Strap Shoe: “The exposed side is perfect for showing off colorful socks!”
7. Minari Screenplay Book: “Such a cool way to commemorate the movie which is close to my heart.”
Our Women at Work issue builds on a longtime brand franchise that now lives on via Substack. This is the last in the series for September. We’ll be back with another issue in March 2025. In the meantime, if you haven’t read the others, you can find them all here.
jenni lee -- a visionary