Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss is an American fashion designer and the founder of the Shoshanna label, with an estimated net worth of $50 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. She is 51 years old (born May 29, 1975, in Manhattan), launched her brand in 1998, and first became widely known in the 1990s for dating Jerry Seinfeld.
| Quick fact | Details |
| Full name | Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss |
| Born | May 29, 1975 |
| Age | 51 (born May 29, 1975) |
| Birthplace | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Profession | Fashion designer and entrepreneur |
| Known for | Founder and creative director of Shoshanna |
| Brand launched | 1998 |
| Education | Attended George Washington University; later studied at UCLA |
| Former spouse | Joshua Gruss |
| Children | Three |
| Notable past relationship | Jerry Seinfeld |
| Net worth | $50 million (Celebrity Net Worth estimate) |
Her official brand biography identifies her as Shoshanna’s founder and creative director. A UCLA alumni profile describes her as a 1997 graduate who studied art and art history before entering the fashion industry.
Key takeaways
- She was born on May 29, 1975, and is 51 years old.
- She launched the Shoshanna fashion label in 1998.
- Her company later expanded into swimwear with separate top and bottom sizing.
- She dated Jerry Seinfeld during the 1990s before establishing her fashion career.
- She married music executive and entrepreneur Joshua Gruss in 2003.
- The former couple has three children and divorced in 2014.
- She remains professionally associated with the fashion company that bears her first name.
Shoshanna Lonstein: age, birthday, and early life
Gruss was born in Manhattan on May 29, 1975, which makes her 51 years old. She attended the Nightingale-Bamford School in New York, where she now sits on the board. More from us: Tracy Pollan.
Her college years included time at George Washington University before she transferred to UCLA. Her time in California also exposed her to Los Angeles fashion retail.
According to her UCLA alumni profile, she worked part-time at the Tracey Ross boutique and became interested in how smaller designers could enter the industry. After graduation, she worked at a lingerie factory to learn about construction, fabrics, and production processes. That practical period came before the launch of her own company in 1998.
How she built the Shoshanna fashion brand
The label debuted in stores in November 1998. From the beginning, fit was central to its identity. The designer had struggled to find fashionable dresses that offered enough support for her own body type. Her solution was to build structure into clothing rather than expect every customer to fit one narrow fashion standard.
That idea helped distinguish the early collections. Forbes has described the company as an early advocate for designing around different body types. Dresses used details such as built-in support and bra-friendly construction. The business expanded into swimwear in 2001.
Instead of forcing shoppers to buy a bikini in one matching size, the collection offered tops and bottoms separately. Tops also used lingerie-style cup sizing. ABC News covered the approach when the line launched. That sounds ordinary to modern shoppers, but it addressed a clear problem at the time.
A customer could need one size on top and another on the bottom. The separate-sizing model gave her more control over fit. Today the Shoshanna website sells day and evening dresses, tops, swim separates, one-pieces and cover-ups.
The brand is headquartered in New York City, and some evening dresses and swimwear are still made in the USA; she received the Made in NY mark in 2016.
Her relationship with Jerry Seinfeld
Her name first reached a large national audience before the fashion company existed. In May 1993, she met comedian Jerry Seinfeld in New York’s Central Park. She was 17 at the time, and Seinfeld was in his late 30s. Their age difference became a major part of the press coverage surrounding the relationship.
They remained together for roughly four years and separated in 1997. During that period, she transferred from George Washington University to UCLA. The relationship still appears prominently in searches about her decades later. Yet it represents only one period of her biography.
Her independent professional career has now lasted far longer. She founded her company the year after the relationship ended and has remained connected to the brand since 1998. That distinction matters when reading celebrity profiles. An early relationship may explain why the public first learned someone’s name, but it doesn’t necessarily explain what the person later built.
Marriage to Joshua Gruss and family life
She later married Joshua Gruss, a businessman and music-industry executive. The wedding took place on May 10, 2003, and they had three children before divorcing in 2014. Her official biography describes her as raising three children and highlights her charity work, including serving as a chairwoman of the Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering.
Gruss has generally kept her children out of her public image, which centers on her company.
What is her net worth?
Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss’s net worth is estimated at $50 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Celebrity net worth figures are estimates built from public information, not audited accounts, and a privately held fashion company does not publish its finances.
Most of that wealth traces to the Shoshanna label, which built its name on mix-and-match swimwear sizing and later expanded into dresses and separates sold through Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale’s, as well as its own stores. Celebrity Net Worth also notes she was the first Style Director for Elizabeth Arden and earlier a contributing editor at Cosmopolitan.
Where is she now?
Her professional identity remains tied to Shoshanna, and the brand’s website lists her as founder and creative director. The label passed its 27th anniversary in 2025.
Details about her private life are not confirmed through strong sources, so they are not covered here. Professionally, the picture is much clearer.
She remains associated with a New York fashion company built around dresses, occasion wear, and swimwear. Her career also offers a useful contrast with the reason she first became famous. Public attention arrived through a celebrity relationship, but her longer-lasting identity came from building a business.
Why her fashion career has lasted
Longevity may be the most useful part of her story. Many labels launch around a moment or trend. Her company started with a specific customer problem: women wanted fashionable clothing without sacrificing support or fit. That problem did not disappear when trends changed.
The swimwear decision illustrates the approach well. Selling bikini pieces separately let customers choose sizes based on their own proportions. It turned a personal frustration into a straightforward retail idea. The company has also kept a strong New York identity.
Its official biography emphasizes its headquarters, Garment District connections, and continued U.S. production of selected pieces. For readers, that career is the more complete answer to who she is today: a designer whose public life began in celebrity news but developed into decades of fashion work.
The lasting part of her story
The 1990s relationship explains why her name entered celebrity coverage, but it doesn’t account for the decades that followed. Her fashion company launched in 1998, expanded into fit-focused swimwear, and remains active more than a quarter-century later.
That business history gives readers a clearer picture of her life than reducing her biography to an old relationship.
Frequently asked questions
She is known as the founder and creative director of the Shoshanna fashion label, which launched in 1998. She is also remembered for dating Jerry Seinfeld during the 1990s.
She is 51 years old. She was born on May 29, 1975.
Her current official biography identifies her as the brand’s founder and creative director. The company remains active and celebrated its 27th anniversary in 2025.
Yes. They married on May 10, 2003. The marriage later ended in divorce in 2014. They have three children.
The relationship began in 1993 and ended in 1997, lasting about four years. She was 17 when they met.
Celebrity Net Worth estimates her net worth at $50 million, built mainly through her Shoshanna fashion label.
