Lauren Katherine Conrad (born February 1, 1986) is an American television personality, celebutante, author and fashion designer . She is best known for being featured in the MTV reality series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and for her spin-off show, The Hills, which at one point followed her personal and professional life as she pursues a career in the fashion industry . Lauren Conrad was born in Laguna Beach, California, the eldest of three children of Jim and Kathy . Her younger siblings are Breanna and Brandon . During Conrad's senior year of high school, she appeared in the MTV reality series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County . Upon graduation in 2004, she attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco for one semester where she first met Heidi Montag . During the second season of Laguna Beach, she returned home and began taking classes at a local college before subsequently transferring to the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising . The first season of The Hills premiered on MTV on May 31, 2006 . The series documents Conrad's move to Los Angeles, her work at Teen Vogue, and her personal life and the lives of her friends, including then-roommate Heidi Montag . MTV renewed The Hills for a second season, which filmed from late summer 2006 through February 2007 . The premiere episode of season 2 aired January 15, 2007 . During that time, the friendship between Conrad and Montag deteriorated as Montag increasingly spent her time with her new boyfriend, Spencer Pratt . By February 2007, Audrina Patridge replaced Montag as Conrad's roommate after Montag moved into a separate apartment with Pratt. .