Irene Marie Lentz was born in South Dakota in 1900. In 1910, her family moved to Montana where her mother ran a general store, enlisting Irene to work there after school. As a child she aspired to be a concert pianist, and she studied compositions by Debussy, Handel, Liszt, and Bach. Following her high school graduation in 1919, she and her family moved to Los Angeles, though her parents were separated by this time and Irene lived with her mother and younger brother. Her mother found work as a maid in a hotel while Irene worked full time as a saleswoman in a drugstore in downtown Los Angeles. In 1921, while at work, Irene met F. Richard Jones, a director at the Mack Sennett Studios. The two began a relationship that continued intermittently until they married in 1929. He convinced her to work as an extra for the studio and a few months later he secured her a position as a production assistant under his guidance. Over the next couple of years, she acted in several films as well, including the Ben Turpin comedies THE DARE-DEVIL (1923) and TEN DOLLARS OR TEN DAYS (1924). She still hoped to be a concert pianist, and during this time she attended the University of Southern California, where she studied music theory and composition. However, a friend convinced her to take a class at the Wolfe School of Design, and she soon realized she wanted to be a fashion designer. She enrolled at Wolfe and graduated in 1926. Jones then helped Irene open a small dress shop near USC, where she specialized in producing affordable, well-made clothing and she was a success with the college students. Her clientele soon expanded, and after Dolores Del Rio purchased an evening gown from the shop, Irene became popular with women in the film industry.

In 1928, she was able to open a salon on Highland Ave, where she held her first fashion show and sold her first commercial clothing line. The following year, Irene and Jones married. The union was short-lived, however, as Jones fell ill with tuberculosis and died just 15 months into their marriage. Following this tragedy, Irene began drinking heavily, though it would not affect her work for several years. She closed her shop temporarily and travelled to Paris to visit actress Alice Terry. During her five-week stay, she toured the fashion salons of the city and was exposed to couture design. Upon her return to Los Angeles, she opened Irene Ltd. on Sunset Blvd., a venture large enough to accommodate a staff of seamstresses and sketch artists. The following year, she was approached by Ann Hodge, general manager at Bullock’s Wilshire, about opening a salon in the department store, and in August of 1933 Irene opened her own French-style salon on the second floor of Bullock’s Wilshire. By this time, she counted among her customers such actresses as Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Jean Harlow, Joan Bennet, Carole Lombard, and Irene Dunne. Dolores Del Rio remained a loyal patron and friend, and she introduced Irene to her brother-in-law, newspaper reporter Eliot Gibbons. Gibbons and Irene wed in 1935, the same year Gibbons became a screenwriter at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

In 1942, Irene signed a seven-year contract with MGM, where not only her husband but her brother-in-law, art director Cedric Gibbons, were employed. However, her designs had already been appearing in films for several years. As early as 1932, her work could be seen on Ann Harding in THE ANIMAL KINGDOM (1932), and Dolores Del Rio requested that Irene design her wardrobe for FLYING DOWN TO RIO (1933). By the time she signed with MGM, Irene had designed gowns worn on screen by actresses such as Rosalind Russell in TAKE A LETTER, DARLING (1942), Constance Bennett in TOPPER (1937), Claudette Colbert in MIDNIGHT (1939) and THE PALM BEACH STORY (1942), Marlene Dietrich in THE LADY IS WILLING (1942), Jean Arthur in YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU (1938) and THE TALK OF THE TOWN (1942), and Rita Hayworth in YOU’LL NEVER GET RICH (1941) and YOU WERE NEVER LOVELIER (1942), among many others. When she signed on as Executive Director in charge of Costume at MGM, Irene stipulated that she be allowed to continue designing for personal clients separate from her duties to the studio. Though her salon was thriving, she had been frustrated with her financial agreement with Bullock’s Wilshire for some time, and she welcomed the change, closing her store in June of 1942 before moving to MGM.

During her tenure at MGM, Irene supervised the design of several dozen films covering a wide range of locales and time periods, including GASLIGHT (1944), KISMET (1944), and EASTER PARADE (1948). However, it is difficult to say how many of these titles contain her personal design work, as specific members of her staff were assigned to cover period films as well as menswear. Nevertheless, her own designs can be seen in Lana Turner’s memorable wardrobe in THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946), Ava Gardner’s gowns in THE BRIBE (1949), and the women’s costumes in B. F. ‘S DAUGHTER (1948), which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White. Unfortunately, Irene struggled to adjust to the environment at the studio, in which she had to work in conjunction with several other departments and deal with wartime rationing that made many costuming materials scarce. She hoped to return to retail, and in 1947 she successfully launched Irene, Inc. an enterprise made possible when 25 department stores backed her company in return for exclusive rights to her designs, to be sold at locations throughout the United States. She reduced her workload considerably at MGM, but still had difficulty balancing the demands of the studio with her new retail venture. In late 1949, she left MGM. Throughout the 1950s, she focused on Irene, Inc. until Doris Day requested that she design her wardrobes for MIDLIGHT LACE (1960) and LOVER COME BACK (1961). For MIDNIGHT LACE, Irene received her second Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design, Color. Despite this formidable return to the film industry, as well as the continued success of her retail line, Irene was struggling with depression. Her alcoholism had worsened over the years, and she had long been estranged from Gibbons, who had recently been admitted to a nursing facility following several strokes. Irene ended her life in 1962, shortly before her 62nd birthday.