Heidi Montag (the middle child) was born on September 15, 1986, to restaurant owners in Crested Butte, Colorado. Out of high school, she says she studied fashion in Italy for a year before moving to San Francisco to attend the Academy of Art. It was a fateful decision, since it was there that she met Lauren Conrad. Neither would finish at the Academy. Instead, they both moved south to L.A. to attend the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising and moved into an apartment together.