In high school, Eva Chen was expected by immigrant parents to look towards careers such as finance, engineering and medicine. However, after a summer internship at Harpers Bazar between her junior and summer year, Chen realized those career goals were not for her.
“Basically it was my light bulb moment,” she said.
Today, 34-year-old Chen is the editor-in-chief of Lucky magazine, making her the youngest editor of any major US fashion masthead. After taking up the position in June, 2013, Chen has become a key part of the ever changing and evolving fashion industry.
And she believes the stereotypes that haunt the industry to be unjustified. ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ and ‘Ugly Betty’ painted a glamorous image that is far from reality, she says. Chen remains true to the ideal that she leads a normal life where breakfast. New York taxicabs and Instagram are the focal points of her day. She believes it to be no different to any other job. It just has extra perks. Sometimes.
“Aspects can be more glamorous, that comes in like bursts. They’re like exclamation points when the rest of the sentence is pretty much what you would expect,” Chen said.
What she thinks about fashion industries
She believes that the industry is evolving through the use of social media where conversations and feedback are immediate. The dramatic changes brought by digital technology also speed the world of fashion to the audience. Because of this, it is now possible to view an entire fashion show online.
Chen uses the technology to reach out to the key 20-30 demographic. She aims to provide a publication that speaks to them and to their style. But she admits she has put her own eclectic shopping habits forward as a role model for fashion consumption that bypasses trends and seasonal fads — relying on a mixture of high street and high-end clothing.
“Every month I just want it to kind of speak to the person who loves to shop the way I do,” Chen said.
Watch the feature on Eva Chen by Forbes here:
