Eva Chen (born 1980) is an American journalist. She is the director of fashion partnerships at Instagram[2] and a children's book author.[3] Previously she was editor-in-chief of Lucky[4] and beauty and health director at Teen Vogue.[5]

Eva Chen
Chen at Paris Fashion Week 2019
Born1980 (age 43–44)[1]
Alma materJohns Hopkins University
OccupationFashion editor
OrganizationInstagram
Known forEditor of Lucky

Early life

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Chen grew up in New York. Her parents, who are originally from Taipei and Shanghai, own a consulting textile import-export business, and Chen attributes her early love of fashion to her mother's influence.[6] Chen attended the Brearley School,[6] then went to college at Johns Hopkins University where she was pre-med, but eventually decided to major in English.[7] She pursued her master's degree in journalism at Columbia University.[8]

Career

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In college, Chen interned for fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar. After graduating from Hopkins in 2001, she worked briefly for Cravath, Swaine & Moore before joining the then-recently launched shopping magazine Lucky, where she worked in the credits department logging the prices and sellers for the magazine's array of products and eventually became editor-in-chief. She next moved to Elle where she worked in the beauty department for three years before she became beauty editor of Teen Vogue.[9]

At Lucky, Chen was the youngest editor-in-chief in the magazine's history.[10] She also became the first head of a commercial arm for the publication, Lucky Shops, serving as both editor-in-chief for the magazine and chief creative officer.[11]

In July 2015, Chen joined Instagram, owned by Facebook, to develop partnerships with fashion brands.[12] She is presently Head of Fashion Partnerships for the social media platform, and has launched a number of fashion and e-commerce features at Instagram, including shopping fashion looks directly from influencers' feeds[13] and the Instagram Shop account.[14]

 
Chen with illustrator Derek Desierto signing books at BookCon in 2019

On May 27, 2020, Chen gave remarks at her alma mater Johns Hopkins University's Commencement ceremony.[15]

Chen is also an author[16] of several children's books, including I Am Golden (2022), which focuses on uplifting Asian American children and teaching them self love and validation.[17]

Children's books

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  • Juno Valentine and the Magical Shoes (2018), illustrated by Derek Desierto
  • A Is for Awesome: 23 Iconic Women Who Changed the World (2019), illustrated by Derek Desierto
  • Juno Valentine and the Fantastic Fashion Adventure (2019), illustrated by Derek Desierto
  • 3 2 1 Awesome!: 20 Fearless Women Who Dared to Be Different (2020), illustrated by Derek Desierto
  • Roxy the Last Unisaurus Rex (2020), illustrated by Matthew Riviera[18][19]
  • Roxy the Unisaurus Rex Presents: Oh No! The Talent Show (2021), illustrated by Matthew Riviera
  • I Am Golden (2022), illustrated by Sophie Diao
  • Colors of Awesome (2022), illustrated by Matthew Riviera

Personal life

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In 2000, Chen studied abroad for a year in England at Oxford, where she met her husband, Thomas Bannister.[20] Chen and Bannister have three children, born in 2015, 2017, and 2021.[21]

References

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  1. ^ Cremascoli, Babila (October 8, 2019). "With Eva Chen, Instagram is at the forefront of the Paris SS20 fashion shows". L'Officiel. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
  2. ^ Armstrong, Lisa (March 2, 2016). "Eva Chen on how Instagram made the fashion world more friendly". The Telegraph. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
  3. ^ "Eva Chen Is Writing a Children's Book". Vogue. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  4. ^ Wang, Connie (April 30, 2015). "Eva Chen Out At The Lucky Group". Refinery29. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
  5. ^ Fitzpatrick, Tommye (August 16, 2013). "The Creative Class | Eva Chen, editor". The Business of Fashion.
  6. ^ a b Meltzer, Marisa (August 14, 2013). "Eva Chen, Trending Now at Lucky Magazine". The New York Times. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  7. ^ Le, Vanna (May 21, 2014). "Channeling Chen: How Condé Nast's Youngest Editor Is Making Normalcy And Failure Cool". Forbes. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
  8. ^ "Curriculum Vitae: Eva Chen". Arts & Sciences Magazine. April 26, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
  9. ^ "Eva Chen". Business of Fashion. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  10. ^ Roettgers, Janko (July 17, 2015). "Instagram Hires Former Lucky Magazine Editor as Fashion Liaison". Variety.
  11. ^ Mulkerrins, Jane (March 8, 2015). "Eva Chen, the Anna Wintour of the digital age?". The Telegraph. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  12. ^ Yi, David (July 17, 2015). "Instagram poaches former Lucky editor-in-chief Eva Chen in new fashion role". Mashable. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  13. ^ "Instagram users can now buy influencer looks. Eva Chen explains why". Vogue Business. April 30, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  14. ^ "Instagram Hones in on Publishers' Turf With Shopping Recommendations". Business of Fashion. May 9, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  15. ^ Eva Chen (May 21, 2020). "Johns Hopkins Alumni Welcome the Class of 2020". Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  16. ^ "Eva Chen". us.macmillan.com. macmillan. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  17. ^ "Eva Chen Hopes to Inspire Self-Love in Asian American Children in New Picture Book I Am Golden". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  18. ^ "Roxy the Last Unisaurus Rex | Eva Chen | Macmillan". US Macmillan. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  19. ^ "Eva Chen shares how her daughter inspired her latest book". news.yahoo.com. October 26, 2020. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  20. ^ Dash, Kristie. "Meet Fashion's coolest girl boss Eva Chen". Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  21. ^ "Eva Chen wants to 'celebrate self-love,' combat anti-Asian hate with 'I Am Golden'". USA TODAY. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
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