Eva Chen

You do not need to go to journalism school if you want to work in the fashion industry. I think high schools condition you to think this way: If you want to be a fashion editor, go to fashion school. If you want to be a writer, you should study journalism. I think that the best school in life is experience.

Working at 'Harper's' was an awakening experience for me. I genuinely enjoyed the process of putting together a fashion magazine.

Basically, I feel like people have always taken photos of themselves. When I was in college, I had these Polaroid cameras my friends and I would have so much fun with. Today, we'd be taking those pictures on our phones. I think it's just part of culture today... Why not have fun with it?

A good attitude is really important. And a sense of optimism, someone who has ideas and isn't afraid to pitch them no matter what level she is. Someone who is proactive. Someone with efficiency and common sense. They don't always go hand-in-hand, common sense and, well, everything else.

This is so cliche and cheesy but so true - seeing how happy people get if you A. give them a beauty product or B. give them a tip that works. There's such joy in finding a good beauty product.

My work life is pretty much the opposite of what you would expect.

I was very focused on school. No social life whatsoever.

Instagram was initially launched as a community for artists and photographers.

The new generation of designers, like Prabal Gurung and Alexander Wang, have hundreds of thousands following them on social media who will probably never be able to afford their dresses but still feel a loyalty to them. So when that designer writes a book or launches a beauty line, they might pick that up.

For a lot of children of immigrants, what happens is your parents want you to do something very linear that they can understand. I had an aptitude in sciences and never really questioned it.

Think about what you like and then think about why - was it the shape? The hem length? And then repeat over and over until you find your signature style. And if you ever get sick of your signature style... change it! That's the beauty of fashion.

I know how I shop and how I am inspired to buy things, and the majority of it is from Instagram. I look at people like Yasmin Sewell and Leandra Medine from the Man Repeller, as well as the countless models that have really cool street style, for inspiration all the time.