The Stylist and Social Media Starlet Redefining Her Platform
There’s not much you can’t discover about Jessica Wu. She’s an open book and a self-proclaimed child of the internet — oversharing is her thing. Being unafraid to address personal issues that other people shy away from, like the realities of menstruation, for example, is just a part of who she is. It’s her penchant for unabashedly spilling intimate details that’s built her an online community of over 30,000 followers. A community that helped her raise over $6,000 in mutual aid funds to issue microgrants to 24 Black, brown, and indigenous creatives and queer students during the height of the pandemic.
“When I started Instagram, like every other person I was like, ‘Let me take selfies.’ When I started pulling away from that and sharing more about what was really happening in my life, I realized people were engaging with me more, and it was super genuine,” she says. Of course, her feed is still a stylish continuous scroll of makeup, fashion, and lifestyle; as a stylist, model, and press director for a luxury fashion brand, there’s no way it wouldn’t be. During our interview, she spouted style tips, sharing ways to style sweats with blazers and why her SOREL Joan Next Lite Puffy Strap shoes are ideal for stomping around New York. Hint: it’s because they’re comfortable and waterproof — perfect for avoiding mystery subway puddles.
Wu manages to balance the fantasy of a creative social media presence with the incredibly relatable moments of life as a twenty-something in New York. So, in partnership with SOREL, we sat down with her to find out just how she does it. Ahead, she shares how this unpredictable year has made her reevaluate where she’s directing her energy, embrace a more experimental image, and, somehow, feel more hopeful.