Courtesy of Eva Chen
Most people may know Eva Chen for her stints at (since-shuttered) Lucky magazine and Teen Vogue or for her current role as the Instagram director of fashion partnerships. But the fashion maven has another creative avenue on her résumé: a children's book author. Chen, author of A Is for Awesome!: 23 Iconic Women Who Changed the World and Juno Valentine and the Magical Shoes, has just released her third book, following lead star Juno Valentine on another style-charged tale in Juno Valentine and the Fantastic Fashion Adventure. In its pages, it's school picture day and Juno Valentine is having quite the fashion emergency—with both parents wanting her to wear different things. Adults will find plenty to love in Chen's message of female empowerment and in the colorful illustrations by Vancouver-based Derek Desierto. On October 30, both Chen and Desierto will visit St. Louis County Library Headquarters for a book signing and presentation. Ahead of her trip to St. Louis, Chen talks with SLM about where she finds inspiration, her own kids, and, of course, fashion.
What inspired you to write this book? I have a daughter—she's 4 and a half—and I see how much of the world she experiences through trying on different costumes. For instance, from wearing a dinosaur costume, to wearing a Frozen princess outfit, it changes the way she sees the world. The impetus behind writing the book was to write something for young girls and for young boys to try a lot of different things before knowing yourself. Kids need to be told that it's okay to do that from a very young age.
We're at this a critical juncture in culture right now where we have, on the one hand, really strong women and allies for women in the mainstream, but at the same time, we're still being held back as women in other regards. I hope and pray that this next generation is to be the generation of young girls and boys—because a lot of people think I'm just talking to girls, but I'm talking to kids, period—that will truly change the world. I look at someone like Greta Thunberg, and it's so inspiring to see the change that young people can make and how small people can make a huge difference.
Courtesy of Eva Chen
In your last book, A Is for Awesome!: 23 Iconic Women Who Changed the World, you have kind of a wide range of characters who are role models. Was it a similar case for this book? Yeah, you have modern-day icons like Michelle Obama and Simone Biles—I wrote the book before Simone Biles achieved that world record, and now the move is named after her. I was, like, “Yes, I'm so glad my choice was validated.” We have these lesser-known figures, including a pirate queen from the 16th century called Grace O'Malley. She's one of the few women who was ever allowed to do a direct negotiation with Queen Elizabeth. And Marie Antoinette's in there, and we have Grace Jones and Josephine Baker.
It was really important to me to have all different kinds of women, not just pop culture icons, but also artists, and just have that diversity. I've read every children's empowerment book out there, and a lot of them tend to be more serious because of course, the topic is serious. But I do feel like kids absorb messages better when it's play-based versus being told sternly that you must change the world. It's better to deliver it in an uplifting, light, playful way. That was also the goal for this book to write a book that kids would just feel bubbly and happy and excited to read over and over again.
Courtesy of Eva Chen
Derek Desierto.
The illustrations help with that. Derek is so good! He and I met on Instagram. He tagged me in a photo and it was an illustration of my daughter and me. We did the book in two and a half weeks. That was the first book. It's weird because you know how sometimes you just meet people and you click, the chemistry is there? He and I are very much that way. We work really well together.
Being someone who spends a lot of time on Instagram and online, what did you like about putting together a hardcover book? People always ask me, “What are you reading on your Kindle?” I buy hardcover books. They're hellaciously expensive. They're like $27.99. But there's something for me that the ultimate form of relaxation is holding a printed page. Every night before I go to sleep, I read a book. Right now I'm reading Ali Wong, the comedian—she wrote a book called Dear Girls. It's hilarious. You don't have to have watched her Netflix special to find it funny.
Who should make sure to put this book on their Christmas list? I heard that adults really enjoy it. A lot of them come to the signings—a lot of the signings end up being 25-year-old women who are like, “What should I do with my career? Please give me relationship advice!” But this book is great for girls and boys who are playful, mischievous, and love playing dress-up. It's a serious topic, but a fun book.
And you're coming out with another fashion collaboration with childrenswear label Janie and Jack? I don't want to be like, “It is so cute, you will die,” but it is so cute! We have a few characters in the [iconic women] book who inspired collections. There's a Marie Antoinette collection, and it's all tulle. If a frosting festooned cake turned into a dress it would look like the Marie Antoinette dress. We have a collection inspired by Audrey Hepburn, so it's very elegant and they are over-sized sunglasses. There are few pieces inspired by Josephine Baker, so animal prints, and banana prints. And of course, we have the core Juno girl and her little brother who are in this book.
Photography by LeoFaria
Eva Chen.
I love that the kids can play dress-up and wear clothes inspired by these women. I also like that kids and parents will not likely have heard of all of the female icons in the book. That's certainly a goal. Maya Lin who is the architect who did the Vietnam memorial in Washington, D.C., for instance, was the youngest architect selected to make a national monument. She was just 23 when she was selected, and she's definitely not a household name.
Why was it important for you to get across this message of self-confidence as one of the book's themes? We all have that super awkward photo, maybe with headgear. I didn't have headgear, but I definitely had mouth-to-mouth braces. I think that it's really important to encourage kids to know, first of all, we try on a lot of different personas. I think back to my career, I was pre-med or pre-law. I had a lot of bumps along the way, right? I think it really helped inform who I am as a person and also helped me build resilience. I think with something like school picture day, it's funny because when you're older, you look back, and you're like, "Wow, that is a bad picture." When you're a kid, I think it's just important to be told that you got to try a lot of things. You have to literally try on different personas. Don't feel like you have to be one thing because someone else expects you to be that way. Be yourself. That's always been the message that I hope my children retain and absorb: that they have to grow at their own pace, because I was like a very late bloomer. And I think, for me, that was a good thing.
SLM has cut and edited this interview for clarity.
