While many Northeastern collegiettes™ fawn over fashion, Jennifer Chen is making a name for herself in the industry. Her company, Expression by Jennifer Chen, specializes not only in creating unique clothing for women, but also event planning for fashion shows and marketing. Before the marketing and accounting major from Taiwan started making her own clothes, she was writing about them in The Fashion Hub, a blog with news about fashion models and photographers.
Her Campus Northeastern spoke with the entrepreneur about what it’s like to juggle doing homework for her classes and managing her business and website–while, of course, still looking fashionable.
When did you start designing clothing?
At an early age, I discovered my passion for fashion and art. My artistic background strongly contributed to the beginnings of my involvement in fashion in both event planning and design. The first dress I made was an evening satin black dress with pearl accents.
What inspires your artwork and fashion designs?
The inspiration behind my work in fashion stems largely from the progression of working with a diverse selection of visual arts mediums. Whether it is in my artwork, designs, or fashion productions, my mission is to capture the expression of beauty, form, and emotion of each element, object, person, or idea. As an artist, I learn to communicate my vision through these outlets while, in hopes, to inspire my audience to draw their own connection, interpretation, and conclusion to what is before them.
What lead to you starting your company?
During my sophomore year I founded and coordinated The Unity Fashion Show with the support of The Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity. I used knowledge from my business classes to build a brand image for the production. For the last three years, local and student designers have joined the team to present their collections.
What’s it like to organize a fashion show?
Event planning, especially in fashion productions, involves a high-degree of organization, management, communication, time, passion, and attention to detail. It is very tedious work, but simultaneously rewarding. Another key element in organizing a fashion show is understanding the importance of the roles of each person involved in the event – as a successful production is dependent on the sum of all its parts.
What are your plans for the company after you graduate?
Post-graduation, I hope to pursue a career in marketing, specifically digital marketing, advertising, or event planning. Along the side, as a secondary career and passion, I hope to expand Expression by Jennifer Chen in the direction of design and more so in event planning. With the opportunity to help members of the local fashion community and aspiring fashion enthusiasts network with each other, discover opportunities, and build their career has been rewarding – a result of past fashion productions, events, and The Fashion Hub. In hopes to continue this, I plan to expand The Fashion Hub in New York City and open up fashion-related events to provide local and aspiring talent a platform for exposure and future opportunities/collaborations. In addition, with my upcoming art exhibition: Expression of Beauty, Form, and Emotion coming up in Gallery 360 at Northeastern University, I hope to take a step back from designing and expand my artistic portfolio, especially delving back into fashion sculptures – the roots of how I became involved in fashion.