IN CONVERSATION WITH STEPH HUI
interview by JANA LETONJA
Steph Hui is a Hong Kong–born, New York–based fashion and beauty creator redefining digital style with her effortlessly cool, trend-driven aesthetic. With a global community of over 4 million followers, she has become a trusted voice for a new generation, blending luxury fashion with relatable, everyday storytelling. Collaborating with leading houses like Chanel, Prada, and Dior, Steph brings a fresh, authentic perspective to major campaigns while bridging US and Asian audiences through her distinctive creative lens.
image courtesy of STEPAN FILENKO
How would you describe your personal style and how it has evolved over time?
My style has always been bold, playful and obsessed with prints and colors even as a kid. But over time, I learned to style and piece those elements together in a more intentional way, also paying attention to structural details like textures and silhouettes into the overall vision of a look. My style has also evolved into playing with more duality and contrast- colorful but also minimal, feminine but also masculine, playful and sophisticated.
What inspired you to start creating fashion and beauty content?
I’ve always loved exploring in fashion and beauty way before I started posting about it. I would play with makeup looks after school, before showering, do my friends' makeup, document cute outfits I put together with no intention to post, so all of those hobbies naturally led me to creating content about beauty and fashion when the time came.
I started posting on Tik Tok for fun to my 600 followers, honestly at a time where I was struggling mentally and emotionally. It was a very transitional phase with COVID, graduation, moving countries, losing friends and relationships, so I turned to social media to find a community and share things that I love as a distraction and something to cheer me up. That one hour of getting ready, even if it was to stay home, made me feel hot, confident and good about myself, a feeling that wasn’t always present at the time. Being able to capture that feeling and share it made me feel good and I just kept doing it for fun when it randomly one day caught a few eyeballs.
image courtesy of CYRIL MANION
How do you balance luxury fashion with relatable, everyday moments?
Everything expensive I buy, I make sure I can get the most wear out of, especially in everyday mundane normal moments. I actually love buying luxury jeans and luxury basics because I know I can restyle and have them for years with their quality materials. I wouldn’t wear a shoe only once because it was expensive and if I felt like I had to, then I wouldn’t buy it in the first place. I also like to mix high-low pieces, letting comfort take the lead often.
How do you approach storytelling through your content?
A lot of my video content is from an educational or value led lens, and so the way I approach storytelling is through identifying a problem or a question, one that often stems from my own experiences, then taking my audience through a journey of solving that, and finally reaching an ending or a solution.
What has been a defining moment in your career so far?
Everytime I get invited to speak to a group of people, it is always a crazy, imposter syndrome moment. I got to speak on a panel to an audience of beauty and industry experts at BoF about the rise and impact of content creators in the beauty space, as well as my journey becoming a creator. I also got invited by Chanel Beauty to teach my own masterclass using tips and tricks I’ve learned and collected over the years. Both those experiences felt so rewarding and motivating.
How do you decide which brands to collaborate with?
Honestly, a lot of brands I end up collaborating with are products and brands I was already using and genuinely love, and have shared in my everyday, organic content, so it’s a natural and authentic fit when some of my favourite brands reach out.
If it’s a new brand and new product, the biggest factor for me is whether I can see myself using and recommending the product outside of a campaign. A lot of times I actually end up discovering and loving a new brand after trying their products from a potential partnership offer. I’ve also turned down opportunities because I didn’t like what I was asked to promote. At the end of the day, the brand story and brand mission also need to make sense for me and my content.
image courtesy of STEPAN FILENKO
How does your background between Hong Kong and New York influence your aesthetic?
Hong Kong and New York have influenced my aesthetic in very different ways. In Hong Kong, there’s often a strong emphasis on sophistication and presentation, whereas New York feels more individualistic and creative. So growing up in Hong Kong has given me an appreciation for polish, attention to detail and a more refined approach to style, while New York has encouraged me to be more experimental, bold and expressive. I think my personal style sits somewhere between the two.
How do you stay ahead of trends in such a fast-moving industry?
When there’s a new trend, or new product launch popping up every single day, it does get hard to stay ahead of it and keep up. I actually try not to put too much pressure on staying on top of every trend, but instead I pay attention to larger shifts in culture, bigger conversations in the industry and consumer behaviour. Trends move so quickly now that by the time something reaches everyone's feed, it's often already peaked, so I think staying ahead of trends is less about predicting what’s next and more about staying curious.
How do you handle the pressure of constantly producing content?
To be completely honest, I definitely go through cycles of feeling burn out one week and then feeling inspired and motivated the next. In a space where there is such a surplus amount of content and every creator is posting so much, sometimes it does feel like it’s hard to keep up, especially having done this consistently every day for five years. But sometimes blocking out the noise and not scrolling helps me handle the pressure and be able to brainstorm and plan my content from a more authentic, peaceful place. A Sunday prep day where I organize and plan my content for the week, unbox and try new products definitely helps as well.
image courtesy of ARTHUR GAREEV
How do you see the relationship between fashion and digital culture evolving?
I think the relationship between fashion and digital culture is becoming more collaborative, we’re moving from an era of aspiration to an era of connection. Social media has completely redefined accessibility in the fashion space where trends now evolve through conversations between brands, creators and communities online. It’s exciting because people aren't just consuming fashion passively anymore, they’re actively participating in it, sharing their unique point of view on it, breaking it down, making it their own.
What inspires you creatively outside of fashion?
A lot of my inspiration comes from people watching, traveling and conversations with people I meet along the way. I feel drawn to the emotions and experiences behind things and always find myself interpreting every little moment as a story. Seeing how two people greet each other on the street, an overheard conversation on the subway, someone’s outfit that day, I start to wonder about the context and background around these everyday moments and the people in it.
What’s coming up next for you?
I’ve been a content creator for 5 years now, so I feel like it’s time for a rebrand and to analyze my content and strategy under a new lens. The industry is constantly adapting and sometimes it’s easy to be stuck in the old formulas and styles of creating that simply don’t resonate in today’s digital community anymore, so finding new ways to freshen and elevate my content style is definitely in the pipeline. I also want to explore my creativity in different mediums and engage more intentionally in passion projects, and maybe even start my own brand.
