What’s In: Justine Liu
On being a serial outfit repeater, how her personal style changed after having kids, and the most important career lesson she's learned.
What’s in is a recurring series spotlighting the style and stories of Asian women with influence. Get to know who they are, what they’re wearing and what’s in.
Meet
, a consultant working with direct-to-consumer fashion, apparel, and skincare brands and a former executive at Saks Fifth Avenue and Reformation. She’s also the cofounder of Fillie, a hand-picked monthly edit of pre-loved children’s clothes (newborn to 7Y).I first learned of Justine through her Substack, where she shares roundups of her most fashionable finds. Beyond her chic personal style, what stood out to me was Justine’s sensible approach to not only dressing herself but also styling her kids.
Read on to learn about why she almost didn’t get into fashion, how her personal style changed after becoming a mom and the most important career lesson she’s learned.
Tell us a bit about yourself and what you do.
I’m a Taiwanese-American woman, a wife, and a mom of two young kids. I’ve had a career that’s taken me through a number of interesting segments of the retail industry, from Saks Fifth Avenue to Reformation to endeavors of my own. I now primarily consult with DTC fashion, apparel, and skincare brands that are scaling their product lines and customer bases at really impressive rates.
Where are you from? How has your family and culture shaped who you are today?
I grew up in Rochester, Minnesota, and I would have never expected that I’d build a career in fashion and retail. My parents were Taiwanese immigrants, and similar to a lot of first-generation kids (and in my case, growing up near the Mayo Clinic), I was expected to go into medicine when I grew up. I spent the vast majority of my life believing this was the logical path for me, and I ended up completing a pre-med program in college at MIT. I know it sounds silly, but it wasn’t until my senior year that I truly started to think hard about what I was passionate about and what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. While I didn’t have any solid answers, I did realize that being a doctor wasn’t for me.
Despite it not initially being a career aspiration, fashion has always been an important part of my life. When I was younger, I think clothes and fashion were a way for me to feel like I “fit in” a little bit more, something I cared about a bit too much as a Taiwanese teenager growing up in a predominantly white midwestern city. After school and a couple brief false starts in other industries, I found a path for myself in retail that I was excited to immerse myself in. I take a lot of values from my parents in terms of working hard, but then have also allowed myself to evolve—to understand what my worth is and when to step into my own. I think the latter is something that wasn’t instilled in me growing up.
“I take a lot of values from my parents in terms of working hard, but then have also allowed myself to evolve—to understand what my worth is and when to step into my own.”
How would you describe your personal style and approach to getting dressed? You’ve said before you’re a serial outfit repeater, so I’d love to know what pieces you’re wearing on repeat right now.
I am indeed an unabashed serial outfit repeater! I think it’s my personal style to gravitate towards things that feel non-fussy and easy. I do love pops of unexpectedness—it’s usually in my shoes or accessories, but sometimes I do find a trendier piece that I love.
Pieces on repeat tend to be separates that I can pair and mix and match with jeans, nicer tops, basic tees, etc.
“I am indeed an unabashed serial outfit repeater! I think it’s my personal style to gravitate towards things that feel non-fussy and easy.”
Christopher Esber silky shorts for this insane LA heatwave. I’ve been wearing this with vintage tees for a more casual school-pick-up look, and also have dressed it up for nights out.
J.Crew cotton cardigan – picked this up randomly and loved the fit.
This Parker Thatch wallet for a little pop of color.
It’s a little too hot for this right now, but if you follow my substack, you know that I link this La Ligne sweater at least 4 or 5 times a year. It has the feel, fit and weight of The Row sweater, but without The Row pricetag. Even in the summer, I break this out to layer with the boxer shorts when the temps drop at night.
These Ciao Lucia pants have taken me through the summer
For an easy throw on date night, I’ve been wearing this Ciao Lucia dress with some gladiator sandals or flats.
Do you ever adapt your style to life as a mom and doing things with your kids? What’s your go-to outfit for school pick-up, play dates, etc.?
Absolutely. Right after I became a mom the first time, I distinctly remember often thinking “Oh I can’t wear that”—either because it’s too short and I need to be bending over to pick up my toddler, or because after breastfeeding my kids, I am somebody who has to wear a bra (and therefore eliminates certain types of tank tops and dresses that I can wear). And I used to lament that feeling. If I’m being totally honest, it didn’t feel great, and it was like I was trying to locate my new identity through my style and what used to be my style was no longer my identity —it really caused a shift for me. But now I embrace it, and it’s more about feeling comfortable in my own skin no matter what I’m doing. And that goes hand in hand with how I approach pieces in my closet. Rather than trying to chase down every trend just because it’s the trend, I would much rather invest in great-fitting, quality pieces I can wear over and over again—ones that I know I feel my best in.
That said—I don’t differentiate what I wear to school pick-up from what I might wear to a client meeting, or a playdate, etc. I think that’s just the mom in me now where I want to know I can be comfortable in any setting in whatever I’m wearing.
“I don’t differentiate what I wear to school pick-up from what I might wear to a client meeting, or a playdate, etc. I think that’s just the mom in me now where I want to know I can be comfortable in any setting in whatever I’m wearing.”
As a mom myself, one of my favourite things about your newsletter is that you not only share your style roundups but also how you’re styling your kids and what pieces you’re buying them. And now, you’ve launched Fillie. Can you tell us more about how you approach dressing your kids and the concept behind Fillie?
Fillie started out of my own love of secondhand and vintage clothing finds for my kids. I’ve heard time and time again that kids grow too fast, and I find that’s usually used as justification for finding cheaper, more disposable clothing for them. But I started to see my own attitudes about my clothing reflected in my children—when they had quality clothes that fit well, held up, and they loved, they felt better about themselves, too. As I hunted for nice pieces for them that didn’t cost an arm and a leg, I joined various buy-sell-trade groups on social media, I looked on all the resale sites, and I developed a network of mom friends with similar tastes to pass clothing between as our kids grow. And wanting to share that feeling of my own ecosystem of great secondhand pieces is what gave me and my cofounder the idea to start Fillie and bring more access to these types of pieces to more people.
“…I started to see my own attitudes about my clothing reflected in my children—when they had quality clothes that fit well, held up, and they loved, they felt better about themselves, too.”
What brands are you loving right now (for you)? And how about for kids’ clothes?
I have a major crush on Ciao Lucia right now. I’ve always been a fan of the brand, but I feel like they are really starting to hit their stride in a way that’s so refreshing.
For the kids—Bobo Choses for my son is a go-to, and I think it’s evolved that way as I’ve come to learn his personality, too. For my daughter, I shop from so many brands. I love the assortment at Shop Willkies, and she always curates the best pieces from my favorite brands.
What’s in right now for you? Whether it has to do with fashion, beauty, wellness, hobbies, books, podcasts, other media you’re consuming, etc.?
I go through this at the end of summer every year; after all the time spent outside and probably not reapplying sunscreen as often as I should be, I find myself focusing on healthy skin and healthy skincare routines right now. I’m loving the Perelel Health Cellular Hydration powder for adding an ingestible collagen supplement back into my routine. And while it’s an investment, my Theraface mask has become part of my nighttime skin routine for red light/blue light therapy. I’ve noticed such a change in my skin tone since purchasing this mask, and I highly recommend it.
Lately, my wind-down comfort food has been working through older television shows at night—a couple episodes at a time. I just rewatched all of Beverly Hills 90210. I love everything about it—the fact that there were 20-something episodes per season, the epic 90’s fashion outfits throughout, the soapy character arcs—all of it.
“I go through this at the end of summer every year; after all the time spent outside and probably not reapplying sunscreen as often as I should be, I find myself focusing on healthy skin and healthy skincare routines right now.”
Being in the fashion industry and having helped build some very impressive brands, what’s an important career lesson you’ve learned?
It’s ok to say no. And there are so many levels to that—from a personal career advice standpoint to advice for founders/brands today. I think there’s a lot of pressure on brands to be everything and anything to customers. I think in this mass pursuit of trying to be the next big lifestyle brand, they lose sight of what they’re actually good at and what their customer base is coming to them for. I actually think that not every brand was meant to be a “lifestyle” brand. I think that when you try to be everything to everyone, it’s hard to put a stake in the ground and you end up in this wishy-washy place of being nothing to nobody. I believe in leaning into what you do well and making sure you maintain that perspective at all times—focusing on what you’re actually trying to answer/solve for your customer. And I apply that same framework to my own personal career. Know what your strengths are, hone in on your POV/taste level, and operate from that lens.
“Know what your strengths are, hone in on your POV/taste level, and operate from that lens.”
For more on Justine, subscribe to her Substack and follow her on Instagram.
*This post contains some affiliate links.
Justine was my very first Substack find! I love her style and approach to fashion - this was such a fun and interesting read! Great interview, Maria!
Eek such a fab of Justine’s so I loved seeing you spotlight her! Her approach to dressing herself is how I (want) to be as well with dressing the same regardless of the days’ agenda!