Chu, photographed at Sherbourne Common, wears a leather jacket and pants, both by Rick Owens, with a shirt by Alexander Wang. Her belt is from Maison Margiela, and her boots are from Balenciaga. Photograph by Vanessa Heins
Veronica Chu learned how to do makeup by practising on her little brother: he was obsessed with ’90s supermodels like Kate Moss and Claudia Schiffer. They grew up in a household full of professional-quality makeup—her mother was an aesthetician and cosmetic tattooer—and by the time she turned 11, Chu was making pocket money by tweezing eyebrows in her mother’s salon. Now, she’s a professional makeup artist and spokesperson for CoverGirl with a roster of A-list clients, like Dustin Hoffman, Coco Rocha and Shay Mitchell.
While Chu is busy using faces as her canvas, her own approach to style is decidedly more laid-back. Calling herself a “fashion conformist,” Chu’s sensibilities are consistent and pragmatic: she typically wears all-black pieces and is rarely seen without her signature black-frame glasses and bold lipstick.