New York for Fashion Week, Sapucaí for Carnival, London for global work and, among countless campaigns, a stop in Los Angeles for the Oscars. “2024 really started with everything for me”, celebrates Jade Picon. There’s no shortage of reasons to celebrate. At 22 years old, the digital influencer, actress and businesswoman is experiencing a period of achievement.
However, as the more than 20 million followers who follow her on Instagram alone have already understood, almost none of them are due merely to luck. Jade is disciplined and strategic. “Everything in my life was a construction. I started very early and climbed step by step on the internet. So, I’m also taking this to my career as an actress”, she says in an interview with Vogue.
After being eliminated with 84.93% of the votes in Big Brother Brasil 22 (in a Paredão with the second highest number of votes per minute in history), she turned the game around. She refused to be limited by her “rejection” rate and ventured into teledramaturgy — with the right to be a prominent character in prime time on the country’s biggest broadcaster –, increased her reach on social media and invested in her clothing brand, Jade² , which underwent a rebranding at the end of last year. “I’ve never felt so ahead of my decisions, both personal and professional,” says Jade.
So much planning took her to the most important Oscar after-party: the Vanity Fair party. Besides her, only Anitta represented Brazil at the event, which traditionally takes place right after the awards ceremony and this year brought together names such as Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone and Sydney Sweeney.
“It was the realization of another big dream of mine. Being close to such renowned, prestigious people at such an important event was wonderful. I was at Elton John’s watching party to watch the Oscars and then there was the afterparty”, he says. “It was really a dream. I saw a lot of people I admire and I even got to talk to Billie Eilish. I’ve been following her for many years, she’s extremely talented and she’s my age. It was magical.”
Multifaceted, Jade states that she wants to invest more and more in her career as an actress, but without giving up her work as an influencer and businesswoman. In his short-term plans is a course of acting outside the country.
“I’m in no rush to start another job, I’m dedicating myself to my studies and in the process of getting my DRT. My next step is to do a two-week immersion on a course in Europe that was highly recommended”, he says. “Acting was something that transformed my life. Chiara (antagonist in the soap opera Travessia) was very important to me. It’s definitely a path I want to follow.”
In a chat with Vogue, Jade also talks about her relationship with fashion and beauty; she reflects on the aesthetic pressures of working with her image; the constant rumors about his love life and vents about harassment. “I’ve been in situations where I had to call the police.” Watch the chat in full below:
Vogue Brasil: How do you face everything that has been happening in your life?
Jade Picon: I think it depends a lot on my personality, but I like to play myself. I think that if something is happening for me, it’s because I’m supposed to be there, doing it, enjoying it, having fun. I rarely feel like I don’t belong in a certain environment or situation. At the Oscars, for example, I found myself at 22 years old, studying acting and at an event of this magnitude. Feeling bad didn’t even cross my mind. I was very happy, I went into the party wanting to dance, drink, eat and talk to people. They will always want to belittle me or put me down, but with the opportunities I’ve had I don’t have time to think about anything other than making the most of them. At the end of the day, I’m the one who’s going to lay my head on the pillow. I want to feel like I enjoyed it and did my best.
Vogue Brasil: How do you see your professional future? Do you intend to be more and more of an actress than an influencer or businesswoman?
Jade Picon: I don’t think I have to make a choice. These are great passions in my life and I believe I can touch all three fronts as much as possible. There will be times when I will be more focused as an actress and others as a businesswoman, but I don’t want to give up either of them, especially the internet. That’s where I came from and that’s where I have direct contact with my fans. But life is a great balance. When I was on the soap opera, I had to take a break from my brand. Now that I’m not doing any acting work, I can look at Jade². For me, my career is an open sea of infinite possibilities.
Vogue Brasil: Do you suffer when you realize that you are not able to handle everything and need to step away from some activity to focus more on another?
Jade Picon: Of course it hurts me, because it’s something I love, but I’m a very rational person. I can see clearly what needs to be given up. In the last three months of “Travessia”, people didn’t see me. If I wasn’t in the studio recording, I was at home studying. I had to give up a lot of things, social life, jobs and opportunities, because I was focused on that. I tend to look at everything this way. A lot is said about my healthy style and my body, but I lose a lot of things to maintain them. I believe that we have to have a goal, set a route and move forward, no matter how much it hurts and how much it is not easy. I see life like this and it’s usually worth it.
Vogue Brasil: Any professional dreams you haven’t fulfilled yet?
Jade Picon: Being on the cover of Vogue. I collected when I was little and was invited to appear in the magazine’s first book [o “InVogue”, lançado em outubro] It was already a great achievement. I have many dreams and plans, but never anything impossible, because I like to set goals and achieve them. I’ve wanted to be where I am now and I know I’ll get where I want. I understood that I need to make the most of the journey, otherwise it will snowball. I love learning, I deal well with my mistakes and I’m not afraid of making mistakes.
Vogue Brasil: Who inspires you?
Jade Picon: It’s a mix of many references, but I think I can take advantage and talk about Billie, with whom I had a very significant meeting at the Oscars. She was sweet to me. It’s really nice when you’re a fan of someone and they really are what you imagine them to be. I also admire the relationship she has with her brother. Plus, she’s very authentic. She is praised and criticized, but she does not lose her way. She goes after her dreams and accomplishes unimaginable things. I think she’s great!
Vogue Brasil: What is your relationship with fashion today?
Jade Picon: My relationship with this universe started very early. When I was a few months old I was already working as a photographic model, but I started paying more attention when I was around six or seven years old. At that time, I made a lot of lookbooks and wore dozens of clothes at once. That’s when I started wanting to dress myself. I customized clothes, cut them, collected magazines, my mother always gave me that freedom… Then the internet came along. My brother [Leo Picon] launched a brand and I had the opportunity to develop collections. Then came the desire to have my own label. Today, I have the opportunity to attend fashion weeks and this is very beneficial both for my profession as an influencer and for my brand. I really believe in fashion as a power of expression. I always think: what image do I want to convey? What do I want to communicate? I really like this process, I use and abuse it to my advantage.
Vogue Brasil: And with beauty, do you feel pressured in any way?
Jade Picon: No. I think they can pressure me, but I don’t feel pressured. I’ve been on the internet since I was 12 years old, I’ve cried over criticism, I’ve responded to haters, I’ve blocked them… Imagine, a 12-year-old child having to read comments about their own insecurities. Today I choose to direct my attention. Of course they put pressure on me, but diamonds come from a pressured atmosphere, right? I like to say that things cross me, but they don’t knock me down. I’ve been through a lot on the internet, but today I feel stronger.
Vogue Brasil: What is your opinion on aesthetic procedures, have you ever regretted anything you did?
Jade Picon: I see aesthetic interventions as something very personal. I believe it is a unique and non-transferable decision. You have to decide for yourself. Last year, I decided to get silicone [nos seios] and I spoke out saying that I wasn’t going to talk about the subject on social media. I understood that it was the most responsible and mature decision. I know the weight that my voice has and I know the millions of women who accompany me. I don’t want to influence people to have surgery, something so serious. And no, I don’t regret doing it. It was amazing! I simply asked for a prosthesis that was the same size as the breast I had before. I don’t rule out the possibility of doing something more in the future, but at the moment there’s nothing on my radar.
Vogue Brasil: There are many speculations about your love life. Are you single?
Jade Picon: Very single, people! This is crazy. I’m outraged by many things I read, but at the same time I know it’s part of it. It’s not something that keeps me up at night. So yes, I’m single, but I have male friends. Amazing! When I’m dating, I’ll talk. I like to share my life and be transparent with those who follow me. No need to be worried [risos].
Vogue Brasil: Do you feel that these controversies increased after your time at BBB?
Jade Picon: For sure. The more well-known you are and the more successful you are, the more you will be criticized, the more people will talk about you. I see it very much as an indicator of where I am in my career. After all, if they’re talking it’s because I’m yielding. But I don’t like being 100% in the eye of the storm. A phrase you won’t see coming out of my mouth is ‘speak well or speak badly, but speak about me’. It’s not something I think about. It’s often frustrating for me, because I get involved in sexist controversies, in sensationalist articles, but I know it’s part of the life I chose.
Vogue Brasil: Still on this topic, during your trip to Los Angeles you shared a inconvenient pickup line he received from a stranger. Previously, you had already published a video on TikTok compiling a series of uncomfortable situations you had experienced with men. How do you deal with this?
Jade Picon: My dream is for men to educate themselves. I once heard from a guy ‘ah, but you saw that I respected you, right?’. That’s the least! This is where we need to start from. If I am an extremely privileged person, on different levels and layers, and I go through such unpleasant moments, I can hardly imagine what other women in the reality of our Brazil go through. I’ve experienced situations where I needed to call the police. I know what it’s like to be harassed and feel guilty. Therefore, today I use my voice and responsibility to communicate and expose certain episodes. There are women who are being harassed and don’t even know it. The more we open up this conversation and expose the cluelessness of so many men, the better it will be.
