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As he reveals a more unfiltered side of himself with his new single, “Thank You,” Jackson Wang reflects on turning 30, his unwavering dedication&nbsp;to work, and why he no longer cares what others think.
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PHOTOGRAPHY Doris Chen
STYLED BY Takafumi Kawasaki

Jackson Wang’s career has taken him far beyond the path he&nbsp;first envisioned. Once a competitive fencer, he pivoted to music,&nbsp;making his debut with GOT7 before embarking on a solo&nbsp;career that has since expanded into fashion, creative collaborations, and business ventures. Each new chapter has brought a&nbsp;fresh opportunity to explore another side of himself, with one&nbsp;ambition seemingly giving way to the next. More than a decade&nbsp;in, Wang, 32, shows little interest in slowing down—or limiting&nbsp;himself to any one role.
In conversation with L’OFFICEL, he&nbsp;looks back on the journey so far, the people who have shaped it,&nbsp;and the possibilities still unfolding.

L’OFFICIEL: Your new single, “Thank You,” feels like a letter to your fans.&nbsp;Why did you choose this particular moment to say Thank you?
JACKSON WANG: First of all, I’ve never done it before. I’ve expressed&nbsp;my gratitude through words and writing, but I’ve never actually&nbsp;made a song for my fans. The second reason is I believe there&nbsp;shouldn’t be anyone in the middle, dividing or dictating what&nbsp;happens between an artist and their audience. Why am I sitting&nbsp;here today? Why am I able to do this shoot? Why am I in front&nbsp;of the camera? Why can I make music, perform, and go on tour?
At the end of the day, it’s because of my audience and my fans.&nbsp;Without them, who would care?&nbsp;I understand business. It’s show business, after all. I understand that. But sometimes I feel like the people in the middle&nbsp;are taking too much credit. The most important relationship is&nbsp;between the artist and the audience. When there are too many&nbsp;people in between, as a fan, you start wondering whether the&nbsp;artist you like is the person you imagine them to be, or who they&nbsp;really are. You’re always guessing. You don’t know. I try to be&nbsp;as transparent as possible. I don’t think we need all those layers&nbsp;in between. It has always been about us. That’s why I wanted to&nbsp;write this song to express how thankful I am.
L’O: In the song, you thank your fans for allowing you to be a “wild child.” What does being a wild child mean to you today, compared to when you first debuted?
JW: It’s actually just a way of describing how grateful I am that&nbsp;they’ve allowed me to be myself. I was very fortunate to debut&nbsp;in a group—but when you’re in one, there are rules. You’re not&nbsp;one person; there are seven of you representing one group. Of&nbsp;course, you have to respect the other members and the company. Everything was arranged very well, but it wasn’t entirely&nbsp;who I was.&nbsp;I think it’s the same for anyone who’s been part of a group.&nbsp;At that stage, you can’t be one hundred percent yourself. But was that a bad thing? No. We all gained a lot from that experience. When I started my solo career and became independent,&nbsp;I began trying all kinds of things. I had all these crazy ideas.&nbsp;Throughout that process, my audience continued to support me.&nbsp;That’s what I mean when I thank them for letting me be a wild child.

L’O: The visuals for “Thank You” strip away elaborate styling and&nbsp;constructed personas. What did you want to convey through this more&nbsp;candid approach?
JW: It’s just who I am. Even during the shoot, I didn’t wear any&nbsp;makeup. I didn’t do my hair. I was just wearing what I normally&nbsp;wear. Nothing was packaged. Everything in the music video,&nbsp;every visual, was intentional. There’s nothing unnecessary. I&nbsp;wanted it to be pure, transparent, and straightforward.
L’O: People often see your drive and intense focus. But away from the&nbsp;cameras, in the quieter moments, what are you really like?
JW: Honestly, I don’t really think about anything other than&nbsp;work. I used to have a lot of expectations for my personal life,&nbsp;but I’ve realized that I’m thinking about work every day. Is that stressful? Yes. But I also think it’s a good kind of stress, because&nbsp;at least I’m doing what I want to do every day. As I get older, I&nbsp;think I’m learning to focus on the work rather than the people.
L’O: You’ve said that you hope your music can offer encouragement to fans&nbsp;during their darkest or loneliest moments. What do you believe music&nbsp;can do for people?
JW: I’ve always believed that, as an entertainer, your job is to&nbsp;bring happiness and entertainment to people. There’s already&nbsp;enough chaos in the world. That’s the whole purpose, at least to&nbsp;me. I feel a responsibility towards my audience. Whether they&nbsp;see me perform, listen to my music, or engage with anything I&nbsp;do, I hope they can take something away from it. Maybe they&nbsp;laugh, maybe they get angry, or maybe they just need to release&nbsp;their emotions. How would I know what they’ve been through&nbsp;that day?
When someone comes to my show, I don’t want them to&nbsp;just have a great time for two hours and then leave without&nbsp;taking anything away. I want them to actually get something&nbsp;out of it. I’m not trying to teach anyone or lecture them. I’m&nbsp;just sharing what I’ve experienced. Maybe you’ve been through&nbsp;something similar, in your own way. That’s what makes it more&nbsp;meaningful to me. I could easily go onstage and dress up as a&nbsp;panda, a cat, or a dog. But what’s the point? I really want to do&nbsp;something meaningful for my audience.

L’O: Fashion has always been a form of self-expression for you. When&nbsp;you get dressed, what do you hope your choices communicate about who&nbsp;you are?
JW: I don’t care what people think about me anymore. Especially&nbsp;after 30, I’m just tired. I’m so laser-focused on the projects I’m&nbsp;about to launch. At the end of the day, people only care about&nbsp;results, and I know I will win. I know that. So, yeah, I don’t&nbsp;really care.
L’O: Before pursuing music, you were a competitive fencer, and in July,&nbsp;you were appointed the first global ambassador of the International&nbsp;Fencing Federation. What lessons from your time in fencing continue&nbsp;to shape the way you approach your career today?
JW: What sport has taught me is that you need to know exactly&nbsp;what you want. Be clear about it, do your job properly, and don’t&nbsp;talk too much. Just get started. Taking that first step is the&nbsp;most important thing. You can’t achieve everything overnight.&nbsp;It might take a year or even 10 years, but the most important&nbsp;thing is to take that first step. That’s the energy and attitude I&nbsp;learned; my parents were both involved in sport, and I grew up in a family of athletes.

L’O: From a professional athlete to an artist working across music, fashion, and business, you’ve taken on many different roles. How do you feel&nbsp;about the way others define you?
JW: I’ve never really cared about how other people define me.&nbsp;I don’t think I have any particular identity. I just keep doing&nbsp;things. I’m doing the same thing in different industries. Take&nbsp;fencing, for example. I think there’s so much more that can be&nbsp;done with the sport. When I was younger, I watched MMA and&nbsp;the UFC [Ultimate Fighting Championship]. How did they&nbsp;become so popular?
L’O: “Thank You” looks back at the people and experiences that have&nbsp;shaped who you are today. As you move into your next chapter, what&nbsp;are you most excited to pursue?
JW: Definitely my music, and my next album. There are a lot of&nbsp;projects. Over the past few months, we’ve been restructuring&nbsp;our team, infrastructure, and business model. I have a very good&nbsp;feeling about it.&nbsp;These include [the immersive fantasy experience] Under&nbsp;The Castle at Ocean Park Hong Kong in late September, as&nbsp;well as TWD [Team Wang Design, his fashion label]’s collaboration with Edison Chen’s [streetwear label] CLOT. A few&nbsp;more projects will be launching soon, with plenty more on the&nbsp;way. But 2027? It’s going to be a blast.

HAIR: Lee Han MAKEUP: Hong Eunjae PRODUCED BY: Aileen Soh and Angel Fong PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS: Nini and KK STYLING ASSISTANTS: Yori and Recho

Jackson Wang Has Nothing to Prove

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