Secret Life of a Seven-Year-Old Instagram Star

Haileigh Vasquez has 129,000 followers and a runway show at New York Fashion Week—that is, if her second-grade teacher lets her out of class on time.

Photos by Jessica Bal

On a recent Tuesday, in a blue jumpsuit and a regal gold necklace, Zulay Vasquez marched across the blacktop at a Manhattan charter school and past the line of parents waiting to pick up their kids. A woman with a clipboard eyed her. Ms. Vasquez momentarily hesitated, but then swiftly strode inside the lowly-lit foyer. She rode up an escalator to the second floor and walked straight. She located her daughter’s classroom, peered in, and paused outside while the teacher finished reading a story. The day prior, the principal had sat down with Ms. Vasquez to discuss the ongoing problem of pulling her daughter, Haileigh, out of class early. Ms. Vasquez had agreed not to do it, but here she was, ready to sweep Haileigh away any moment.

For years, people on the street have crooned over Haileigh, dressed in classic Diane Von Furstenberg-style wrap dresses and fitted blazers over skinny jeans. She accessorizes with oversized shades and cross-body purses, making her look lik…