GEORGE TOWN – While most tweens are busy focusing on their schoolwork and Zoom classes, 13-year-old Annabelle Tan Zi Lynn has already released her third fashion collection, after years of being a child model, actress and dancer.
Her third collection, entitled Indigo, was showcased during George Town Festival’s Creative Collection fashion show. It debuted hues inspired by the iconic Cheong Fatt Tze, also known as The Blue Mansion after its indigo-blue outer walls.
She paired casual pieces featuring her monograms on casual wear pairing it with removable lux pieces that include colour-block satin skirts, sequinned sarongs and sheer cardigans with appliqués.
She told The Vibes that she got lucky when she was introduced to the fashion and modelling world when she was just a child. It enabled her to rub shoulders with designers, learn the trade and start designing.
“I have always enjoyed drawing since I was young.
“When I worked as a model, I would wear other people’s clothes. One day I asked myself, what if models could wear something I created?”
Her supportive parents then decided to gift her the experience when they funded her first fashion collection, named #Play, and set her under the watchful eye and coaching of seasoned fashion designer Ranndy Goh. She showcased #Play during Penang Fashion Week 2019, inspiring children of her age to challenge themselves and pursue creative ventures.
Her collection took off, and she became the only Malaysian fashion designer invited to the 2019 China Chongqing International Fashion Week. Emerging into the international arena so quick, she wanted to showcase Malaysia to the world.
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Inspired by floral paintings on batik, she infused the textile into her design. She later received the 'Malaysia Youngest Fashion Designer Award' in Brilliant Achievements Excellence Brand Awards 2019.
Looking back, Annabelle said her first ideas when she first started were quite ridiculous, but Goh worked with her to make her ideas wearable and aided her in the setting up of her fashion shows.
Goh, with a career in fashion design spanning 20 years, told The Vibes that he took Annabelle under her wing because he saw talent in her.
“She is very talented. You can take her and put her in any field and she manages to excel in it. She has modelled, acted and also danced for several projects and if she continues to work hard, she will make it in the artistic field.”
Goh’s collection, entitled Purple Rain, was also featured during George Town Festival’s Creative Collection fashion show. He has had a successful career and has been nominated in the Malaysian Official Designers' Association (Moda) and Mifa Malaysia. He was also invited to the 2019 China Chongqing International Fashion Week, Asean Fashion Festival 2019, and Miss Astro Chinese International Pageant 2019.
As he guides Annabelle through the ins and outs of fashion, he is also working on expanding his fashion influence from couture and red carpets to casual and ready-to-wear fashion to reach the masses.
The George Town Festival, the Creative Collection exhibition held at the end of November, promoted and highlighted local brands and identities, from promising startups to the industry’s movers and shakers. – The Vibes, December 11, 2021
