When someone talks about upcoming stars, it’s normal to think of musicians or anyone in the music field. I wanted to take this opportunity to shine a light on the people who express their love for art in different forms such as dance, music, design, and so on. When I was given this article to write, it became a goal to focus on the true upcoming artists and make their work known to others.
Ana Abu
For the love of minimalism! Ana Abu makes basic clothes and clean cuts look beautiful and effortless. Since the start of the company in 2010, it has grown from a one woman show to five important people who support and drive this clothing line into better things.
Ana Abu
Ana Abu stands out from other designers because of the simplicity that comes with every collection; this is a brand who advocates ‘less is more’, alongside natural and effortless beauty. With every piece of clothing, they impart slight androgyny into their designs. Speaking of which, an attention grabbing collection that has been released by Ana Abu named ‘Him & Her’ is a beautifully made unisex, gender neutral series with timeless style and easy, ready to wear clothing. They’ve also recently been nominated Contemporary Label of the Year by Elle Malaysia!
The consistency of minimalism and simplicity put into every collection, but still being able to create new, different pieces is truly admirable. It’s refreshing to see something new in the fashion industry that doesn’t discriminate gender and is neutral to all sorts of beauty. When you look at clothes designed by Ana Abu, you see a blank canvas – you define your own style and become whatever you want.
https://anaabu.co/
Rachelle Loong
What began as being a bedroom dancer, to competing internationally; Rachelle has came a long way from where she started. Most people tend to underestimate the work and effort put in to maintaining a dance career, but it takes up tremendous amounts of time, energy and money.
Rachelle Loong
At the age of 13, Rachelle started her dance career and hasn’t looked back since. In the past 7 years, she has won about 15 medals among Latin and Ballroom competitions around Southeast Asia. If she isn’t travelling around the world for training, camps or competitions, she coaches students part time. With a knack for dance, she performs Latin and Ballroom professionally, but does bits of every genre.
Dedication and determination are two things that make a great dancer – unthinkable hours spent training, about 14 hours a day with minimal breaks to be exact, staying on strict diets, religiously going to the gym, sacrificing a social life and time spent with friends and family. Even with all the time consumed, Rachelle aims to win more competitions and climb the world ranking cup.
https://www.instagram.com/rachelleloong/
Aalex Termizi
Funny, witty, and pretty charming; listening to Aalex sing brings the crowd many feels. She does fun, quirky covers of songs that gets the audience going, or as she calls it, “Come sing song with me”. If you’re into Indie Jazz and looking for a good night, you know who your girl is.
Aalex Termizi
Aalex started performing at 15 years old to get over her stage fright and after she found out she had cancer. She’s fought cancer twice, and went through the hardships of chemotherapy and missing out on school, at a very young age. Personally, she’s one of the strongest and most admirable person I have came across; watching her perform brings joy, and you wouldn’t have guessed what she’s been through to get to where she is today.
She covers songs, and makes it her very own by adding her own quirks to it. Aalex released her very first song this year, named Dwi. With a bright future, many more opportunities ahead and a whole lot of talent, Aalex Termizi is someone to look out for in the near future. Check out her song, “Dwi”!
https://soundcloud.com/aalextermizi/dwi-aalex-termizioriginal
Jiuan Ng
Jiuan is a local designer with her own clothing line known as JN by JIUAN NG. A mother of one and another on the way, Jiuan designs clothes based on timeless, effortless beauty with an edge. Her clothes fits a modern 21st century woman who’s always on-the-go.
Jiuan Ng
Fashion wasn’t always part of the plan, Jiuan is actually a trained computer engineer and worked with a multinational semiconductor company in Penang for 4 years. She found her love for fashion in 2010 and moved to New York City to enroll into Parsons. This year, Jiuan has launched her new collection named ‘Redefining Classics’. JN by JIUAN NG was part of KLFW Ready to Wear 2016. Her latest collection is made out of 12 pieces, all inspired by clean cut, timeless silhouettes with an edge; the draping and structure brings drama and finesse to an outfit without much needed effort.
Anyone who enjoys timeless fashion, clean cuts and basic clothes with an edge will know how to appreciate ‘Redefining Classics’. Jiuan takes ‘ready to wear’ fashion to a new level as she proves simplicity doesn’t have to be boring.
http://jn-by-jiuan-ng.myshopify.com/
Monica Lee
When you look at any work produced by Monica, you would probably assume you’re looking at just another photograph. Addicted to details, her artwork is almost mind blowing. From work that looks almost 3D to not being able to differentiate between a drawing or a photograph, she’s taking the world by storm, one hyper realistic piece at a time.
Monica Lee’s artwork
Monica started working in the digital world for 12 years before she pursued illustration. Her love for hyperrealism was inspired by her dad who is a photographer. It’s a no brainer that she pays very close attention to detail based on her artwork, she has been quoted, “I like to challenge myself with complex portraits especially people with freckles or beard”.
She usually uses portraits as reference to her work, which ends up looking stunningly similar to the original photographs. Each piece takes an average of 3-4 weeks to complete. With natural talent and a passion for art, Monica never fails to amaze people with her creations.
https://www.instagram.com/zephyrxavier/
Art is subjective, and artists express themselves in different ways; it may not be understood or accepted by everyone, but the freedom of expression is truly beautiful. These are a handful of Malaysian stars on the rise to fame who we’re expecting big things from!
