SHENTONISTA

“I just moved into a new studio with my girlfriend. My goal is for it to be a big open space where I can showcase my illustrative works and things I like to surround myself with, and hopefully one day when it’s done, I can invite people over to share it with.”

“I love travelling—one of my favourite places to visit is Melbourne, Australia, though I don’t get to travel there as often as I’d like to. I just love the vibes, the people, the thrift scene, and the local art and design markets there.”

“In my free time, I enjoy dressing up, walking around the city, reading, and most recently, writing poetry though I’m not that good at it yet! I’m currently reading A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara—I just started on it, so so far, so good!”

“I’m currently working as an Account Manager, but if I wasn’t in this particular field, I would love to be a dog sitter so I can be around dogs all the time! Or professionally dressing Barbie dolls—I’ve heard that’s a thing.”

“My husband and I have been vegetarians since 2018. My favourite places to get a good vegetarian meal in Jakarta would be Burgreens, a plant-based eatery chain, and Vegenzy Kitchen, an online plant-based food caterer.”

“This year, I want to make more time for the things that really matter to me, like my loved ones. My goal is to have one day per week where I’m free from the distractions of work so that I can focus solely on spending time with the people I love.”

“There’s nothing in particular that sparked my interest in fashion. I just feel that if you dress well, you will naturally feel good! Some people think that I’m attention seeking, but I mean, why else would you have stopped me, right?”

“All of the tattoos that I have are on my arms, and they’re mainly of things that I like, whether it’s flowers, animals (I think lions are my spirit animal), or words and quotes that I live by. I might get more in the future, but I have no concrete plans for that yet.”

“I’d love to live in Europe for a bit because of the culture there. I’m a PR, and I feel Singaporeans are very judgemental. You can be doing your own stuff, but as long as it doesn’t fit what the general public thinks is the norm, then you’ll be judged.”

“When I was younger, I used to buy expensive brands like Armani, but now I feel like it’s not worth it. I prefer thrifting because the things I get are unique—I’m the only one who owns it. I shop at Malaysia’s Big Bundle in Johor Bahru because it’s cheaper.”

“My husband Andrew and I will soon be launching Flicker & Flame, our own candle brand. I love candles, so this is a passion project for me. We’re planning on creating scents about everything under the sun, with limited edition drops maybe!”

“Right now, my design philosophy is to be myself—Van. Jokes aside, I would say I’m just doing whatever I like, experimenting with more controversial stuff.”