KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — Ellie Norman’s love for prints inspired her to start her own fashion line My Apparel Zoo featuring bold African prints. Initially, it was a hobby that she operated from home. While working full-time in an investment bank, Ellie ran a one-woman show that saw her sewing, marketing and selling clothes under the My Apparel Zoo label.
The exotic fabric was sourced from her friend’s mother in Angola, Africa. The woman would personally make the fabric using a technique where the design is stamped using wax instead of the modern way of printing.
“I never pursued fashion as a formal education. I was studying fine arts and textile as well as business psychology in Bristol. I was interested in prints, art and textures and that love evolved into fashion. From a young age I learned about fashion through my mother where I started sewing, designing and cutting. I had a sense of design so I felt I didn’t need a fashion degree,” said Ellie.
The 26-year-old fashion designer’s love for fashion started when she was 15 years old. Before that, she was more into sports.
From sourcing fabric for My Apparel Zoo in 2013, Ellie began to make her own printed designs in 2015. As 2014 was the year of tribal prints for fashion, it was perfect timing for Ellie. She had picked African prints since it is unique in this part of the world. Her customers also liked the prints and it was something different from what was offered by other fashion designers in Malaysia.
“The prints that I create are African abstract prints with a modern style. In Malaysia you have batik and songket, so I wanted something unique. Don’t get me wrong, I love all type of prints but at that time not a lot of brands here were doing it,” said Ellie.
The prints that she comes up with are in limited quantities so once they are sold out they are not reproduced again. My Apparel Zoo outfits are not mass-produced which appeals to their customers. The company in Angola that makes the prints is also a small company. Together with My Apparel Zoo, both companies have grown together.
My Apparel Zoo also has exclusivity over the prints made by the Angola company. Ellie uses the fabric to design the pieces and the clothes are manufactured in Malaysia. Their mid to premium range is targeted at women from 18 to 50 years old.
“It is a ladylike brand and we also offer custom wear so it fits all ages. I would describe the style as edgy but ladylike and girls can relate to that. I wanted a brand that could appeal to everyone,” said Ellie.
In the beginning, the style was always focused on dresses but over the past three years, Ellie said the style has grown in terms of design. Last year’s collection in conjunction of Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week was filled with colours but this year it will be more resort wear, featuring darker colours.
“Fashion is always evolving and changing. We are also branching to other fabrics so we get fabric from Japan, Korea and also use batik,” said Ellie.
Ellie wants a humble and wholesome place for people to shop comfortably and a retail space is one of the things they are looking at in the future.
“A lot of brands are named after the designers themselves but I chose the name My Apparel Zoo because it sounded quirky and unique. I also wanted to grow another label. My Apparel Zoo is a mid to premium range brand while Zü by My Apparel Zoo is more of a basic range. I have another brand Ellie Stone which focuses on custom gowns and bridal wear.” The brand Ellie Stone is a combination of Ellie’s name and her fiancé’s nickname “stone.” One of her customers is popular local actress Siti Saleha.
Under the My Apparel Zoo line, there is also custom design for prints. My Apparel Zoo range retails around RM300-RM400 while Zü by My Apparel Zoo starts from around RM100-RM200. Custom designs are priced RM600 to RM700.
“I plan to expand the brand internationally, starting with Singapore next year and then maybe Indonesia and Thailand. I want to go at my own pace so I’m targeting Southeast Asia first before expanding further,” said Ellie.
My Apparel Zoo was first launched on Instagram and Ellie first started selling to friends who also brought their friends. She had tea parties where friends would come and buy her designs. Eventually, it grew.
“I want to make Malaysia proud by going international. We hope to go for more tradeshows, stock overseas and reach a wider audience. Our style is very versatile so it will appeal to a lot of people,” said Ellie.
The vision behind the Spring/Summer 2016 collection was to create versatile looks, infusing prints from two different cultures, Angola Africa and Japan. The Angolan prints are very statement like and bright with a crisp cotton feel whereas for the Japanese prints the cottons are softer.
“The White Agnes tail Blouse and Black Culottes was one of the pieces that stood out in the collection and that did very well. It was a versatile look that could be paired with any outfit. What was unique about these pieces were the quality, the fabrics used for these pieces were Japanese cotton. It had a sturdy texture but still giving that flowy feel.
“The floral Japanese prints were also one of the key looks. This was made of organic Japanese cotton. Overall the collection for Spring/Summer 2016 has a simple and versatile silhouette, placing focus on the colours and prints. The collection is flowy and comfortable but without a compromise on style. It consists of several two-pieces and statement dresses that can be mixed and matched for everyday events and I believe these two looks definitely represent that,” said Ellie.
My Apparel Zoo has also partnered with fashion schools, Raffles Design Institute and ESMOD by The One Academy to offer internships to their fashion design students.
