17-year-old NFT artist and designer Ava Soh says Gen Zs will help save our world

They are talented, highly accomplished, and making waves on a global scale. We speak to three extraordinary youths under 21 about their remarkable achievements in advocacy, entrepreneurship, and the arts.

It’s not every day that a 16-year-old gets a mention from the leader of a nation on a world stage. When Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy made his virtual address at the Shangri-La Dialogue last June, he wore a T-shirt designed by St Joseph’s Institution International student Ava Soh, which featured an image of a girl wearing a traditional Ukrainian dress and spray-painting the Ukraine flag.

The graphic, which Ava created as a non-fungible token (NFT), was inspired by street artist and political activist Banksy. It was launched under her fashion label Daughters of The Revolution (DOTR) to raise funds for Ukraine’s war relief efforts.

“I wanted to do my part to aid Ukraine, and I was compelled to create an NFT after learning that the country was receiving funds by crypto,” she says. “With the design, I wanted it to be an empowering message to show that women can build the nation too.”

This design is one of four that Ava has created, and she intends to launch the other three in the coming months. Her hope is that, eventually, she will be able to build a collection around the spray-paint flag design to support different countries and women all around the world.

While she was encouraged by the wave of positive feedback that came after President Zelenskyy’s headlining appearance, there was also a slew of negative reactions.

“There were people who questioned the idea of a wearable NFT, because I marketed it as a NFT that one can wear. There were also people telling me that I was too young to get political, and that I was endangering Singapore with my design,” shares Ava.

How did she deal with the negative comments? “I try not to read too much into it,” she says simply with a shrug.

“It’s not just the negative responses; I try not to read too much of the positive feedback as well, because I don’t want it getting to my head. I’ll try to just read and keep in mind the constructive criticisms in order for me to see where I can improve the most.”

It’s clear that Ava possesses a self awareness that is beyond her years. She was only 14 years old when she started DOTR to “combine my interest in fashion with the idea of gender equality”.

She recounts a memory where her parents were discussing the fact that in certain countries, women are not allowed to dress in the way they want, and what they wore was dictated by their father or “I’m very into fashion, and I’m always like, no one’s going to tell me what to wear. I also grew up in a family where my brother and I are treated equally. And so the first time I realised that men and women are not treated on the same level in many other countries, it was very shocking,” she says.

DOTR’s first product, a four-piece jewellery collection, was launched in May 2020. Ava drew her inspiration from the story of how the Chinese New Year love letter egg rolls came about, where girls would often gift the biscuits to boys they fancied.

“Instead of giving [the love letter] to someone else, you’re giving it to yourself as a symbol of self-love. Self-love breeds self-confidence, and that is what girls need to change the world,” says Ava.

While she has made strides with her advocacy and entrepreneurial projects, Ava has yet to decide on a career path for herself – but she’s not fussed about it. Instead, she believes in finding and fixing problems. Currently, she is doing an internship with The Majurity Trust, a local philanthropic organisation that guides funding to underserved areas.

“My parents always raised [me and my older brother] to ask what kind of problems there are to solve in the world. Humans will always find a way to create more problems. I feel like it’s my generation’s responsibility to do even more for our society and the environment, because we have to overcompensate for what the previous generations have done. I have a very strong belief that the youth will save our world,” she says.

PHOTOGRAPHY Lawrence Teo
ART DIRECTION Adeline Eng
HAIR & MAKEUP Benedict Choo, using Chanel Beaute