ANDREW GN: FASHIONING SINGAPORE AND THE WORLD

ACM presents Andrew Gn: Fashioning Singapore and the World, tracing the fashion journey of Andrew Gn, one of Singapore’s most prolific designers

Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) presents Andrew Gn: Fashioning Singapore and the World, tracing the fashion journey of Andrew Gn, one of Singapore’s most prolific designers, and celebrates his major gift to ACM’s collection.

This is ACM’s largest showcase celebrating a contemporary Singapore fashion designer. Through five sections and over 100 representative works, this extraordinary retrospective exhibition explores Gn’s roots in Asia, cross-cultural expressions of Asian and Western art, and celebrates his distinctive aesthetics, craftsmanship, and global impact.

Cross-cultural inspirations and influences

The exhibition takes a closer look at Gn’s diverse sources of inspiration including art, fashion, literature, film, and his Singaporean roots, and how they offer a wealth of access points for audiences to diverse cultures and discourses surrounding Asia. Echoing Singapore’s history as a cross-cultural port city, Gn’s works display a convergence of Asian and Western influences, and features reinterpretations of Asian cultures including Chinese, Indian, Malay, Indonesian, and his Peranakan heritage.

Gn’s inspirations include imperial and export porcelain, textiles, batik, iznik and other forms of hybrid design material culture. Traditional motifs and textile-making techniques also feature in his contemporary creations.

Gn has also been inspired by vibrant themes of nature, from corals and florals to his signature butterflies, often meticulously hand-painted and printed on garments.

With these more inclusive and contemporary representations of Asia and fashion, the exhibition looks to inspire the next generation to preserve their design legacies.

Inside the designer’s mind and studio

At the Contemporary Gallery, the exhibition features an almost-exact replica of Gn’s atelier in Paris, where his designs are birthed, experimented and materialised. Often called “demi-couture”, Gn’s ready-to-wear designs bear the quality and essence of couture, with many elements done in-house – from designing fabrics, embroideries, buttons and trimmings. This holistic design process reveals the exceptional artistry and craftsmanship that define the House of Andrew Gn. This section of the exhibition is free for all ACM visitors.

Empowering influential women globally through fashion

From Asia, Europe, Middle East to North America, Gn’s exquisite high-end, ready to wear creations have adorned powerful women in politics, high society, and the entertainment industry, such as Emma Stone, Fan Bing Bing, Maggie Cheung, Kareena Kapoor, Kit Chan, Lady Gaga, Lily Collins, Princess Alessandra of Hannover, Queen Rania of Jordan and Yang Mi.

Delve into the world of design and fashion

Continuing efforts to engage contemporary audiences using digital initiatives, this exhibition introduces “Fashion Try-On”, an interactive, multimedia experience that provides a personalised touch for visitors discovering Andrew Gn’s fashion journey.

Using RFID technology, visitors can collect motifs that are iconic of the House of Andrew Gn, such as the butterfly and coral. These motifs are scattered throughout the various exhibition spaces, and a paper sculpture feature wall by paper artist Dawn Koh at the Take Flight interpretive space.

At the end of their journey, motifs collected can be used to create personalised outfits that visitors can model at multimedia augmented reality kiosks situated at the Contemporary Gallery. Visitors may keep their self- designed outfits through printed and digital photographs.

Alongside this in-exhibition interactive RFID experience, ACM will also organise a series of complementary family-friendly programmes, guided tours, lectures and weekend festivals. This includes a special lecture by the designer Andrew Gn himself, in conversation with Senior Curator, Fashion and Textiles, ACM and Peranakan Museum Jackie Yoong, and Fashion Curator and Head of School of Fashion at LASALLE College of the Arts, Circe Henestrosa.

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