Also a star on Bling Empire, Lynn Ban did not survive a ski accident

Lynn Ban in Aspen last December when she met a ski accident

On her Instagram page about an hour ago, Lynn Ban’s son Sebastian Kain, revealed that his mother passed away on Monday. This is a startling turn of events. Less than a month ago, during Christmas vacation with her family, Ms Ban fell while skiing, face-down on the slopes of Aspen. She wrote on IG on New Year’s Eve that the accident “would change my life”. She did not know it would be so tragically. Her son posted: “I know she wanted to share her journey after her accident and brain surgery, so I thought she would appreciate one last post sharing the news to people who supported her.” According to the New York media, her husband of 28 years, found her dead in their apartment in the lower Manhattan neighbourhood of Tribeca (also home to the Tribeca Film Festival). Ms Ban was 52.

Although her eponymous jewellery has been worn by Rihanna (when she was on tour as well), Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Madonna, and all the names you can think of, Ms Ban did not really appear on many people’s radar here (except, perhaps, celebrity watchers) until Netflix’s Bling Empire: New York, a spin-off of the series Bling Empire (featuring characters in Los Angeles). In the show, which followed the lives of wealthy Asians from NYC to go beyond a peek into their over-the-top lifestyles that included attendant love lives, and social intrigue, Ms ban shared screen time with fellow Singaporean Kane Lim. Among the cast, she was considered “a unique blend of glamour and authenticity”, and “a standout”. It is no wonder Vogue called her a “proper glamazon”.

Ms Ban was a collector of fashion and had herself photographed in styles from her own archives, such as this Comme des Garçons dress

Mr Kain described his mother as “someone who cared for all”. Those who know her concur. During his publicity rounds to promote Andrew Gn: Fashioning Singapore at the Asian Civilisations Museum in 2023, the Singaporean designer recalled gratefully that it was Ms Ban who availed her home to him to stage his first trunk show in New York. One PR professional who was chummy with her, remembers the jewellery designer to be devilishly funny. “She was strong and determined, and obviously creative,” he said, “but she also had a wicked sense of humour.” Mr Kain shared that “she always had a smile on her face even when times were tough during her recovery process” and that “she was the funniest and coolest mum I could ever ask for”.

Not much is known about Lynn Ban’s early years here on our island. The PR guy said that “she is fiercely protective of her privacy even though she is a public figure. That means no talking about her parents and her sibling (said to be her half-sister).” According to a 2023 profile in The Straits Times, Ban is born to wealthy parents, David and Patricia Ban, who “live in the Orchard Road area”. Mr Ban is a property developer and had introduced Genki Sushi to Singapore (the Kains would, in 1996, launch the restaurant in New York). His wife is a certified gemologist, which had sparked her jewellery designer daughter’s interest in precious stones. The family relocated to New York when Ms Ban was just four, after her father accepted a job with Chase Manhattan Bank in the Big Apple. When she was a teenager, she returned briefly to Singapore with her family, but it was New York that beckoned, and she chose to live there.

Rings and bracelets from Lynn Ban Jewelry

Her career in fashion really began when she started collecting vintage clothing and then later sold them in Harvey Nichols in London and Barneys in New York. But even before that, in the ’90s, she was very much noted for her unique style in the scene that was New York nightlife, mixing vintage pieces—such as Tom Ford-era Gucci with Alessandro Michele-era Gucci—with total abandon. She told The Straits Times that at a Goodwill store in the Upper East Side, she once discovered a black sequined Courreges gown that she bought for US$10. Even with the endless possibilities of vintage finds, she continued to support contemporary designers, wearing almost everyone that she was drawn to—from Alaïa to Versace—and had frequently said she bought all of them (as opposed to many influencers who are gifted theirs). And she was no easy fashion victim. Her Tribeca apartment sport fashion illustrations by Antonio Lopez and Tony Viramontes, even original Yves Saint Laurent sketches from his formative days at Christian Dior.

She started Lynn Ban Jewelry in 2011 and her designs quickly scored the attention of pop stars such as Rihanna (who became a friend, and one she could lend a John Galliano-designed kimono when the latter shot a Manolo Blahnik ad campaign), and Nicki Minaj. Ms Ban is not apologetic about her eye-catching designs with a Goth bent. She did not do dainty, as seen at her stockist here, Club 21. Unconventional shapes and intricate details were key in her pieces, especially for those stars who gravitated towards them. She often believed that her jewellery designs must elicit a reaction: “you either love it or hate it” was her dictum, which could be said of her fashion choices too. Ms Ban was busy living her life through fashion, never quite succumbing to what others back home might have thought of her (not many knew her, in fact). Perhaps, it was just New York, a city pulsing very much in sync with her chosen beat for the fashionably fabulous. Like past fashion iconoclasts, such as Diana Vreeland, Lynn Ban was not conventionally beautiful, but she used—and wore—fashion well. In all, a life cut too short.

Photo: lynnban/Instagram