The exhibition Andrew Gn: Fashioning the World is finally off to its second stop—the city famous for its 1692 witch trials

Singapore’s most famous export, the retired designer Andrew Gn Chiang Tiew (鄞昌涛, Yin Changtao) is finally exporting his eponymous exhibition after its debut on our island ended in September 2023. Mr Gn had shared that the show, conceived as homage to his almost 30 years as a designer based in Paris, would be traveling to different cities, starting with some in the United States. WWD confirmed two days ago that the exhibition will debut in the U.S., in the city of Salem in Massachusetts this fall. But it would not be the exact same that Singaporeans saw two years ago.

According to WWD, “the show re-envisions what was the designer’s first retrospective, which debuted in Singapore at the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM).” It would be staged at the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM), in collaboration with ACM. Reportedly, Mr Gn would be donating 90 pieces from his archive in Paris (the atelier is now closed) to PEM, and these pieces will differentiate the two exhibitions. It is not known how unalike—if at all— the pieces PEM shall be getting are from those that were donated to ACM, starting with the first white, fringed dress seen in the debut #ASGFASHIONNOW exhibition in 2021.

About three months after the exhibition in Singapore closed, Mr Gn announced his retirement on social media, to the surprise (but not shock) of many who did not think that ACM would have staged a retrospective of a designer who was not expected to continue to carry the torch for our island nation. Mr Gn said then: “I think that I’m at the really high point of my career, having done a lot and worked very hard for my company. So I’d like to really use this opportunity to step back, enjoy my life and see what happens.” And enjoying his life he has been, which included considerable travels. Meanwhile, rumours have been circulating among industry folks here that Andrew Gn would be assigned a creative director role of sort at a new, permanent fashion wing of the ACM, believed to be located at the Peranakan Museum. As they used to say, akan datang (coming).

File photos: Chin Boh Kay for SOTD