With Singapore Retrospective, Andrew Gn Starts a New Chapter – WWD

Andrew Gn is ready for his close-up.

As he celebrates 28 years in business, the Paris-based designer is the subject of his first major retrospective, “Andrew Gn: Fashioning Singapore and the World,” on show at the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) in Singapore until Sept. 17.

He’s working on a biography, to be published next fall, and is in talks to bring the exhibition to institutions in the United States, France and the rest of Asia, including China. “So it will be about five, six years of my life. It’s like engaging myself in a James Bond movie,” he says, with one of the booming laughs that punctuate his conversation.

Gn is sitting at the mirrored Gio Ponti dining table in one of his two apartments in Paris, surrounded by his prolific collection of ceramics. While his other home is a maximalist ode to the 18th century, this space in the north of the French capital reflects his modernist leanings, with a mix of midcentury furniture and abstract art.

While he’s dressed everyone from Queen Rania of Jordan to Lady Gaga, the genial designer has kept a relatively low public profile so far, preferring to cultivate close personal relationships with his customers. Early in his career, trunk shows introduced him to society doyennes such as Lynn Wyatt, Blaine Trump and Susan Gutfreund.

“They became my friends, and I really treasure those friendships. And I also got to know what they like, and that contributes a lot to my work, because it’s a very useful way rather than designing for a woman that doesn’t really exist,” he says.

Following two major health scares, including a stroke last year, he now prefers to welcome VICs at his ornate couture salon in the Marais district, dominated by an 18th-century Murano glass chandelier formerly owned by Italy’s historic Doria Pamphili clan.

Gn has reached a stage in his career where he’s thinking of ways to give back. As a first step, he’s donated 160 designs to the ACM, ranging from a linen dress with pagoda epaulets, embroidered with colorful Asian-inspired motifs, to the pointy-shouldered cropped jacket with signature jeweled buttons worn by Lily Collins in “Emily in Paris.”

“I need to start building my legacy,” he explains. “And I think it is really such an honor, first and foremost, to be honored by your own country. It means a lot to me and it starts from there.”

While studying at Central Saint Martins School of Art in London in the ‘80s, Gn went on an exchange at Parsons School of Design in New York City. There he was able to consult garments by the likes of Claire McCardell and Geoffrey Beene in the archives at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

“You wear gloves, you handle them, you study them, and this is how I learned,” he recalls, adding that he hopes to create a similar facility in Singapore.

“It’s to educate a new generation about what a guipure [lace] is, how to make a certain kind of embroidery,” he explains. “It’s not through images on TikTok, or IG — despite the fact that we’re active on it — that you’re going to learn about fashion. Fashion is a craft. It’s about making clothes. You need to learn from the real stuff.”

One of his earliest fashion influences was his Peranakan Chinese grandmother, who typically wore embroidered lace tunics with contrasting sarongs. He remembers her chewing betel leaves as she hand-beaded sandals with female friends and relatives.

Gn’s father was a merchant who bought fabrics such as Indonesian batiks and fine silks from Thailand on his travels. His mother would have them made into Chinese cheongsams or Western-style suits — looks that have influenced the designer’s trademark combination of clean lines, vivid hues and lavish embellishments.

Gn, who graduated with an MA from Domus Academy in Milan, likes to say that London taught him how to dream, New York taught him about business, and Milan taught him about the industry. But it was in Paris that he realized his dream of founding his own label.

Launched in 1995 as a knitwear line, it has evolved into an occasionwear collection that is carried by major retailers including Bergdorf Goodman, Saks, Matchesfashion and Net-a-porter.

Flanked by his longtime business partner Erick Hörlin, Gn has combined a cautious approach to investment with a progressive mindset that has helped his privately owned label to weather recessions and the e-commerce revolution.

“I always say that the fashion journey is like a marathon. Managing your creativity is like pacing your breath. Every breath counts and every step counts, so I keep on evolving,” the designer says.

“I do get offers from time to time, but it’s actually a choice. I’ve always wanted to be independent,” he adds. “There’s a high price to pay for freedom, but then I get to do exactly what I want.”

There have been peaks and troughs. Gn recalls his appointment in 1997 as creative director of ready-to-wear at Balmain, which ended abruptly after a synthetic hair ball bounced down the runway during his debut show.

“I wanted to kill myself, but thinking back, it’s kind of funny. Like, everything went wrong,” he says. “It went viral, so I was known as the designer who sent hair balls down the runway.”

The next season, he was back on top after cutting-edge concept store Colette put his eponymous collection in its windows during Paris Fashion Week.

One key to his longevity is his something-for-everyone approach, which caters to customers of all ages, sizes and origins with items ranging from thigh-grazing minis to feather-trimmed caftans. Another is his commitment to timeless designs.

“I always believe in creating less but creating only the best, and since the early days, I do not believe in designing trendy one-wear wonders. I believe in creating beautiful garments that a woman could keep in her wardrobe for a very long time,” he explains.

These days he does a lot of his business online and has worked hard to make his creations pop off the screen. “It’s all about the combination of visual appeal and also how finely it has been crafted in real life,” he says. “I want a woman to say, ‘Oh my god, it looks good on the screen, but then when I receive it, it’s even better.’”

Gn is about to make another pivot. In June he’s launching his first bridal collection exclusively on Net-a-porter and next year he will debut a more casual gender-neutral line.

“I’m so happy. It’s the first time I can actually create something for myself,” says the designer, who plans to model the looks, but will also show them on women. With items ranging from a nubby cashmere coat to logo sweaters, the his ’n’ hers line is aimed at the daughters of the Ladies Who Lunch. “Probably her lifestyle is very different. No one has lunch anymore,” Gn says.

The Singapore exhibition is similarly designed to engage digital natives. Each outfit comes with a QR code that unlocks the secrets of its fabrication. The final room explains the entire process, from sketches to toile to finished garment. “You can create your own Andrew Gn dress in that section,” he says delightedly.

Gn hopes his example will inspire young Singaporeans to follow their artistic dreams.

“I want them after seeing this exhibition to be able to leave the museum thinking that Singapore might not be one of the biggest countries in the world, but we can definitely use beauty as a language to dialogue with the world,” he says.