Homecoming King

Andrew GN is back with a bang, as the first prominent Singaporean fashion designer honoured with a retrospective exhibition at the Asian Civilisations Museum. Jacquie Ang squeezes in an interview amid his tight schedule and discovers what will keep his star rising.

Away from home for the past four years, Andrew Gn had sleepless nights before his return to Singapore this April. Anticipation was so high that during the flight, he turned to the movies as an outlet for escape.

"And I realised that I seriously miss the sense of home. With what's going on in the world, I feel safe and secure coming back to Singapore. I've been living abroad for such a long time. As you know, France is going through such a turmoil right now, and despite the fact that I truly love living in Paris, coming home means a lot to me. And I miss my food."

The only Singaporean fashion designer who's a Paris Fashion Week fixture, Gn had arrived at The Fullerton Hotel Singapore to the warm welcome of two boxes of chwee kueh from the Michelin Bib Gourmand-awarded Jian Bo Shui Kueh at Tiong Bahru Food Centre. "Extra sambal and extra chai por!" he exclaimed with delight during our meeting. But his must-have whenever he returns is laksa lemak, and he's had his fix twice.

Food, however, did not compel his return. Gn was back just for one week to prepare for his upcoming retrospective at the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM), which will be unveiled on May 27, and is set to run until September 17, 2023.

Through an introduction by his dear friend Zainal Arif Mantaha, former ambassador of Singapore to France, ACM's director Kennie Ting and Jackie Yoong (who would be the chief curator of the exhibition), had proposed the event in 2019. It would have been a splendid way to mark the 26th anniversary of his house. Then Covid-19 struck. They had to hit pause on the plans.

But now it's back on track, amped up with a glittering line-up of events to launch the show.