Fashion's New Darling - Museums

Offering stylish experiences with plenty of depth, these houses of fine art have become the hottest showrooms for high fashion.

- Lynette Koh

With numerous rooms and event spaces spread across an expansive space of 690,000 sq ft – plus a flight of stairs or two at the entrances – the National Gallery Singapore is not the easiest space for stiletto-sporting fashionist as to navigate. But that did not stop the well-dressed attendees from being all praise for the venue of the most recent edition of Singapore Fashion Week, or SFW (and a fortnight later, the Singapore Fashion Awards, or SFA, organised by the Textile and Fashion Federation).

Despite half-jokingly suggesting “comfortable shoes” as her top tip for those attending next year’s edition of SFW – which will once again take place at the National Gallery – anaesthetist Dr Loh May Han says: “The juxtaposition of a modern fashion event with this historical location was special and unique. One could feel the gravity of the space and how it has borne witness to milestones in our nation’s history – and another positive was the number of Instagrammable opportunities, thanks to the beautiful architecture!” 

Housed within two historical monuments dating back to the 1920s and 1930s – the former Supreme Court and City Hall – the art museum marked the first change of venue for the annual fashion event in years. Prior to SFW 2016, the fashion extravaganza was held within a large tented area outside Takashimaya Shopping Centre, one of the best known malls along the retail artery that is Orchard Road.