Today marks the first Trooping the Colour ceremony since King Charles’s ascension to the throne—and the Princess of Wales’s first since assuming her new title. It’s fitting, then, that she eschewed her usual Alexander McQueen tailoring in favor of something a little more daring: a custom look by Singapore-born, Paris-based designer Andrew GN, paired with a Philip Treacy hat.
The shamrock-green hue is, of course, a nod to Kate’s role as colonel of the Irish guards—as is the Cartier brooch affixed to her lapel, which the princess also wore on St. Patrick’s Day earlier this year. Technically owned by the guards themselves, the gold design is loaned out to royal women associated with the regiment, and has been worn by both the Queen Mother and Princess Anne in the past.
This marks the first time the Princess has worn Andrew GN’s designs in public (although Queen Rania of Jordan has been a fan of his work for years, wearing a black crepe dress from the label to announce her son’s engagement). Having graduated from Central Saint Martins in London and the Domus Academy in Milan, GN decamped to France to work with Emanuel Ungaro, where he honed his exquisite craftsmanship before a brief stint at the helm of Balmain. Today, he’s known for the elaborate references that inspire his creations—from 16th-century Ottoman porcelain to the wardrobe of Louis XV’s mistress Madame de Pompadour to his Japanese grandmother’s 19th-century kimonos—with an archive of more than 10,000 pieces.
Happily, the most celebrated of his designs are now on display as part of his first major retrospective, Andrew Gn: Fashioning Singapore and the World at the Asian Civilisations Museum, from the lace dress worn by Emma Stone in La La Land to the draped custom bustier he lent Beyoncé from his fall 2010 collection, titled “Persian Letters” after Montesquieu’s 1721 novel.
“It’s an immense honor, almost overwhelming,” Gn told Vogue ahead of the opening. “Everything here tells a story about my life and the effort that goes into telling it. All of these elements come together, and, while every collection is a little bit like that, seeing 28 years of my work in one place is really emotional.” One imagines having his designs worn by the Princess is just the icing on the well-deserved cake.