SINGAPORE ROARS

It's all eyes on The Lion City as Chanel comes to town.

- BY TODD PLUMMER

The historic Raffles Hotel, founded in 1887.

In Singapore, the future unfolds in real time. Its improbably contemporary skyline rises from the jungle at the tip of the Malay Peninsula, flanked by the Straits of Malacca to the west and the South China Sea to the east. Once a strategic gateway between East and West, Singapore is now a glittering cityscape where tradition and innovation coexist.

"Most of those towers weren't there when I was a child," says Nicholas Tan, founder of Aupen, a handbag line based in Singapore and favored by the likes of Beyoncé and Taylor Swift. "It's surreal, like ambition made visible."

Yet behind the towering Marina Bay Sands with its rooftop infinity pool (a favorite Instagram spot) and beyond the futuristic Supertree Grove of Gardens by the Bay, there is something more nuanced: an interwoven cultural narrative that has lost none of its soul. Despite the Crazy Rich Asians glitz it has come to be known for, Singapore retains a spirit all its own.

This month the city-state, an increasingly powerful fashion destination, will host a replica of Chanel's cruise 2025/26 show. Originally staged in Lake Como last April, it will now be presented in a more tropical setting. Chanel has history here: The cruise 2013/14 show was held in Singapore, and the maison's traveling exhibition