Joel Guinto
BBC News, Singapore
Lynn Ban, a celebrity jewellery designer from Singapore who starred in the Netflix reality show Bling Empire, has died a month after undergoing brain surgery following a ski accident.
Her son Sebastian confirmed her death on an Instagram post on Wednesday, where he paid tribute to his 51-year-old mum as a “best friend and the best mother”.
The accident happened in Aspen in the US on Christmas Eve.
Ban’s family did not reveal her immediate cause of death.
In a social media post on New Year’s Eve, Ban had revealed that while skiing at the top of a mountain she had fallen and “face planted”.
As she was wearing a helmet, “it didn’t seem that bad at the time and I was able to ski to the bottom,” she had said, adding that a ski patrol officer later checked for a concussion and cleared her.
But she still had “a bit of a headache” and decided to go to a hospital, on the advice of a paramedic. She then discovered she had a brain bleed, and went for an emergency craniotomy.
“In a blink of an eye… life can change,” she had written in the post, which was accompanied by a picture of her in bed with her head partially shaved. “There’s a long road of recovery ahead but I’m a survivor.”
Born in Singapore, Ban had worked in New York, London and Paris.
Her designs have been worn by pop stars Madonna, Beyonce, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Cardi B and Billie Eilish, according to her website.
On Bling Empire New York in 2023, she was part of a cast of Asian American socialites who “flaunt their fortunes — and fashions — while bringing the drama and living it up in New York City”, according to Netflix.
In his tribute, Sebastian Ban said he wanted the world to know who his mum was as a person.
“She always had a smile on her face even when times are tough during her recovery process,” he said.
“She is a fighter until the end and is the strongest woman I know,” he said.
