Founder of Singapore fashion brand Aupen revealed as a former national swimmer

Former national swimmer Nicholas Tan won gold in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay in the 2007 SEA Games. And now, he has struck gold again as the founder of a fashion brand.
And not just any label, but surprise, surprise, Aupen, whose bags have been seen on the arms of megastars, Taylor Swift and Beyonce among others.
In an interview with Women’s Wear Daily (WWD), Tan, 35, was revealed to be the elusive owner of the Singapore-based leather goods label that started in 2022.
The brand whose bags retail at S$554 (US$415) first made news earlier this year for its partnership with luxury conglomerate LVMH Métiers d’Art, an initiative supporting artisans in leathers and high-quality metal hardware.
Maybe we shouldn’t be too surprised.
Back in 2014, Tan, then 25, had a taste of being the toast of the fashion world after he was one of seven models handpicked by Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana for an advertising campaign.
Before Aupen, Tan owned a fashion showroom in Asia that introduced the works of big-name designers such as Dries Van Noten and Joseph Altuzzara.
In the interview with WWD, Tan, who is the second of three children of university lecturer Tan Boon Tiong, and his wife Eunice, admitted that his experience owning a showroom made him realise that he didn’t want to just work behind-the-scenes, leading to the start of Aupen.
Tan, who studied in Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College, also said he kept a low profile about being associated with Aupen as he “didn’t want to be pigeon-holed into a particular category or industry”.
“Before starting Aupen, I had achieved success in a variety of areas from being a champion national swimmer for Singapore, to being a fashion model, to doing tech IPOs,” added the Harvard graduate. 
According to reports, Tan has a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Harvard and was also an early team member of e-commerce platform Garena, which eventually became Shopee.
When asked in the interview about the huge celebrity following Aupen has enjoyed in the past two years, Tan shares that they are lucky. 
“They truly love them and use them,” he added, also counting Jennifer Lawrence, Olivia Rodrigo and Selena Gomez as fans.
This story was originally published in 8Days. 
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