In a fashion industry defined by acceleration — more collections, more content, less time — Bernard Chandran has chosen to slow down.
The Malaysian designer, whose career has spanned more than three decades at the intersection of couture, culture and spectacle, is unveiling MYTH Creation, a body of work that marks a decisive shift from fashion into fine art. It is not a departure so much as a distillation: a quieter, more deliberate expression of a creative philosophy shaped by discipline, ritual and time.
Unveiled in Kuala Lumpur, MYTH Creation arrives at a symbolic moment — the rare Year of the Wood Snake, a cyclical event that occurs only once every sixty years. In Eastern philosophy, the Wood Snake represents patience, introspection and renewal. For Chandran, the alignment proved uncannily precise.
From Velocity To Virtue
Following MYTH Evolution — his earlier exploration of heritage, mythology and the Year of the Dragon — Chandran undertook a ten-day Vipassana meditation retreat in India at the end of 2024. No communication. No distraction. No creative output. Only observation.
The experience marked a recalibration after decades of relentless pace: international shows, global recognition, and the layered responsibilities of marriage and fatherhood. Where fashion once demanded constant reinvention, meditation introduced restraint.
“Change is inevitable,” Chandran reflects. “But understanding where change leads — that is wisdom.”
The symbolic journey from dragon to snake is central to MYTH Creation. If the dragon represents power and projection, the snake speaks to shedding, renewal and internal strength — a motif that resonates with the designer’s own evolution.
A Singular Catalyst
The genesis of MYTH Creation can be traced to a single artwork: a life-sized charcoal drawing of an Indian sadhu by Malaysian artist Ahmad Zaki. Inspired by the sacred city of Benares, the piece became both anchor and provocation — a reminder of devotion, discipline and spiritual economy.
The drawing accompanied Chandran into his meditation retreat and now functions as a conceptual keystone for the exhibition. It is a quiet assertion that luxury, at its most profound, is not about excess but intention.
MYTHS Of Aura
The exhibition opens with MYTHS of Aura, a quartet of works titled Renewal, Spirituality, Enlightenment and Passion. Together, they form a meditative cycle rather than a linear narrative — inviting contemplation rather than interpretation.
Rendered with restraint and material sensitivity, the works echo the Wood Snake’s virtues: patience over urgency, introspection over performance. They also reflect Chandran’s deliberate retreat from ego, trend and immediacy.
“Like the snake, I shed an old skin,” he says. “The retreat reminded me that everything passes — including success.”
Cultural Endorsement And Continuity
The collection has already attracted international attention. Christie’s London presented selected works from MYTH Creation alongside pieces from MYTH Evolution in a curated presentation late last year, signalling Chandran’s growing presence within the global art conversation.
The full exhibition is now being shown at Bernard Chandran’s private studio in Kuala Lumpur, closing just before the end of the Year of the Snake and the Lunar New Year of 2026 — a deliberate full circle. Chandran refers to it as “the tail of the snake”: the quiet completion of a cycle.
A Different Kind Of Luxury
In an era increasingly shaped by commercial urgency, MYTH Creation offers an alternative proposition — one rooted in time, contemplation and spiritual authorship. It is not fashion, not art, not branding, but something rarer: a mature creative statement unconcerned with speed or scale.
For Chandran, the future is no longer about producing more, but meaningfully less. And in today’s luxury landscape, restraint may be the most radical gesture of all.
