Singapore star Bling Empire has died after a skiing accident

Lin Bang, the famous Singaporean jewelry designer who starred in the Netflix reality show Bling Empire, has died a month after undergoing brain surgery following a skiing accident.

Her son Sebastian confirmed her death in an Instagram post on Wednesday, where he paid tribute to his 51-year-old mother as “the best friend and the best mother”.

The accident happened in Aspen, USA, on Christmas Eve.

Bang’s family has not released her immediate cause of death.

In a post on social media on New Year’s Eve, Pan said she fell and “bruised her face” while skiing on top of the mountain.

Because she was wearing a helmet, “it didn’t seem so bad at the time and I was able to ski down to the bottom,” she said, adding that a ski patrol officer later checked for a concussion and cleared her.

But she still had “a little headache”, and on the recommendation of the paramedic, she decided to go to the hospital. She then discovered she was bleeding on the brain and went in for an emergency craniotomy.

“In the blink of an eye… life can change,” she wrote in the post, which was accompanied by a photo of her in bed with a partially shaved head. “It’s a long road to recovery, but I’m a survivor.”

Born in Singapore, Pan worked in New York, London and Paris.

Her designs have been worn by pop stars Madonna, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Cardi B and Billie Eilish, according to her website.

In Bling Empire New York in 2023, she was part of a cast of Asian-American socialites who “flaunt their wealth — and their fashion — by bringing drama and living it up in New York,” according to Netflix.

In his tribute, Sebastian Bunn 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 were tough during her recovery,” he said.

“She’s a fighter to the end and the strongest woman I know,” he said.