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Lynch + Louboutin |  I forgot to write about this when it happened. I dont remember if I was in a daze, on a high, or simply too scatty to organise my time properly.
Cat Street gallery recently held an exhibition of photographs by cult director DAvid Lynch featuring shoes from cult shoe designer Christian Louboutin. FETISH was the theme, brought to life by two 'models' in the Lynch photos - blonde nude Parisian dancers - honestly, who could have asked for more on a thusday night?
I suspect many of you attended the glamourous FETISH event - which saw spike heeled fashionistas take off their Louboutins to have the iconic fire engine red soles signed by the designer himself. Handbags were also offered, and frankly I'm surprised someone didn't ask him to sign a boob. I certainly tried. Christian revealed to me during our interview that his favourite pair were the siamese black heels, that I hovered around all night.
Although this is all kind of old news, I have to share the delightful images with you all. Since I know 2 people with either shoe or foot fetishes, I thought that I would delight them, at the very least.
At the VIP On Pedder reception - crowds swarmed to Christian in the tiny space, determined faces of made up women edging hungrily closer to their main man of the evening. This is what FETISH is all about - sexy, impractical, a little dangerous and enjoyed preferably en masse.  | | Tags: shoes | | Published on Friday, 28th of November at 6:03 pm | Category: Fashion | | Comment this post | | |
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beijing beauty x Dior | 
Beijing is like an old lover that takes you to her bosom, but not without some punishment for the last time you left her. She has changed in the last two years, since we last had our 4 month trist. She has been remodelled, under the expert hands of governmental plastic surgery... the characteristic old haunts renewed, less authentic but nonetheless more exciting. Her new found international experience renders her more sophisticated, more diverse and a darn sight more savvy to the charms of the lonely editor, running back into her arms.
The city is cold, but not unwelcomingly so. The bite of the air is a refreshing change from the suffocating humidity that plagues HK for so much of the year. I came here with our WestEast Men Magazine editor Venice and Art Director Goggo partly for the Dior extravaganza (Charlize Theron, Eva Green and all the works at 798 Art Community...oooh err!) that sought out the hottest contemporary Chinese artists to collaborate, making works to celebrate Dior's legendary reputation for haute couture.
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The exhibition space was amazing and the artworks impressed the crowds. The party was a blast, champagne rendering all the WestEast folk, as well as our friend Ada from China Vogue, on an even level of what Goggo calls an "alcohol base".
The night ended with friends and founders of Bloc Productions (BJ based) - Sion and Fran taking us to a cute little hutong restaurant near the drum tower, where we ate good food, downed mojitos and drank each others company. The night was fresh, and Beijing, like an old lover revisited should, left me with plenty of expectation for the remainder of my time here.
We are organising a whole issue with our guest director Tim Yip- of Oscar winning art director fame in 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon'.
We are all inspired by this opportunity and remarkable change of scenery, especially when reflecting over coffee in cosy small cafes, as I am now. As they say "Carpe Diem!" and if you have time try to get the "Noctem" in too. | | Tags: travel, art, fashion | | Published on Monday, 17th of November at 10:06 pm | Category: Culture | | Comment this post | | |
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the endless glamour | 
The glamourous life of a fashion editor is not without its high or low points. Meeting Dita Von Teese, Matthew Williamson, Philipp Dodd, Du Juan or Hidetoshi Nakata may count amongst my personal high points... all made possible through my working at WestEast Magazine. Most recently I am looking forward to working with a Oscar winning art director, to direct our next issue of the magazine. I'm left breathless to say the least.
There are times when the glamour goes beyond itself, trumps itself, you you like; and spirals into the ridiculous. It is these times for which we should all be grateful, a comic repreive from all that serious creative banter. All the brainstorming and pushing of cultural and artistic boundaries.
Olaf and Jessica Mueller of OM studios, a wonderful fashion and commercial photography duo based in HK, threw a little pre-hallowe'en bash last weekend. (Olaf M shot an out there editorial for WestEast Fall issue...) The theme was Hollywood and my dear god was this a spiral from the great heights of fashionable glamour. Civility fell to pieces by the end of the evening, forays were made into amateur nude photography (I was not involved thank you very much) - you would think that HK had learnt its lesson from Edison.
If you have never seen a tangle of stylists, make up artists, photographers, art directors and editors in their worst state singing kareoke - I'd highly recommend it. Perhaps it will make you think twice about how glam fashion can be.
Heres a few pics for your amusement. Prizes (of the non-material nature) to those who can guess which painted Hollywood diva, famed for her role in Dynasty, I am.
| | Tags: parties, fashion | | Published on Thursday, 23rd of October at 2:49 pm | | | Comment this post | | |
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Pants on Fire | 
When Djimon Hounsou's semi-naked image appeared on the CK ad covering the whole of the old Ritz Carlton building, it could have caused car crashes, that is if more women drove in Hong Kong. Apart from to illustrate the power of Djimon's raw sexual appeal, the savviness of CK's marketing team, it also seeks to point out that the underpants of a man really do count. I naturally only studied this building so carefully and got arrested trying to scale down the side in the name of market research for WestEast Men - our men's magazine. Naturally. Of course.
Often we are focused on the outside, forgetting that what we wrap our 'intimates' in might make a massive difference too. Good quality, soft flattering materials and cut might do more for a body than you think.
Ermenegildo Zegna made its name as one of the kings of fine Italian tailoring and fabrics. The brand that launched in New York has made itself one of the foreplayers of the growing men's fashion market. It seems now that it aims, like Calvin Klein, to create a nice niche for itself in the more intimate fashions of a man - underwear.
The press release's 'catchy' title: "Understated Style and Warmth Go Hand-in-Hand" tells only a little of the story...after a page of writing outlining its 'understated colours', 'simple style', 'comfortable materials' and 'extra detailing' we are still left with perhaps only 10% of the story. Then we get the CD of images.
This simply illustrates the most basic and most touted of points:
That a image really is worth a thousand words.
click on each picture - they get bigger, if only this was a function in real life.
images from Ermenegildo Zegna
JZ is contactable at jing.zhang@westeastmag.com | | Tags: fashion, men | | Published on Monday, 13th of October at 4:45 pm | Category: Fashion | | Read comments (2) | Comment this post | | |
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Shiatzy Chen fashion |
 
Admittedly, I have been somewhat preoccupied, of late, with Asian chic in fashion. Equally ethnic world inspired designers such as Nigerian Duro Olowu and Ashley Isham at London Fashion Week stirred more of a interest from me. I think I am either having some sort of cultural identity crisis, or something more post modern and existential which results in a longing for the nostaligia that these designers offer with their historical-socio-cultural influences.
But before I book myself in for some good old fashioned psychoanalysis... which as a huge fan of both Freud and Jung, I would happily engage in... Here is another little morsel of Asian design that has caught my eye lately. I did not even know this designer existed until I started working at WestEast, but my am I glad to have interviewed her for our FAll issue themed : TAIWAN.
Shiatzy Chen's repertoire has been popular for years but a recent surge in promotion and more attention to a youthful following has revived the brand and it's creator and figurehead, Ms. Shiatzy Chen herself. She was both proud and humble and wonderful to listen to, with the demeanor of a kind mother. Her most recent catwalk in MGM Macau attracted celebs and media alike, and showed a fantastic diverse collection where Asian shapes and aesthetics are still strong in high fashion. Here a a couple of my fave looks. Especially impressed with the menswear..and who doesn't like a man in a mandarin collar these days?
 
| | Tags: fashion, asia | | Published on Thursday, 9th of October at 3:41 pm | Category: Fashion | | Comment this post | | |
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The OC - October Contemporary not Mischa Barton | 
Art and money have been sneakily and not-so-sneakily making deals since the beginning of time. I guess recent hulla about the relationship between the two was again brought into the limelight with Damien Hirst's record breaking auction at Sotheby's. Reportedly Hirst made a whopping GBP95 million in one auction - now thats not bad for a man who rarely lays a finger on the production of his pieces. Concept is important, but can it really be everything?
So it is of a timely co-incidence that this month of October, in Hong Kong at least, we will celebrate non-commercial arts, in a month long art fair titled 'October Contemporary'. My friend Nadim Abbas, who is actually Chinese but has "ambiguous middle eastern heritage" as he puts it, is the project manager of the whole not-so sordid OC affair. He says that OC aims to show what HK (+ Greater China) has to offer in terms of more non-commercial projects, new media arts under this years theme of "ATTR/ACTION". I think that although it possesses less glitz than Christie's, less razzle dazzle than David Tang's projects, it might introduce revolutionary new ideas to a semi-stagnated scene, caught within an economic downturn.
At least these artist are more likely to be starving, which if we are honest, is how the public like them - all romance and torture and that shit.
With "art" becoming a new beacon of trendsetting life, the endless images of Mao on Hollywood Road in the most culturally imperialist areas of a post colonial HK, seem a little ironic to me. They all soon merge into an endless sea of market-orientated, money hungry projects anyway (bar a few). So for those of you who think its high brow to get pissed on all the free wine at the yearly "Art Walk", hobnob and perv on hot girls whilst momentarily glancing at some paintings on the wall, lets do something different this year.
OC has academic talks, performances, exhibitions and parties all around HK - and there will probably be some hot girls lurking around too. The packed opening can be seen on the lifestyle.hk galleries...there was performance art, music but Mischa Barton would have been nice too (maybe you guys can sort something out next year?)
COME! See you there, I'll be the one holding the little red book.
www.oc.org.hk
***This blog is kind of a sneakly little foray into the non-fashion arena, but with fashion label Chloe sponsoring the whole thing, I lay rights to comment.
JZ is reachable at jing.zhang@westeastmag.com | | Tags: art | | Published on Thursday, 2nd of October at 12:15 pm | Category: Culture | | Comment this post | | |
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Back in the Zone | 
After a eventful and tiring 2 weeks in London town, I step back onto the hot hard concrete of Hong Kong. My friends have been getting pregnant and married and the sort and I am still doing things like leaving my shoes in different cities, and getting on the train wearing my slippers. Its no wonder I have to tie things to myself so that I don't loose them.
After loosing 2 pairs of sunglasses and a handbag and my shoes, a few of my in show invites and after the last night in London, the reminants of my dignity (which some friends argue was gone ages ago, but I beg to differ), I have made it back in one piece.
The shows were entertaining as promised. The wonderful Fashion Fringe was exciting along with Louise Goldin, MAN, Felder Felder, Giles, Vivienne Westwood, Ashley Isham, Eley Kishimoto, John Rocha and a hilarious dragged up Emma Bell show. A Notable celeb-fest at the Natural History Musuem featured Jade Jagger (image), Naomi, a few Brit popstars and a couple of gold medal athletes strutting their stuff on the catwalk for charity 'Fashion for Relief' - Naomi Campbells' pet project.
As I arrived for the Westwood show, Pamela Anderson approaches looking amazingly fab is escorted inside by a man in a full white head mask. Talk about making an entrance! Also there was Mischa Barton (who is kind of bigger than expected) and the goddess of burlesque Dita Von Teese (who WestEast Mag are featuring in the winter issue). The crowd was electric to match the awesome RED label collection.
That night as I basked in the wake of a great show and waited alone in a bar for my friend to trek from Brixton, I soon learned the dangers of "a bottle of Rose please ... yes that's right, one glass."
Billy no mates | | Tags: fashion | | Published on Tuesday, 30th of September at 2:10 pm | Category: Fashion | | Comment this post | | |
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sorry folks! | sorry boys and girls I have had some laptop drama in London, all is fine now and there is so much to tell. Be patient and expect some juicy tit bits on Pamela Anderson, Dita Von Teese (who WE shot for the winter issue) and Donatella Versace as well as the love lives of the young Brit pack.
Jing xxx | | Published on Thursday, 25th of September at 6:36 pm | | | Comment this post | | |
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Day 2: Diane Von Furstenberg |
 
You know that song that goes "thiiiiings can only get better, can only get better"? Uplifting power ballad of the 90's lends its self to such a variety of situations. Well that how I felt after day 1, and at day 2, it did get better.
Not only was the collection a more complex story, centering around a Marlene Dietrich character's mysterious escapades through Berlin, Shanghai and New York, the organisation improved leaps and bounds. People were seated quickly and the show did not take 2 years to start. People were calm and collected, there was no slicing each other open with their Mastercard credit cards just to get to seats.
Diane Von Furstenberg is a legendary icon in fashion, Queen of the wrap dress and embassador of a bold femininity, now with Brit star Nathan Jenden behind the helms as Creative Director, a breath of fresh air has revived this classic label.
The appropriately titled 'Foreign Affair' show took complimentary layers in silky and soft and combined them with sharper military edge. The look was a femme 1920s-40s style, with glowing skin, blushing cheeks and wave set hair. Glamourous spy novels came to mind; all whispers and long shadows cast by smoke from cigarettes and angular trenchcoated figures in dark misty alleyways. Art Deco beckoned with shapely sequinned dresses that fell flatteringly mid-thigh.
And true to theme, Parisian models from IMG that were flown over to HK especially for the Mastercard Luxury Week provided an injection of ooomph on the catwalk. Short haired bleach blondes and huge-lipped doe-eyed European girls gave us diversity, but of course our HK favourites, our catwalk stables, Rosemary, Eunis and Lisa S also worked some hip-swinging magic.
Sulky frown was indeed turned upside down.
JZ reachable at : jing.zhang@westeastmag.com
 
| | Published on Thursday, 28th of August at 1:35 pm | Category: Fashion | | Comment this post | | |
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Mastercard Luxury Week day 1: Jean Paul Gaultier |
not a bad representation of the night... I drew it myself with my own camera. The hot blonde is obviously me.
Having decided to go to only one show a day so I can actually get some work done this week. Good good, I thought...a hard days work will be rewarded with 2 glasses of champagne and a fashion show I can enjoy and write about.
Apparently the opening show Jean Paul Gaultier was not so much success, as complete chaos. I haven't heard so many journalists agree on one thing in a long time.
The sexy safari inspired collection and supermodel Emma Pei opening the show, was almost completely escued by the fact that some PR brainiac decided to shovel press - editors of major publications no less - around in the photographers pit for 45mins until the seating began. Needless to say, we left for a drink at Blue Bar instead.
I cracked up laughing when a JPG girl pointed out what the Mastercard girl upstairs had called the "press seating area". Rama (editor of Prive) and I allowed our eyes to follow her finger to the dingy gap between the seating blocks and the photographers mess, from which no one could even hope to see the tops of models heads let alone the collection. I know we editors are know to be pedantic but isn't this level of semantic violation actually a betrayal of reality?
In design there is a term called 'negative space', where nothing at all happens, left blank to give effect to the space filled with content. I believe this JPG girl was referring to negative space. People do not like space that is called 'negative', and it can never hope for good press.
Those of us who took time out of closing our publications (hundreds and hundreds of pages)
to be hearded around like cattle for an hour and not even offered a seat to watch the bloody thing, are not happy campers this morning. Calls of complaint have been shooting from publications to PR agencies to fashion brands involved.
But for comedic effect if nothing else, WE ALL MUST MAKE THE BEST OF A BAD SITUATION. We didn't walk out, we saw a single spare seat and headed towards it. 2 bums but 1 seat - what do to?
Rama sits down first and pats his knee. I sit on his lap and get comfortable. A few murmurs around.... and he whispers in my ear, "If you feel anything moving, just go with the flow....."
JZ is reachable at jing.zhang@westeastmag.com
| | Published on Wednesday, 27th of August at 2:34 pm | Category: Fashion | | Read comment (1) | Comment this post | | |
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fashion money fashion | So we all wait expectantly for how this years Mastercard FAshion Week, Hong Kong will turn out. It will be my first one and since Mastercard also sponsor what used to be called New York Fashion Week, that will commence in Sept, I am gagging to see what Hong Kong has to offer.
So celeb wise, I will be bring you the low down on who was where. Instead of intrepid sightings of SJP and Scarlet Johanasson, I will be looking out for Qi Qi, a Hariela or two and the Twins girl who escaped the Edison shame. To be honest with you all, after fashion weeks in other countries most HK presentations just don't cut it... I mean just because you have a few bottles of champagne does not mean that its suddenly a luxury event, especially if its held in a mall or any other sterile public place.
So I will be going to the much anticipated Jean Paul Gaultier show tonight...and since I already love him, this will put me in a good mood. ALso coming that I may attend is BCBG, Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan (because of that Cuban themed Kate Moss campaign...too hot for words), Diane Von Furstenberg and KENZO.
And then there is the amazing Oscar de la Renta and something garun-TEED to get your blood flowing - or at least that of the particular breed of model that manage the 'Corpse' look all too well - the LA PERLA show. Boys.. I suggest you carry a large folder or bag to this event...and take a cold shower afterwards.
For those of you going to the Mastercard week, I suggest you read Bret Easton Ellis' 'Glamorama' throughout the week... the ludicrous plot follows a vapid male model who surreptitiously, between glasses of champagne and illict sex, falls into a terrorist organization. It will give you another outlook on the whole affair... and leave you wondering if behind those emtpy eyes, our models really are trying to take over the world because its just so hard to deal with the hopelessness of it all. At least it'll make the shows more interesting. | | Published on Tuesday, 26th of August at 7:20 pm | | | Comment this post | | |
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