Stomp the Tuileries!

A friend of mine used to have a band named Kiss My Poodles, Donkey.

Following his collaboration with Longchamp that produced the quintessentially fugly poodle pliage, which, I'm sure sold out across China, Jeremy Scott's new collaboration birthed Le Pliage Stomp which I find très adorable. Quite appropriate, considering American boots are still traipsing across the Middle Eastern landscape, G.I. Joe is being remade into a movie with Sienna Miller, no less, and the Chinese literally stomping out protests in Tibet. Plus, a smudge will be totally camouflaged! Now that, is brilliant. 

Delay No Mall

Delay No Mall is a new mall by Hong Kong retailers G.O.D. located in Causeway Bay. Around the corner from the Jia Hotel, the root of my Philipe Starck chair design conspiracy, it joins the likes of Playground! in Bangkok, Colette in Paris as a multi-label shopping destination for generation now with deep pockets. 

Designed as a multi-functional organic retail space, the main idea is that it is a space that can facilitate changing retail concepts. Among the labels to grace it shelves is Among Strangers, Grace Yow's Paris based clothing line. (Stocked in Hong Kong even before Tokyo! Say What..) Delay No More, G.O.D's own fashion label and Kapok - stocking hand-made T-shirts, and cool off-the-cuff jewelry. 

The thing about Hong Kong retail is that the Hong Kong style is so imbued into its concept that it feels slightly homogenous. But then again I guess that is Hong Kong - everything is slightly mechanised. You can't however fault their taste. Similar with Playground! in Thailand, the hipster aesthetic (the neon green accents with wood grain laminate, epoxy concrete floor) makes it rather predictable. I have no beef with hipsters, except that perhaps nothing is more annoying than men with legs the size of my upper arm. 

On a separate note, Maroon 5 is performing in KL. Death to Muppets. 

Oh, Motherland.

Discipline is what's needed to keep updating a blog. Discipline is perhaps the most over-stereotyped personality type in Chinese immigrant college students in an Ivy League. Since I'm have neither discipline nor am I an ivy-leaguer, I am therefore absolved of blame.

But let's talk about China. And how you just can't seem to get away from it. China, the Chinese, is as contagious as bird flu. They're on the news, they're in the Guggenheim, they're setting art auction records, they are building amazing feats of architecture, they're taking over the fashion world, and soon, they will be the face of Lane Crawford's SS08 print campaign. 

Lane Crawford's SS08 campaign will feature Chinese personalities, including Maggie Cheung, Du Juan, Tan Yuan Yuan, Fu Jia, Huang Jue and Liu Ye. 

Firstly, I would like to say to Lane Crawford - What took you so long? I love you and all, especially your boxing day shoe sale, but I think GAP beat you to iconic, black and white, broody portrait-driven campaigns featuring asians. I guess a lot has been riding on the Beijing Olympics, but I can't help but see all these slick ad campaigns as a way of diverting attention away from China's ugly side. The images are great, but I really don't like the silly words at the bottom of the image and the juxtapositions don't make any sense. Tan Yuan Yuan's picture of 'subtlety' is hardly subtle movement at all. They remind me of Martha Graham's lamentations, you know, the piece where she looks like an alien baby trying to bust out of an oversized pillow case? ( I love Martha Graham, by the way.)

Who wants to go to HK with me?