The Return

Wandering into Chinatown for a leisurely activity has long been off my to-do list. The last time I went into Chinatown for this purpose was circa 1998 to walk around the Dynasty Center and Lido Mall—centers that were considered new and Western amongst the old and dusty shops of Old Chinatown. My leisurely return, 10 years later, is far from these now out-of-date and crowded centers. It is now focused on those dusty and worn shops that I’d once dismissed as far from interesting. Something was different about this place, yet much of it was still very much inline with my memories of the past.

A couple of weeks ago, the mister and I headed west - no not the west of West Hollywood, it is actually east of that, but the west as in west of the San Gabriel Valley - for a Saturday jaunt to what I considered my return to Chinatown and his introduction to it. I say return not in a literal sense, because I come here every 3 weeks to accompany the mister for his hair cut, every 6 weeks for a hair dressing, and every so often to pick my grandma up from her weekly shopping trips. I say return in all its glory and symbolic sense—I have returned! Quite frankly it means I have found a cultural and nostalgic stimulus in returning to Chinatown for reasons other than cutting my hair, his hair or picking my dear grandma up. Oh what a sight it was, quietly nestled amongst the fragrant smell of Chinese food and the mah-jong filled benevolent associations in “Old Chinatown,” are some 20 odd art galleries, and no not the ones filled with cheap replicas of ancient Chinese paintings, but galleries exhibiting new kinds of art—new-aged furniture, neo-avant garde paintings and sculptures and artist collaborative fashion.


We stumbled upon one of these galleries within the first hour of its official opening. The Smockshop is a non-commercial artist run enterprise that travels all over the nation and fortunately enough for us Angelenos this summer it found its home in the heart of Old Chinatown. The shop’s layout is welcoming and open. It is part art gallery, part design studio, and part retail storefront. Artists from all parts of the world are invited to create their own interpretations of one standard and common pattern. I was quite fascinated with the innovation and creativity of the products.


Separated by a room filled with chain-smoking Chinese elders playing mah jong, resides Welcome Hunters, a low key and unassuming old Chinese jeweler shop plastered with messages of “Choose Chinatown”. The store is run by Jason and his girlfriend. He’s a Boston transplant artist turned fabulous fashion hunter of the unique and extraordinary, and she’s a former techie. Entering the friendly shop, the Mister was hypnotically drawn to a pair of KTZ Jungle slip-ons, while I was amazed by the freshness and rarities in the stores collection—Marjan Pejoski and Daniel Palillo to name a few. Unbeknownst to many, Marjan Pejoski is the creative mind behind Bjork’s 2001 Oscar dress/creature—The Swan—despite the notoriety that the dress allotted him, his AW-08-09 collection is quite beautiful, eloquent and completely practical! Welcome Hunters is one of a very select few, if not the only, retailers to carry Marjan Pejoski’s collection in the US, so the trip to Jung Jing Road in Old Chinatown is certainly worth the trip.




Across town (a few blocks, that is) The New High (M)art was on its last leg of its World Fringe exhibition captioned as “An ethno, boho, afro, pow wow” of all that is fringe. Entering the closet-sized storefront/art gallery, we were immersed with pieces from local and international design houses and cultural crafts—Society for Rational Dress (LA), Martin and Quetzal (MX) and Bitone Troupe (AFR), to sample the exhibit. The square footage of the gallery is deceiving—when making your first visit, don’t say you weren’t warned of the density of its exhibits. This pop-up store/gallery changes every 6 months to accommodate a wide range of exhibits. With the diversity of past pop-up stores including Alex & Chloe, Grey Ant, and Brian Lichtenberg, I am excited to see what the New High (M)art has in store next, and this is kept in a shroud of secrecy. Pop-in soon for the next pop-up store.


Chinatown is a diamond in the stones of hipster neighborhoods. There is no sign of commercial colonization as symbolized by Starbucks and Mcdonalds. In this sense it is pretty much untouched with openings of small collective art galleries sound-tracked by the sounds of mah-jong tiles clacking away. It is at peace, balanced by two very different worlds existing quite independently—the hipsters are enjoying the cultural backdrop of the old and the old Chinese grandpas and grandmas could care less of the new clothing boutique operating next door—Chinatown maintains its yin and its yang, and I hope it remains so.

- This post was created by Sharon Zhen, our guest contributing writer. She is currently a freelance trendspotter for Trendstop.com.

No Bueno

I've made some fatal event decisions within the past two weekends. Glow, a free event held by the city of Santa Monica had art installations displayed around the pier, in the streets of Santa Monica and the Palisades. It was held from 7pm to 7am and we wanted to make it by 12am to view the orchestra on the ferris wheel play a song. We should have known better when it took nearly an hour to get from the exit ramp off the free way to the parking structure, another hour to walk with the crowd to hit the pier and the furthest we reached was Bubba Gumps. To be quite honest we don't even know if the orchestra ever played. We surely were unable hear it. The art exhibits were small in presence compared to the vast amount of people attending. Literally all of Southern California was there. It was estimated well over 200,000 people attended. Highlights of the night were watching a bike meet, from which a long lost friend was found to be a part of, and viewing what seemed like a homeless man's own exhibit made out of candles, paper bags and rants. Low points: watching ONE goldfish in a lowly fish tank being projected outside a restaurant's several small television screens. This event should have been warned with bringing your own mood altering substances.






This past Sunday was American Apparel's 2nd annual flea market. Despite all the flashing warnings all around us, Team Thorelie decided to attend. We had to see for ourselves how devastating it would be. The early entry started at 12pm for an entry fee of $12 and regular admission was for $5 at 2pm. We g0t there no later than 1:30pm and the factory parking lot was full. There was an indescribable line that wrapped around 3 times over. Standing in line, we realized what a great business venture AA launched. In one day alone they made well over $25000 in just entry fees alone. Selling clothes for $1, $5, $10 didn't hurt their revenues at all. After waiting for about 3 hours, thinking we were so close to the finish line we noticed another section of lines 3 loops around, but this time around it was 5 times more condensed. We knew we reached the quitting mark after seeing that spectacle. It wasn't an entire lost cause. Got some good pictures for freelance work, v-neck t-shirt burns, feet strap tans, and had a few laughs, mostly at all of the "fans of high school musical" getting decked out in their best gear.






Here's last years video of the line. This year's line was 10 times longer & we were in it.

Being the economic capital of China, Shanghai's recent economic success has led to the development of a new social class that has companies of all types from around the world desperately trying to understand this unique market in order to quickly tap into it.

China has always been a place that has a foundation for high fashion - a populuation that insists on luxury goods in order to showcase social status. In Hong Kong, finding a watch store that sells Rolex is almost as common as finding a restaurant. In the mainland, the big fashion houses have become the place to go to when you think you've escaped the working class. It wasn't until just recently that China has seen the likes of avant-garde fashion, as this less pretentious style is becoming more and more accepted by the Chinese people. After the success of the Maison Martin Margiela exhibition in China by the Hong Kong based IT group, which has a growing presence in the Shanghai market as well, Comme des Garcons' exhibition in Beijing is set to further expose China to the other side of fashion.

It's being held at the historical 798 Art Zone, which was once just an area of equipment factories built by Germans. The architectural company behind the buildings was headquartered in the same city as the famous Bauhaus school, and shares many of its characteristics. These factories were then transformed into science and technology centers in 2000, and were rented out as art galleries, studios, and fashion shops because of their Bauhaus appeal. Quite fitting don't you think?

However, while China may be ready for Comme des Garcons, is it ready for the Olympics? I was listening to PRI's The World on KCRW last week and they had an interesting segment on the sustainability of China's rapid urbanization. With the Olympics coming up, it makes you wonder whether selecting China to host the Olympics was the right choice. Sure it's a great opportunity for the world to see how Deng Xiaoping renovated China into the economic powerhouse we see it as today, but the way in which China chooses to display this is rather misleading.

It seems like when a country wants to display its power, it erects a skyscraper. Some have succeeded, like Taiwan's Taipei 101, and some have failed, like the Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea. China's use of skyscrapers falls in the middle. Yes, it has received recent economical success and can afford to line a harbor that seeks to emulate the famous Hong Kong harbor. However, these buildings do not display the detrimental impact on society they have. The rapid urbanization of China has led to an equally rapid deterioration of its environment, which can have a trickling effect on its society. One prime example would be the divergence of a river, formerly used to supply water to farmers of a local village, to fill a lake bed that has been dry for over nine years in order to have a venue for the rowing and sailing games during the Olympics. These farmers are now forced to dig new wells and find new sources of water while we enjoy the water competitions.

The Hit List - PG 1, Ch 1, Verse 2

A known accident prone, I gave up on buying specs for the last couple of years. There are hardly any problems when it comes to my contacts but there has been a few occasions where I wished I had a handy extra pair of glasses laying around. Recently, I came across these sleek frames made by Deluxe in collabo with Koki for the Fall 2008 line and I absolutely love the clear lens one. The contrast between the black and clear make it look so crisp and defining.



In a way these frames remind of the Chanel 5018 sunglasses that have been photographed on Pharrell, Mk & A, and Nicole Richie. These sunglasses were a hit and hard to get at. They sold retail for $450 and ended up $1000+ on ebay. Who didn't love them?!

Cool kid Agy during the Chanel Ready-To-Wear Spring/Summer 2007 runway

The Hit List - PG 1, CH 1, Verse 1

Colette x Silly Thing x Chapel of Dawn x Black Wonder HK

I am definitely in a special phase in my life where the love of Hello Kitty has sprung onto me. It really must be because her mouthless face speaks from within her pure heart into mine. Recently this line has been unveiled & here's my MUST HAVE LIST and of course the world has conspired and produced obstacles (which i will over come) to keep me from these goodies, in which all of this can only be found only in Hong Kong during the Black Wonder Exhibition.

SillyThingxHK

HK$3880

HK$1380


Chapel of DawnxHK

HK$580

God, these designers are brilliant creatures.

My favorite sales rep from Opening Ceremony LA recently informed me that they'll be carrying exclusive Sanrio products during their Japan vs. USA Fall 2008 season. I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store.

The ultimate Dream Home.

ESPAÑA!

The country of Spain has had a lot to celebrate recently - 2008 EuroCup Champions, Rafael Nadal winning at Wimbledon, and Sanfermines, or the San Fermin festival a.k.a. the running of the bulls. I was in Pamplona exactly three years ago during the running of the bulls in 2005 and was just amazed by all the things that went on during my 12 hour stay...truly an experience of a lifetime.






Spain in general is such an exciting country whose residents always seem to know how to enjoy life.

This low-income housing unit reflects the energy in Spain. It's their version of the projects.


Wedding at an old church - classic elegance.


And of course, the bull fights.




The finale...