Australian clothing label Insight hosted an event at the Fringe Club last Thursday. Though I was committed to watching the new Indiana Jones movie later that night, I stopped by for a quick look.

The ground floor of the Fringe Club is divided into two parts. It has a gallery space as you walk in and then a larger room for live music on the other side. The event took place in the live music room. The hallway leading to the music space was decorated in draped black and gray rags making for a haunted house type of feeling. Inside, the area was decked out in an absurdist style complete with touches like a bird cage containing a severed hand and a small toy dinosaur! (more…)

People in Hong Kong refer to a certain manner of dress as Mongkok-style, more commonly abbreviated by the acronym, ‘M.K.‘. Mongkok of course is one of the city’s thriving shopping and eating centers on Kowloon side. It’s also literally one of the most densely populated neighborhoods on the planet.

The term Mongkok-style can be used for many different things. It can have negative connotations in addition to positive ones. The negatives relate to the areas cramped quarters and the prevalence of fake items. (I personally like Mongkok as much as Causeway Bay and don’t agree with the negative term.) In a positive way, marketers have harnessed the term ‘Mongkok-style’ to convey authenticity and to give a product street-cred. A diverse range of items use the term including a kind of potato chips, which mimic a type of sausage sold by street vendors in Mongkok.

When it comes to fashion, I’ve been trying to uncover the origins of M.K.-style for a long time and I actually have a confession: I used to dress ‘M.K’ many years ago. At the time I thought it was T.S.T. style since I bought the shirts from a local designer shop in the Beverly Shopping Center in Tsim Sha Tsui. But thinking back now, I was definitely on the forefront of M.K. style for a good two years!

In conducting my investigation, the first question I needed to answer was: what exactly is M.K. style? FULL POST COMING SOON!

Friday night I stopped by the reopening of the newly renovated Juice store in Causeway Bay. Juice is the retail arm of Hong Kong’s CLOT crew and the older brother to the ACU shop in Shanghai. Open for several years already, I always recommend Juice to visitors interested in fashion. Though many small shops parallel import Japanese street wear to Hong Kong, Juice was the first to develop a direct connection to some of the most exclusive brands and provide a large selection of unique, limited edition merchandise under one roof.

Part of the charm of the original store was the warm interior made of wood. It was a real stand out from the cold, stark style of other retailers in Hong Kong and matched the under-stated feel of the high-end street wear perfectly.

So just how extensive was the renovation? (more…)

The Olsen twins, Mary-Kate and Ashley, stopped by Hong Kong to launch the Spring / Summer 2008 collection of their Elizabeth and James line. The turnout for the event, held at the fashion retailer Lane Crawford, was strong. Local celebrities, fashion industry insiders, the party crowd and a small but enthusiastic gang of kids were in attendance. (more…)

I’m still catching up with everything that transpired last week. Wednesday night, Karl Lagerfeld, fashion designer extraordinaire, and lauded architect Zaha Hadid were on hand for an exclusive event celebrating the first stop of the Chanel Mobile Art tour.

The unique futuristic structure designed by Hadid can be disassembled and will remain on tour until 2010. The exhibition inside contains installations by twenty contemporary artists and will travel to just five other cities in the world. (more…)

This week, Hong Kong is playing host to major events by Chanel and Louis Vuitton, two of the most venerable, coveted luxury brands around. Both of the events are on an international scale, drawing guests from around the world and costing tens of millions of dollars. So what’s the point? (more…)

I stopped by the new Neighborhood / WTAPS store (called HOODS Hong Kong) on Saturday night. Before the shop officially opens on April first, they’re holding an exhibition in the space. The entranceway, which is constructed of wood, makes you feel like you’re walking into someplace under construction. Entering through the side, rather than the front, it opens up into a corridor.

Neighborhood is the latest of several high-profile Japanese street wear brands to set up shop in Hong Kong. They bring with them the techniques they pioneered on the streets of Tokyo. HOODS Hong Kong offers an interesting case study. (more…)

According to the information stenciled on the front of their store, Japanese streetwear brand Neighborhood will be opening their first Hong Kong shop on March 8th. The shop will launch with an exhibition from the 8th to the 24th. The Neighborhood store (currently under construction,) is located on On Lan Street in Central, which is slightly tucked away on a dead end. What other famous designers call On Lan Street home? (more…)

Wednesday night was the launch of the Adidas Originals / Diesel Denim collaboration. The event was held on Kingston Street in Causeway Bay in both the Diesel and Adidas stores which are adjacent to one another. With a live performance by 24 Herbs and a set by DJ Becareful (aka Sam Lee,) the party got off to a good start. The two large shops had been emptied out for the night’s party. Just how crowded was it inside? (more…)

Tuesday night Shanghai Tang held a fashion show for the launch of their Spring Summer 2008 Apsara collection. The venue was The Watermark, a new restaurant on the waterfront just above the Star Ferry pier in Central. The fashion show was a major event, bigger than their last few productions. The Apsara collection is made up of three sub-lines: Antique Romantic, Pop Art and Desert Explorer (make sure you spell that with one ’s’, not two!) (more…)