After being closed for over a year, the former space of the Armani Cafe in Central has reopened, newly christened the Armani Bar. I’ve been here a few times already, and it’s just starting to catch on. Located in the heart of Central, in a building nearly dedicated to all things Armani (clothing stores, furniture shop, bookstore, flourist, etc.) the Armani Bar completes the flagship location. The Armani Bar address is 2/F, Chater House, 11 Chater Road in Central.

While top designer brands all have a presence in Hong Kong Island’s Central neighborhood, there is a new trend towards building mega-stores. Hong Kong is a wealthy market, however this growth is partially fueled by the influx of affluent tourists from Mainland China who can find products here currently unavailable in their home city. Gucci, keeping up with Armani and LV, is currently building a massive flagship location a few blocks away. With China as the largest growth market for luxury goods, brands are investing heavily in their presence.

The Armani Bar fits with the strategy of building a total lifestyle brand. Not only can it exude the attitude of the designer, but it can be a showcase for his wealth of creations. Everything from dishware to sofas can be showcased in a bar / restaurant location. It’s a kind of vertical integration for the brand.

The Armani Bar begins with a walk through a corridor with a series of booths on the left. It opens up to a large room with a small dining area on the right and a large bar taking up the center of the space. (Although primarily a bar and lounge, the Armani Bar offers a concise menu of Italian cuisine.) Surrounding the spacious bar are sofas. Towards the back there is a raised level with several more banks of couches that make up additional lounge space. A potential VIP room stands in the furthermost corner.

One of my favorite scenic sections of Hong Kong, the waterfront promenade in Tsim Sha Tsui, finally reopened after a few years of renovations. The walk begins at the Star Ferry terminal, and continues towards Tsim Sha Tsui East. Strolling along the harbor you are treated to breathtaking views of the skyscrapers of Hong Kong Island, with the mountains at their back. This is the view that greeted me on my first night in the city many years ago. No matter how many times you see it, it’s inspiring. Click on any of the photos to see a larger version.

Added to the walkway recently is “Avenue of the Stars” an homage to the stars of Hong Kong’s once glorious film industry. Yes, it’s an imitation of Hollywood, but that doesn’t stop people from crouching down and taking photos with their hands in the mold of Jackie Chan’s. There’s even a statue of Bruce Lee.

If you’re a fan of Hong Kong cinema, you will be happy to spend half your time gazing down at the names that appear sporadically in the pavement. Even for those with no interest in the movies, the view along the waterfront is as captivating a cityscape as you are likely to find, so it’s worth a visit.

Located near the beginning of the Avenue of Stars is the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Across from the Museum lies the Cultural Center, a wedge-shaped building (where traveling plays and concerts are held,) and the planetarium.

Occasionally, you can even spot (and photograph!) an old ship in the harbor!

Unfortunately, I was d.j.ing late night on Saturday, and it looked like I was going to miss catching Danny Krivit, one of the top d.j.s and producers from New York, as he made his first appearance in Hong Kong. The club Dragon-i has been going into overdrive recently, booking many of the top, most influential d.j.s in the world. They have been bringing the biggest names in both House and Hip Hop music. On that note, I’m excited to catch pioneer M.C. Melle Mel from Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five at the end of the month.

I didn’t need to spin until 1am, so I decided to jump around the neighborhood before I went to the club to play. I started off attending a party at the new Armani Bar in Central. There’s a building on Chater Road that houses around six separate Armani entities. I’m not talking just clothing. They range from a florist and book store, to a furniture shop and now a restaurant/bar. The same space used to be a cafe several years ago, and it recently reopened in this new format.

When I got there they had an Italian House music d.j. spinning and dancers on two podiums grooving to the music. I could only stay for thirty minutes before I had to grab my equipment from home. I decided to stop by Dragon-i on my way to Volar where I was playing. I wanted to catch a little of Danny Krivit’s performance if possible.

Luckily for me, when I stopped by D.I. he was already on. The place was still filling up, but just by looking at him you could see that he loved his music. Despite it being early in the night, he was enthusiastically working the equalizers (bass, and treble) for different segments of the song. Clearly, he was going to be giving a big performance at peak time.

Volar was packed when I got there. I started off with some old-school Hip Hop, and went into a long Brasilian Funk set. Later I played a mixture of Hip Hop and Dancehall music.

Volar is divided into two rooms, with two different d.j.s playing at once. If Volar was a boat, last night it would have capsized, because I had the whole club rockin’ on my side! I killed it until after 4:30 am, when they asked me to stop the music because there was no one on the other side of the club! (and I was d.j.ing the lounge side, not the club side.)

I decided to head back to Dragon-i to see if Danny Krivit was still spinning. I got there at nearly 5 am, and sure enough he was still tweaking the e.q.s. There were less than ten people there, but they were feeling his vibe and he continued to kick it. That’s a real d.j.!

In addition to high-end fashion shows, I also end up regularly attending street fashion events. Street fashion is big business. While a small percentage of the population can afford couture clothing, most people can afford a cool pair of sneakers. Friday night I checked out an event for the new Adidas Adicolor collection. The original Adicolor line was launched in 1983, and this year there was a huge new campaign featuring a full line of shoes and clothing created by top international designers. One of the highlights of this collection for me is the Adicolor New York City series designed by Bill McMullen.

Three of the main participants in the new Adicolor collection attended the party. Designer Bill McMullen actually d.j.ed for part of the night! The packed-to-capacity event was held on the top floor of the Park Lane Hotel in Causeway Bay.

Last night Japan’s D.J. Krush made an appearance in H.K. I’ve been hearing about this guy for at least ten years, and I was excited to check him out live. Krush just came out with a new album, so he must be touring to promote it. I got to the club about 30 minutes after he started. The place was crowded, and the turnout of Krush fans was large. Members of the club, Volar, got free entry, others had to pay $250 HKD (about $32 USD) to get in.

Normally, the better clubs in Hong Kong don’t charge for entry, except on nights with special guest d.j.s. On regular nights, door policies vary, and some require some sort of “membership” to get in. Dragon-i and Volar are the top two clubs at bringing international d.j.s. If you’re a club regular however, even on special d.j. nights, you will get in free.

Getting back to the music, Krush played exactly as I expected: sophisticated, experimental - yet soulful Hip Hop. His turntable skills were sharp. The crowd was trying to groove, however some of the songs were just not meant for dancing. At several points he brought them back with some uptempo, soulful beats. It was fun to hear a d.j. who has a particular, distinct sound do his thing. He didn’t try to win everyone over, or compromise his music.

The photo below shows fans crushing the stage to get a look.

Here’s Krush in the mix - note that he was playing records!

After the Moussy fashion show on Friday night I jumped in a taxi and headed over to Happy Valley for the two-year anniversary of CLOT, a company started by Pop star Edison Chen with his friends Kevin and Pavlos. Since its inception, CLOT has been prolific at doing collaboration projects with international street artists and fashion brands. More importantly for Friday night, they throw excellent parties. Their launch party and first anniversary event have been my picks for party of the year, the last two years in a row.

This year’s event was located in a new club called Adrenalin that is situated within the Jockey Club at the Happy Valley racecourse. This was my first time here, and it’s an impressive two-floor club with excellent views of the Happy Valley neighborhood and race-track. It also has large outdoor seating which makes it unique.

New York’s Just Blaze, one of the top producers in contemporary Hip Hop was the special guest d.j. for the night. He played commercial Hip Hop, but cut up the songs expertly, and kept the pace going strong all night.

Both the large downstairs and upstairs areas were packed. The police asked the organizers to do a headcount… but the party kept going strong.

Friday was a busy night for me. I got invited to two major events. The first was a fashion show for the Japanese brand Moussy. I’ve been told that it’s a top brand in Japan right now. They are expanding to Hong Kong, and this event was both a fashion show and a celebration of the launch of their flagship store here. It was held in a large restaurant in IFC2 called Cuisine Cuisine. I’ve d.j.ed a Shanghai Tang event there in the past, and it’s a series of large rooms.

The venue filled up quickly. Moussy’s local partner is DMOP, one of the top upscale retailers. The guys from DMOP have a large network of friends and I knew this would be a big party.

The elevated runway erected in the main room featured a number of evenly spaced poles (strip club style.) The large venue was packed when the show began. There was a Western cowboy theme, and the first model sported chaps. The models would walk down the runway, stop at the end and then come back to dance at one or more of the poles. The capacity crowd was rowdy, cheering when the models danced at the poles.

During the show I hung out with my friend Carrie, herself a famous model in Hong Kong. It was cool to get her comments as we watched the show together. Here’s Carrie near the entrance to the party. Click to see a bigger view.

After the show finished, the party began. I was walking from room to room bumping into friends. I was also trying to pace myself because at midnight I was headed to Happy Valley to a new club called Adrenalin to celebrate the two-year anniversary of CLOT.

Sneaker company Royal Elastics put together an Asia tour for old-school London graffiti artist SHE1. The first stop on the tour was Hong Kong, and I was asked to spin for the party. The event featured live painting by SHE1, this time on three large panels of plexiglass. This concept was cool because it would allow the entire crowd to watch him as he painted, and allow him to see the crowd. (Usually artists have their back to the crowd the whole time they’re painting.)

At around 11pm, the crowd was at its peak, and SHE1 jumped on stage and began painting. The crowd stood around snapping photos, checking out his technique and watching him work.

SHE1 used a combination of acrylics and spray paint. Instead of letters, his new style is composed of abstract patterns.

Click on the image below to see the finished work.

Last week I got a call from D.J. Tommy about the Redbull Music Academy. He wanted to invite me to attend an information session about applying. Tommy is famous for being the first champion D.M.C. turntablist from Asia. He continues to play throughout the region and was also a member of the pioneer Rock/Rap band L.M.F. I checked out the website for the academy and learned what it’s all about.

In summary the Redbull Music Academy brings together 60 aspiring music people from all over the world and pairs them up with the top producers / artists in Hip Hop, Rock, and Electronic music. Each year it takes place in a different city. It’s an unmatchable program that lets you get direct tips from the top innovators in music. For many, it’s also a chance to meet and collaborate with your idols. At the end of the week-long session you will have worked on creating a song.

Last Sunday I attended the info-session in Tsim Sha Tsui. In between a presentation by a girl from Singapore who had attended last years session, Tommy collaborated on some music with different d.j.s and a trumpet player.

Here are some of the details I learned. In order to be considered for the program you need to submit a 50-question application form and also create a CD of your work or a mix. Redbull picks up the entire tab for the travel, lodging and expenses. Overall it’s an amazing opportunity to build your skills, meet like-minded people, and make international connections.

Last week Nike held an event to coincide with their new ‘Joga Bonito’ campaign. ‘Joga Bonito’ means ‘play beautiful’ in Portuguese, relating to Ronaldo, one of the top Brasilian soccer players. To kick-off the advertising blitz, Nike threw an event at the DMOP shop in Causeway Bay. (DMOP is one the high-end retail chains in Hong Kong.)

There were several installations of artwork and merchandise related to the campaign, including photographs, toy figures and jerseys on display. They also had two special ‘Joga Bonito’ themed foosball tables for people to play.

Here’s a photo of Nike’s street advertising campaign for ‘Joga Bonito’ in Causeway Bay that I took later that night.