Reebok celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Reebok Pump with the release of sneakers designed by several exclusive boutiques from around the world.

In Hong Kong, Juice, the retail shop operated by the CLOT crew was selected to create their own signature sneaker. The result is what may be the best shoe out of the entire Reebok Pump 20th anniversary line.

The anniversary party, held at the medium-sized Juice shop in Causeway Bay, was a fun, invitation-only gathering of Hong Kong fashion folk, sneaker-heads and celebrities.

The entertainment for the night was provided by D.J. Miss Yellow and D.J. Be Careful (aka the actor Sam Lee.)

The store was fitted out with special displays showcasing the new models in addition to neon lights saluting the anniversary.

Arriving a little on the late side, Juice was packed with people socializing and rocking to the music.

The Juice / CLOT gang remain one of the few relevant style-makers in Hong Kong. They’ve now created special edition shoes with Nike, Adidas and Reebok!

Here’s a shot of the Juice Reebok Pump 20th anniversary sneakers in the wild!

Juice
Flat A, 2/F, 53 Paterson Street
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Tuesday I was running errands related to the holidays. I headed up to Prince Edward and walked all the way down to Tsim Sha Tsui before heading back to Central. One thing I love about Hong Kong is the energy you feel just walking along the streets. Different neighborhoods have unique vibes. This sensation is amplified during the busy holiday season.

The photo above is taken on Sai Yeung Choi Street in Mongkok. On certain hours of the day the place is just buzzing with people. That’s Hong Kong to me. Every neighborhood has a point or points that personify it. It’s a combination of these places that make up the unique Hong Kong experience.

In our constant rush to get where we’re going, we pass by such places frequently, often taking them for granted. Over the holidays, take some time and think about which points of the city are the most “Hong Kong” to you. It could be crossing the street in front of Sogo in hectic Causeway Bay, or walking through Lan Kwai Fong on a busy Friday night, or something entirely different. Leave your choices in the comments to share them with other Hong Kong Hustle readers.

Wishing you all the very best this holiday season! (By the way, last year’s holiday message was pretty funny!)

In stark contrast to the majority of new shopping centers which seem to have an absence of local culture, the new Delay No More Mall located in Causeway Bay takes exactly the opposite approach. A quick look at the exterior of the retail space appears calculated to broadcast Hong Kong culture and style.

This departure from the norm is in line with the strategy of the G.O.D. brand who is the organizer of the new shopping center. G.O.D. currently operates several shops that retail a range of household products and clothing bearing signatures of life in the city. Everything from their pajamas emblazoned with old Hong Kong buildings, to their notorious play-on-word t-shirts, contain elements of the city’s colorful (and sometimes profane,) local traditions.

As you can see in the photos, there is a cinema-style marquee that wraps around the shopping arcade. It’s got the word ‘To-Day’ broken up, just as it is written in the old movie theaters around town. It’s a warm, localizing touch, which instantly differentiates it from the other new shopping spots around the city.

Design-wise, the Delay No Mall appears to be something fresh and exciting. Most of the newer mini-shopping centers look as if they were conceived by karaoke box designers. They come across as cold, uniform and calculated. Even the colors, lighting and small booths echo this karaoke-room formula.

The Delay No Mall, located at 68 Yee Wo Street, is slightly off the well-tread routes in Causeway Bay. Despite its proximity to high foot traffic neighbors, the site of the new shopping center was previously untapped as a retail locale. It’s situated on an odd patch that’s on the alternative, less crowded pathway between Sogo and Times Square, directly across from the Jia hotel on 1-5 Irving Street.

From what I’ve heard, it appears that they are also doing a good job attracting an interesting mix of exclusive tenants who are new to the Hong Kong market. In brand rich Causeway Bay, this is essential to attracting shoppers. If you have a variety of unique tenants, you give consumers a powerful incentive to depart from their normal routine and make your shopping center a new destination.

G.O.D. isn’t the only retail group expanding in Causeway Bay. LCX, a youth-oriented shopping arcade initially operating in Ocean Terminal just opened a new location at 9 Kingston Street across from D-mop. Fans of the large-scale $10 HK dollar shop that formerly occupied the prime retail space were sad to see it go!

I stopped by D-Mop‘s flagship store in Causeway Bay last week and stumbled upon an exhibition they have for the new Y-3 / Hacienda collaboration. For those who don’t know, the Hacienda was a groundbreaking club in Manchester, England that served as a melting pot and catalyst for music crucial to the eighties and nineties.

At one point in time it was considered the most famous club in the world and boasted legendary lines to get in. The Hacienda was partially financed by the group New Order, whose mixture of live instruments integrated with electronic sounds greatly influenced today’s music. As the exhibition notes, somewhat humorously, the Hacienda made history, but didn’t make money!

The large club was notable not just for its music, but also for its architecture and interior design. The venue, a former yacht showroom, was kept as a modified industrial space in stark contrast to other clubs in England at the time. One particular strength of the Hacienda was that it opened its doors to multiple genres of music, and played host to everyone from Madonna and Kurtis Blow, to The Smiths, The Stone Roses, New Order and Oasis. Over the years a legion of famous d.j.s passed through its doors.

The Hacienda / Y-3 collaboration was designed to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the club, as well as the opening of the first Y-3 shop in the U.K. A special limited edition run of Y-3 sneakers has been created by the club’s designers and owners. The packaging comes with a documentary DVD and photographs. A unique box was made for the shoes in the shape of the Hacienda’s dance floor!

D-mop, 8 Kingston Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Just around the corner from Times Square shopping center in Causeway Bay is one of Hong Kong’s few indie music shops. If you’re interested in discovering something beyond what’s out there in the commercial music market, White Noise Records is the place to go. But beware – if you have diverse taste in music, White Noise is a dangerous place to browse! It’s almost guaranteed that you’ll find something cool and new.

The shop features a large selection of cds as well as a solid collection of off-beat music even on vinyl! On a recent trip l saw several must-have items including old Soul and Funk collections on 45, in addition to new issues of hard to find underground music magazines. White Noise is also a good place to acquire information about upcoming events in Hong Kong’s art and music scene.

For a peek inside the shop and advice on how to find the slightly hidden entrance, continue here.

Finding the shop!

Starting from in front of the Times Square cinema, cross the street towards the Circle K convenience store. Walk past the Circle K, and take a sharp right at the corner. Now you’re on Canal Road East. Start walking forward, (you’ll be going towards Hennessy Road) and keep looking up. Soon you will see the sign above your head for White Noise.

Take an abrupt right into the narrow stairwell where there may be a woman selling jewelry. Walk up the stairs, and you’ll begin to see lots of street art. After about two flights, you’ll see a door covered in fliers and stickers and you’ve arrived!

The exact street address for White Noise Records is 4 Canal Road East, Causeway Bay. For more info, and to check their recent stock, have a look at their website.

When I found out that A-list models, Gaile, Cara G., and Kristen were going to be in the fashion show, I had an idea that the opening was going to be big. That, plus the fact that they specifically requested Hong Kong’s most fashionable d.j.!

Arriving at the venue, the extent of the production was evident. Sole Town’s branding, a New York skyline theme, dominated the outside of the shopping center!

Inside, the shop was similarly decked out – even the make-shift d.j. booth was decorated with the Sole Town city-scape graphics. I was actually spinning from inside a semi-enclosed glass display – no wonder they asked me how tall I was!

Doors opened at seven. Despite the early start time, celebrities, socialites, party-people and shopaholics poured into the store. The fashion show began around eight. Here’s a short clip of Kristin and Gaile from the show.

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I couldn’t resist playing Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Were Made For Walkin’” and K.C. & the Sunshine Band’s “Boogie Shoes” after the fashion show ended. Typically you want to have something immediately catchy since people tend to leave right after the show. It worked! The music, paired with a special discount for the night did the trick.

Guests weren’t buying just one pair of shoes or a bag, they were buying two or three! This was one of the few occasions where the models from the show actually stayed afterwards to shop! The wait for the check-out register was literally over half an hour long. I just had to shoot a video of the line!

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Shoppers walked out loaded with tote bags featuring the store logo – an excellent way to maximize free advertising after the sale.

Guests stayed practically until the gates were coming down. Given the enthusiastic response and the extreme number of sales, I’d say the event was a runaway success!

“Crossovers,” as they are commonly referred to, are essentially double, or sometimes triple branded products. Crossovers are often written about in the abbreviated form: Somebrand x Somebrand, with an ‘x’ in the middle. At one point two years ago, you could barely turn a page in a local fashion magazine without seeing some sort of crossover being touted. In Hong Kong, even mainstream businesses such as McDonald’s got into the act, adapting the advertising technique for their own limited edition items.

From a marketing standpoint, collaborations like this make sense. Harnessing the power of combining multiple brands opens products up to a greater numbers of potential consumers. Fans of both brands may be interested in acquiring the hybrid product.

The best crossovers blend brands together elegantly, creating something cohesive yet fresh. When crossover fever began several years ago in Hong Kong, the market became quickly flooded with awkward collaborations that were poorly thought out and just didn’t work. At their worst, the items seemed almost grafted together with no apparent logic.

For a successful crossover there are two routes to take, you can either build a product that combines the essence or mystique of each brand in a natural way, or you can aim for the opposite end of the spectrum, a deliberate, high-contrast clash.

As one of the city’s top style innovators, D-mop was chosen by Nokia to tap into the stores’ reputation as a beacon of cutting-edge fashion. Crossovers typically employ a sort of trickle-down theory: a high-end version of a product given to the right people will raise the cool factor of normal products. By offering a limited edition phone with D-mop, Nokia hopes to create demand among trendy locals, thereby giving the N76 phone a cool rep.

To tell you the truth, I was too busy socializing to have a good look at the phone!

The music for the night was provided by two of Hong Kong’s top creatives, Calvin Ho (on the right,) and Vicky Lam. Calvin is a veteran Hong Kong graphic designer, and the man behind Atomic Attack. D-mop invited Calvin to create graphics for the Nokia collaboration. Vicky is a famous local fashion designer and was the originator of the Blues Heroes brand as well as R.C.B.

Let me start off by saying that I love D-Mop’s events. For a little background info, D-Mop is a high-end retail chain with locations in several of Hong Kong’s top shopping centers. In addition they have two large flagship shops in Central and Causeway Bay – Hong Kong’s major shopping meccas – which are a magnet for local celebrities. Friday night they held an event for Japanese designer Mihara Yasuhiro. Mihara designs an upscale line for Puma and just put out a limited edition book to commemorate his new line.

The crowd found at D-Mop’s events echoes the clothing they specialize in – upscale, creative and funky. This is a big difference from say, a Gucci or LV party, where the crowd isn’t nearly as charismatic. There’s always a quality, rather than quantity aspect to their events. Friday night’s party was filled with people sporting unique looks. Unfortunately, I was so busy talking, I didn’t take any crowd shots! For a peek at more sneakers by Mihara Yasuhiro…

‘Kung Hei Fat Choy’! It’s Chinese New Year again – the biggest holiday of the year. Yesterday marked the beginning of year of the pig.

So how does life change in Hong Kong during the Chinese New Year holiday? Most businesses shut down. Essentials such as supermarkets operate on only a limited schedule. Due to the nearly week long break, many people go away on holiday. Often people spend time with their family and visit relatives. Married couples give red packets filled with money to their children, relatives and colleagues. With the cease of most construction, the city is far quieter than usual. Where I live, you can hear birds instead of buses when you wake up!

One fun part of celebrating Chinese New Year is going to the special new year’s flower market in Victoria Park, Causeway Bay. It’s PACKED with four, three-block lanes of stalls and people selling all sorts of items to bring luck and good fortune in the coming year. The atmosphere is raucous and fun.

Hawkers rent booths and decorate them (sometimes outlandishly) to attract attention. The merchandise on sale is extensive. Over the last few years, blow-up inflatable items have gained popularity. The plastic blow-ups are based on everything from animals of the Chinese zodiac, to items that sound like something with a double meaning in Cantonese, to items that deal with a current issue. For example, this year there were giant cigarettes, making reference to the recent ban of smoking in Hong Kong’s restaurants and public areas (which is a huge deal in a place with a deeply entrenched smoking culture.)

Old standards meant to bring good fortune are also present at the market. These include different types of flowers and fruits such as small orange trees. Pussy willows (for financial fortune) and peach blossoms (for love life) are also two of the more popular choices. (I bought both!)

Colorful paper and plastic pin-wheels seem to be popular items.

Small charms often in faux-jade that help to protect people of different zodiacs are also available for purchase.

Wonder what it’s like to walk through hundreds of stalls in a sea of thousands? Check out the videos!

Here are a few additional photos to set the scene for you…

The following three videos I shot while walking through the crowds. You’ll see lots of pig paraphenalia, pin-wheels and people!

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I was going to the JP cinema, my favorite place to catch movies, when I saw this huge wrap-around ad by Carhartt. The billboards featured interesting illustrations of people wearing Carhartt clothes. The placement was at a crowded intersection in the heart of Causeway Bay, one of the busiest and trendiest of all the shopping areas in Hong Kong.