Coach, the American brand initially known for its leather handbags is aggressively entering the Hong Kong market and looking to establish itself in the same circle as European luxury goods.

A flagship Coach store is currently under construction at the most high-profile intersection in Central. Situated at the bottom of Lan Kwai Fong and Queens Road, it’s one of the major crossing points in the entire city. With such a premium location it has guaranteed eyeballs and an immediate presence. The party on Friday night was held just around the corner at Halo, Hong Kong’s most exclusive lounge. (more…)

Tuesday night I headed over to the Hong Kong Exhibition Center to check out a special Nokia event. Titled, Nokia Music Playground, the line up for the night included Edison Chen, Rainie Yang from Taiwan, and FAMA, as well as D.J. Kulu’s Ultra Lounge crew. (more…)

This week’s issue of EAST TOUCH magazine features a special tri-fold cover of the extended CLOT crew. The first third of the magazine, (nearly 40 pages!) is devoted to CLOT’s accomplishments over the last three years and includes a time-line of their projects.

Featured on the front panel of the cover are a diverse group of heavy-hitters from Hong Kong’s entertainment industry. Shown are CLOT founder Edison Chen (center,) in addition to Hsu Chi, Cherrie Ying, Miriam Yeung, film director Andrew Lau (seated,) Anthony Wong, Eason Chan, and Josie Ho.

The second and third panels contain twenty members of the CLOT family including Sam Lee, Amanda S, DJ Tommy, M.C. Yan, Poon, Hanjin, Pavlos, Chef, Billy, Tony, Ken, Mike and a whole gang more.

To see the full tri-panel cover photo, please click here.

In addition to brief interviews with crew members, the magazine highlights CLOT’s over thirty(!) high-profile collaborations. Partners have included brands such as Nike, Levi’s, BAPE, Revolver, Neighborhood, Be@rbrick, Devilock, EA, Bandai, and celebrities such as Kanye West, and Maggie Q.

Sorry, but do you guys ever take a vacation?

To check out EAST TOUCH go here.

Friday night I attended the launch of Levi’s Copper, a line of jeans that uses original-style copper rivets. The party was held at the Star Ferry pier, which seems to be the venue of choice for everyone these days. (Just to name a few, Nike and Diesel as well as high-fashion brands such as Vivienne Westwood have all used the space recently.) The location is good for a number of reasons - it’s directly in Central, (one of Hong Kong Island’s main neighborhoods,) the space is raw (so it can be outfitted in whatever way the client wants,) it’s a scenic location (with a view of both sides of the harbor,) and it’s away from all residential housing, (which means no noise or crowd complaints!)

Arriving at the venue, for a second I thought there was some sort of Flintstone’s theme going on. After passing through the reception, guests entered a faux mine shaft and proceeded through to the main room of the party. The rest of the venue was similarly decorated with fake stone and rock-textured drapes.

DJ Tommy, Hong Kong’s most famous home-grown D.J. started off the night, followed by a performance by the local group FAMA, sort of a Hip Hop / comedy duo. Ever wonder what rapping sounds like in Cantonese? Check out the videos of Clinton Sparks, Joe Budden and Fama performing! (more…)

I had to d.j. on Saturday night, but before my set I ran by a special event for the 25th anniversary of Nike’s Air Force 1 sneaker line. The venue was the new Star Ferry pier located on the waterfront in Hong Kong’s Central neighborhood.

Star Ferry is Hong Kong’s answer to the Staten Island Ferry in New York - you get an amazing view of the city and it’s the cheapest deal in town. Star Ferry recently relocated for the first time in fifty years from Queen’s Pier to pier 7 of the outlaying island ferry piers, accross from the IFC complex.

The event and exhibition, which featured over one-hundred Air Force 1 shoes was held above the ferry terminal in a two-story open space that was divided into rooms. Nike also flew out sneaker collector / personality / street-ball player Bobbito Garcia to D.J. for the night. A crew of dancers (featured in the photo above,) as well as Hong Kong’s own D.J. Tommy also performed.

Although I had to leave just as most guests were arriving, I was able to snap some photos of the shoes and the party set-up! (more…)

After checking out the band show on Friday night, I hopped into a taxi and headed up to The Peak, Hong Kong’s most famous scenic spot. The newly renovated Peak Tower was the site for Electronic Art’s event - a launch party for the new EA showroom and store.

CLOT, the multifaceted branding crew were the organizers of the event. EA certainly chose the right partner to handle the party. CLOT has been on a rampage lately, with projects ranging from launching a much sought after shoe with Nike to bringing Kanye West to perform in Hong Kong at the end of the month. The thing I like about CLOT is that they have vision and put their connections to good use. More than that, their events are always fun. It’s a win-win situation, people attending their events go away with a good time and sponsors are happy (well, except for time we were drinking Moet in the beer bong, but that’s another story!)

When I got to the Peak Tower the place was bathed in spot lights with a large marquee set up near the entrance. The building itself is interesting. It’s shaped like a partial elipse.

Over the last year, the place has been completely redone, making room for more new shops, including the EA store. The Peak Tower also houses the terminal for the Peak Tram, a main tourist attraction that takes you straight up the steep hillside. On the large rooftop of the Peak Tower is an observation deck that offers amazing views of the city. I didn’t know it at the time, but the party was located on the newly renovated roof!

After walking into the building, I took several escalators up to the rooftop. On the way up, I passed by the new EA store which was intriguing. Occupying two floors, it has an atrium-like wall of lights and around thirty gaming stations where visitors can sit and try out the latest EA titles. The place is divided into sub-sections which makes it more exciting to walk around and explore.

The renovated rooftop was much better than before. The entire roof is now accessible, as opposed to only half under the old design. Installed around the lengthy space are high-powered binoculars allowing tourists to focus in on the buildings below. For the night, the rooftop was also sprinkled with XBox 360’s outfitted with EA games. The space was divided into two sections, a VIP area and a normal side. Although a little hazy out, the view from the roof was spectacular. Click these thumbnails to see a bigger view.

The night’s decorations weren’t limited to the immediate grounds. Residents of The Peak, Hong Kong’s wealthiest address (and one of the most affluent neighborhoods in the world) were in for a shock as they returned home from dinner to find a huge logo of the branding group CLOT projected onto their mountainside! Actually, the light alternated between the EA logo and the CLOT symbol. One word: impressive!

Hong Kong’s famous D.J. Tommy was the first act of the night, spinning from an elevated platform just above a huge screen showing clips from different EA games. Later in the night N.Y.’s Just Blaze, one of the top producers in Hip Hop music would take over the decks. This would make Just Blaze’s third appearance in Hong Kong in the last year. He’s been here previously for the CLOT anniversary party and for a Diesel event as well.

The party was packed by eleven. Bottles of Moet and Hennessy were everywhere. It was a tough night to not indulge!

Towards the end of the night I went downstairs for a closer look at the EA shop. There were groups of people hanging out playing the games.

The police put an end to music on the rooftop, so the party eventually moved downstairs to the EA store. During the transition I had a chance to talk with Just Blaze about the old days of N.Y. Hip Hop radio - and he actually burned me a CD of a long lost show! I hope I can repay his generosity some day.

The Electronic Arts event was yet another in a string of memorable parties by CLOT. Despite all the planning, the CLOT events wouldn’t be a success without this guy, codename: Cobra, he even smiled for the photo!

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.

Was out the other night and I ran into Pav with a couple of foreigners. I started talking to them and one of them turned out to be the human beatbox Killa Kela. He told me he was performing at a Hip Hop concert the following Monday. This was news to me, since I hadn’t heard anything about it, or seen any promotion. It turns out that Edison was doing a big concert, and he brought Killa Kela, as well as the dancers the Clowns from the film RIZE to perform.

I’ve wanted to check out Edison’s music for a while, since I missed his last concert. I’ve seen a music video or two, but I still don’t have a feel for what type of sound he has.

I like what he’s doing as far as elevating the scene here in Hong Kong. He’s been leveraging his pop star status to get sponsors to put on interesting events. Edison along with Kevin and Pavlos have a company called CLOT. They’ve opened up JUICE, a shop in Causeway Bay to distribute new Japanese streetwear brands and accessories like Bearbricks etc. They’ve put on several exhibitions and brought over contemporary street artists. They seem committed to exposing people to new sounds and culture - and I appreciate that.

The night of the concert I met up with Min who gave me a backstage pass and a ticket. I wandered around checking out the venue. It was at the Wanchai convention center (that was built for the 1997 Handover ceremony) and the concert hall was huge! When I walked in the first thing I admired were the backdrops that I was told had been done by Phase 2, the legendary New York graffiti artist. I have to give props to the CLOT crew for getting him involved. The backdrops had interesting iconography including an image of Angela Mao from an old H.K. film.

There was a military theme to the concert, and the performers all had nicknames. It started off with Anthony Wong Chau Sang (the H.K. actor and sometime music performer,) giving a speech as “The General”. I guess the main point was that the entertainment industry here is screwed up, and they’re going to war against it.

The highlight of the concert for me was Maria Cordero’s performance of a new version of one of her old songs (she was a popular singer in the 80’s). I believe the song was “Sai Hei,” which I think is from the H.K. film, City On Fire starring Chow Yun Fat. Maria Cordero is sort of like the Aretha Franklin or Tina Turner of Hong Kong. She had a huge stage presence and totally commanded the audience as she performed. Her voice was clear and just boomed. It’s hard for modern singers to follow up after a strong vocalist like that. Most new acts just don’t have the vocal power of someone who is seasoned from working in clubs for a few decades. The one person who performed who does have a strong voice - Hanjin chose two slow songs to perform that showed off his vocal eloquence, but did not fit the bill or the audience. With a different song selection he could have rocked it.

Edison and M.C. Yan both performed well, but they were held back by the beats. The songs were over-produced, and didn’t allow their voices to stand out. The instrumentals were just not catchy enough. You don’t need much to rock a concert, a basic beat and some sort of hook will do. It’s all about how you use your voice, and what type of rhythm you can get going.

Which brings us to Killa Kela, who was the audience favorite. He makes incredible noises and beats with his mouth - no instruments or anything. The crowd was awed and captivated by his performance. I was into it, but was actually expecting a little more from him.

Overall the concert was impressive - it also featured the singer Steph, the krumping Clowns dancing and a good turntablist set from D.J. Tommy.