LỰU ĐẠN's PFW Pool Night
Walking in, I see La and his colleague Jonas starting up a game at the orange pool table with Gia and Lindsey; La’s life partner Léa Dickely sits on the red table watching. I go over to the bar, order spring rolls and a plate of beef fried noodles, and sit at the entrance with Jesper who also orders spring rolls and a pint of beer. Aleali May is getting her picture taken.
La comes over and compliments what I’m wearing: “It fits you so well, I could actually see you wearing that.” Earlier that day, I stopped by his showroom and picked out a bomber and wide-legged jeans from LỰU ĐẠN’s FW24 collection, titled ‘DO OR DIE.’ Getting dressed to head out, I thought the same thing. It wasn’t what I’d typically go for, but it fit me.
I knew that La had spent a few years living in Paris when he worked for Balenciaga, so I assumed that he had known about M8 for years, but he tells me that it wasn’t until the Mahjong night in September when he first stepped into the neighborhood favorite. That night, his friend Bobby convinced him to go to M8 to play pool, and upon entering, he immediately fell in love. “After an hour, we brought in our crew and took over the place — put on our music, cheesy 80s Vietnamese karaoke, and gangster films on the screen. It just took on its own life.”
Tonight, everyone would arrive in character, looking like misfits straight out of one of those gangster films. Character-driven world-building is as central to LỰU ĐẠN as its community. Between (pool) shots, I ask La why a pool night as opposed to a show or a dinner. While he appreciates Paris Fashion Week for its appeal — taking everything to the next level — he says that “the rules of the game are still very conservative.”
“You do a show, you do a party, you do a cocktail, you do a dinner. What’s great about the other fashion weeks is that people aren’t afraid to mix it up a little more.” Instead of adhering to the same old Parisian routine, La showcases his collections through nights like this, which feel more like celebrations than debuts. Clearly La’s onto something, because his events keep people coming back. Blake Abbie and Susie Lau, who killed it at Mahjong last season were among the familiar faces that trickled in the venue over the next couple of hours.
As much as tonight is a celebration, it is also a tribute to Jiman, who passed away earlier this year. To honor him, La donated proceeds to SEED Malaysia, a trans-led non-profit organization that supports Trans, homeless and other marginalized communities in the country.
By 11pm, all of the pool tables are full. Mark, the cobrasnake, walks in rocking a short-sleeve button down from the collection that really suits him. He says to me, “I thought this was a pool party, I wore my speedo." Already having a good time a few minutes in, he adds on, “All of Gia’s parties are always on my list.” I go over and sit down with star photographer Neva and reflect on the never-ending game we played with Lindsey and Jonas — 30 minutes of shooting around the blue solid, blue stripe, and eight ball around before giving up. She comments on the lighting, and she’s right, it is good — if only she brought her camera.
I chat with record producer Pi’erre Bourne as the party winds down, “This is nice, I mean there’s pool, you know? A lot of other shit is more forced, in comparison. This wasn’t like that.” I also met Ava Pearlman who was standing with Annabelle Weatherly and Matt Weinberger in the corner by the purple table. They both got in last Tuesday. Ava tells me that on the first night of her trip, she already hated Paris. Tonight she likes it, especially because, in here, she can’t tell what city she’s in.
The crowd stuck around well into the night, so much so that the bar staff kindly had to ask all to leave – we’ll say it was one for the books. Leaving that night, one thing was clear: Hung La doesn’t want to fit into anyone else’s world, he’d rather create a new one.
