After the Diesel exhibit on Friday I stopped by Lane Crawford‘s event for Raf Simons, the Belgian fashion designer. The venue was a club called Works, located just above Lan Kwai Fong on 30 Wyndham Street. The same place had been used earlier in the year for Lane Crawford’s excellent New Generation party.
Due to the early start, (the party ran from 7 until 11,) it took some time for Works to fill up. The fashion conscious crowd was dressed mostly in black. What ever happened to “pink is the new black”? Moving around through the club’s dark passageways, I felt like I had just infiltrated a den of ninjas!
Works is divided into two main rooms, connected by two corridors. It’s a dim, slightly disorienting environment – which I like. It uses a tried and true club formula. You don’t see any flashy plasma screens or high-tech lights, just black walls and mirrors. One side features the d.j. booth, a dancefloor, and a long bar. The other contains a big bar and two large U-shaped banks of seating.
Works was originally a gay club known as Propaganda. Propaganda has since relocated to an alleyway just below the old Hollywood Road police station. Works remains primarily a gay club, except for special occasions.
[photopress:Disco_Step_Child_Drafus_Wor.jpg,full,pp_image]Arriving relatively early, I hung out on the dance-floor side and listened to the Disco Step-Child aka D.J. El Kabong aka Drafus. At around ten, D.J. Hell, the man behind Dee Jay Gigolo Records took over the decks. D.J. Hell is known for spreading the Electroclash sound throughout Europe. Electroclash is an updated mixture of 80’s music and Punk Rock.
[photopress:DJ_Hell_Raf_Simons_Hong_K.jpg,full,pp_image]Unfortunately, due to a previous engagement, I had to depart shortly after D.J. Hell’s set began. I heard that Raf Simons himself was there, sporting a black cape and long black gloves. Had he arrived just a few days earlier, he wouldn’t have stood out in the neighborhood!
