Opening Ceremony brings the party to Hotspot Chifa, with teenage punk band The Linda Lindas, Kim Gordon and Jaime Xie
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“These are the stars of the night,” Humberto Leon said of The Linda Lindas, the all-female punk group, during the Los Angeles night opening ceremony on Tuesday night.
The group, made up of two sisters, a cousin and their close friend – Lucia de la Garza, Mila de la Garza, Eloise Wong and Bela Salazar – quickly became a sensation after their performance of âRacist, Sexist Boyâ in LA. Public The library went viral last month.
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âWe never thought the show at the library would be the one to blow us up,â said Lucia, 14. “But it was so much fun at the same time.”
“I feel like it was also because of the message of the song and not so much of the library itself,” said Mila, 10, the youngest. She and Eloise, who are Chinese-Americans, wrote the lyrics after being racist at school.
âIt’s about him and all the other racist and sexist boys in this world,â Eloise, 13, yells in the video before they all rock. They have since performed on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and was signed to Epitaph Records.
Leon, a fan, had contacted them via DM on Instagram.
âHe was really cool and supported our group,â Bela, 16, said of Leon, shortly before being cut off. She was an acquaintance who sought to introduce the ladies to Kim Gordon, the pioneer singer of Sonic Youth. A longtime supporter of the Opening Ceremony, she was at the event with Emma Reeves of Free The Work.
“Do you know the Linda Lindas?” Reeves asked, turning to Gordon.
âI read about them, but I haven’t seen them,â Gordon replied, saying hello.
âIt’s iconic,â Leon said nearby, as he watched them meet. All eyes were on the women as the photographers took to the skies.
The festivities took place at the designer’s family-run restaurant, the Chifa Hotspot, in Eagle Rock. Leon and Opening Ceremony co-founder Carol Lim gathered friends to celebrate the brand’s new capsule collection: a line of Ts paying homage to the work of the late American photographer and director Herb Ritts.
âWe’ve both been huge, huge Herb’s fans, growing up as LA natives,â Leon said alongside Lim. âHis photography has always transcended time.
The t-shirts – available now at openingceremony.com for $ 215 each – feature black and white human body images by Ritts, known for his celebrity portraits and work on music videos with Chris Isaak and Janet Jackson . . Ritts, too, was born and raised in LA
“There is a whole generation that does not know the reference, and if you know her work, you know that she has inspired so many people and so many brands and so many companies”, continues Léon. âGiving the narrative and giving someone the performance they deserve is awesome. And he’s gay. He died of AIDS. I think that’s something really important to remember, the artists who died of AIDS. We always think, “What would it be like if they were here today, if it didn’t happen to them, if there was a drug available then?” “”
Lim nodded, before adding, âAs a gay photographer he really paved the way for this new focus on the beauty of the human form. And since it’s pride month, [though] we always like to talk about pride as being 365 days a year, it was like a really beautiful person to be showcased.
Midsummer Night brought out artists Peter Shire, Amy Yao and Christine Sun Kim; Jaime Xie from “Bling Empire”; Gigi Goode of “RuPaul’s Drag Race”; singer-songwriter Zsela Thompson; producer and DJ Ezra Rubin; performance artist Rafa Esparza; No Sesso designer Pierre Davis; photographer Sandy Kim; the manicurist Naomi Yasuda; designer Patrik Ervell; Harley Viera-Newton; Philippe Picardi; Jen Brill; the QNA LA team, Howin Wong, Paul Morales, Jonathan Jae-An Crisman and Louie Bofill; stylists Andrew Vottero, Kyle Luu and Kat Typaldos; and musical artist Polartropica, who (along with his friends Akemi Look and Lacy Lew Nguyen Wright) stood out in a helmet from designer Peter Lai. Polartropica wore a baby pink leotard, which she embellished herself.
“I glued the bangs and added the flowers,” she said, before adding, “It’s so nice to be outside, isn’t it?”
It had been exactly a week since LA Country had lifted the mask warrant.
“What a time to be alive again,” said Iris Alonzo, American Apparel alum, co-founder and creative director of Everybody.Word. âWe’re back and it feels good.
The crowd was in good spirits, catching up and dancing in the outdoor area of ââthe restaurant. They sipped Chifa’s signature drinks, “chicha morada” and “tong ling cha” (with tequila-based options), while dim sum – which is not usually offered in the Chinese-Peruvian restaurant – have been distributed. Also in attendance were the restaurant’s co-owners, Leon’s mother Wendy, sister Rica, and brother-in-law and chef John Liu.
âAfter the year and a half that we’ve had, it’s really exciting to be able to have this event,â Lim said.
She and Leon know a thing or two about throwing a party. Whether for the opening ceremony or when conducting Kenzo, they held nightly bashes – always with a dance floor – around the world, attracting a community of supporters, collaborators, creators and artists. which include Hollywood names like Chloë Sevigny, Jessica Alba and Spike Jones. Now they’re back in LA, back to basics, after years in New York City where they started Opening Ceremony in 2002.
It’s the “ultimate refresh,” Leon said of the brand’s new chapter since the closure of all retail stores and its acquisition by New Guards Group of Farfetch, which was announced in January of this year. last, before COVID-19.
âThe timing was really on our side, because obviously the whole world has changed,â Lim said, referring to store closures due to the pandemic.
âThe way we look at the brand is very different from what we did before,â added Leon. âIt sounds super exciting – almost relaunching the brand and thinking about what makes sense and how to tell our personal story within the brand. “
Launch gallery: opening ceremony x launch of the Herb Ritts Pride capsule
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