Diesel CULTivate aims to nurture the city’s creative side
 
As far as cities go, Hong Kong can be a bit dry. You could even go so far as to say it’s a Cultural Desert (or perhaps, looking at the Kowloon West site, ‘wasteland’ springs to mind). Contrary to public perception, wonton noodles are not an art form, and there’s little aesthetic skill in poor driving and building sky scrapers (while fundamental for any metropolis’ claim to fame, it’s not exactly culturally empowering).
 
But a new effort by a bevy of creative characters – with artistic names to match – hopes to reach out and touch the hearts of Hong Kong’s cultural class. Bolstered by Big Business in the guise of the Diesel fashion brand (as worn by the city’s Peter Pan fraternity), CULTivate is a ‘conceptual vision’ that aims to nurture fresh talent from the realms of fashion, art and music, like so many artistic tadpoles. Ten creative collaborators – with names like Lady Aiko, Black Panda and Mintos (artwork pictured here) – have helped Creative Director Young “Suitman” Kim create a group exhibit, which will be featured at the Diesel flagship store for the next month and of course, in pure Hong Kong style, exclusive, limited-edition gift products will be available for purchase.
 
Diesel – fuelling Hong Kong’s next generation of Suitmen
 
Diesel presents “CULTivate”
September 18 – October 11, 2009
Diesel, 20 Queens Rd, Central, Tel: 2525-0540, www.diesel.com

The Nuts & Bolts: Ten cultural collaborators hope to set Hong Kong’s artistic energy aflame at the Diesel CULTivate exhibit (September 18 – October 11, 2009).
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Korean Sulwhasoo cream launches new anti-ageing skin care line for men

Now let’s be serious for a moment. We’re sure most of us are mature enough to buy a moisturizer, perhaps even eye cream for those facial sleeping bags, without having to register the number plate MTROSXL. Modern men have fought a battle for our right to hydrate (with the Queer Eye boys leading the bayonet charge) and now you can buy man-lotions with the same pride as your weekly ration of Magnum XLs.

A pair of sunglasses has so many uses other than the primary function of protecting your eyes from the sun. You may want to hide behind dark shades to conceal a hangover, even your identity to avoid a certain someone, or simply to look down right cool. These high-tech glades that we’ve found can do all this and more…so much more.

Escapade is the mother of all sports shops

Looking for the right-sized gear for your preferred sport, only to find that local stores just stock ‘fashionable’ sports items, which you don’t really need? If you’re at all serious about sports, you’ll want to check out this newly opened mega sports shop.

Urban living at Aluminium

Bachelor or not, your pad says a lot about you. It’s your very own oasis, where your mates can hang out and the women in your life can feel (or get) ‘comfortable’. So if your fortress of solitude is not a place you can be proud of, then you need to rethink your decor.

Wear European hand-made shoes from Stylemuster

Finding the right pair of shoes is an especially daunting task for us in Hong Kong – either they’re too small (for those of us with big feet) or the genuine leather ones from Europe cost an arm and a leg.

In a weight-conscious society such as Hong Kong, looking fit and trim is ever present in everyone’s mind. So, unless you are Stallone or Schwarzenegger (and look like a beef cake well into your 50’s), losing your love handles is going to be easier said than done.

Thanks to Al Gore's stirring lecture in "An Inconvenient Truth", the world has finally woken up to Earth’s most pressing plight – global warming. So you better green up, if you want to avoid choking to death in Hong Kong’s haze of pollution (cough).

Fill in the blanks: What draws you to Hong Kong? Is it the _____? Or is it the ______? Just ask Tom, _____ and Harry, and you’ll get a different response. Perhaps it is precisely our unique individualism that makes Hong Kong so _______!

Never be homeless again

Trust us, when you invite a woman to your crib for the first time, she’s going to rip your place apart to a gazillion pieces in her mind. From one corner to another, she’ll sniff out as many clues as she can about your personality and analyze it to bits.

How to dress and impress

At a social function, don’t be surprised if you’re asked the question, “Who are you wearing tonight?” If you answered, “Giorgio Armani” or “Hugo Boss”, then you’ve joined the crowd. If you answered “SPY Henry Lau”, then you’ve chosen to stand out of the crowd.

Got an eye for design?

Unless you’ve got the drawing power of CNN’s Larry King, it’s unlikely you’re ever going to get the likes of I.M. Pei or Philippe Starck over for dinner. So how will you ever find out how they got their inspiration for the Bank of China Tower and the Juicy Salif lemon squeezer?

A soleful May

Still on a high from your awesome Labour Day weekend? Come down from it, and land your feet firmly on the ground with a brand new pair of stylish sneakers (and a bottle of cab sab to boot). Yup, there are May Day goodies to be got!

Got the Kou concept?

Let’s face it. You know as well as we do that IKEA furniture items are only passably cool if they don’t look like they’re from IKEA! Case in point: the Billy bookshelf. Its ever so neutral appearance lacks character and style that you’re bound to hear your houseguest say, “Hey, I’ve got a Billy too!”

Lane Crawford's hidden grooming secret

As a lot of you pick-up artists will know, showing up at a make-up counter in search for the right skincare product is really a pretense for you to pick up chicks. If you luck out with the female patrons there, you're at least guaranteed some alone time with the dolled up diva behind the counter.