Vietnamese-American fashion designer breaks Asian male stereotypes of being ‘nerdy, shy, effeminate’ with new menswear brand Lu’u Dan
- Hung La says his label Lu’u Dan focuses on the strength of Asian masculinity, its name the Vietnamese for a dangerous man who’s ‘a little sleazy and gangster’
- It’s a big departure from his previous work with luxury labels, which he realised catered to a clientele that didn’t resonate with the world at large or himself
At the height of the coronavirus pandemic in the summer of 2020, while the US was mired in a series of anti-racism protests ignited by the killing of George Floyd, the African-American man murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, fashion designer Hung La started to ask himself questions about his Asian-American identity.
Amid all the talk about race, identity and minority cultures going on at the time, he had “this yearning to reconnect with my roots”, he says in a recent interview from London.
“Growing up in the US [in a suburb of Washington], there was a very predominantly white culture or even black culture that you had to identify with because there was no Asian representation and for me there was a lot of internalised racism. As a first-generation Asian-American, I didn’t want to be Asian and had no role models or images to represent Asian masculinity. They were very feminine or the kung fu guy.”
That revelation came to him thanks to his meditation practice, making him realise that throughout his career – both at Kwaidan Editions and previously at Balenciaga under Nicolas Ghesquière, and Céline under Phoebe Philo – his work had been based on exclusivity and catered to a clientele of well-heeled women who did not exactly resonate with the world at large, and most importantly, himself.
These reflections were the starting point for La’s first foray into menswear: Lu’u Dan, a brand that has many rich autobiographical elements and ushers in a novel idea of Asian masculinity.