Being an admirer of asain fashion & lifestyle, I figured I'd do a piece on a cat that has influenced a lot of what's going on over there. Edison Chen or EDC. Some would say he embodies "the cool". Edison Chen has sold over a million CD’s. He’s starred in countless Hong Kong films and he’s appeared in ad campaigns for Levi’s and Samsung. In 2006, he launched perhaps the most coveted pair of sneakers that year with his Nike Air Max Clot Ones, and he runs Clot Inc., his own lifestyle company.
Oh yeah, and dude is 27.
Edison Chen is a Chinese Canadian movie actor, singer and pop icon based in Hong Kong. Chen is also the founder of CLOT Inc., and the CEO of Clot Media Division Limited. He is fluent in English, Cantonese and Mandarin, and speaks Japanese, allowing him to be a part of multiple entertainment industries around the world.
In 1999, a talent scout approached Chen while he was clubbing with friends in Hong Kong and asked him to film a commercial at the age of 19. From then on, his career began with the Japanese film Dead or Alive 2: Birds. By 2001 Chen was already winning the hearts of many teenage girls. He made his Hong Kong film debut in the film Gen-Y Cops (the sequel to Gen-X Cops) in 2000. (I am actually a fan of Gen-X Cops...Nicholas Tse kicks ass!!!) He has starred in many popular films including Infernal Affairs, Infernal Affairs II, Initial D, Dog Bite Dog and Trivial Matters. Determined on expanding his horizons beyond Hong Kong, he also starred as the male lead in the Japanese drama Under the Same Moon. In 2006, the US market got a good dose of Edison in the japanese import horror film The Grudge 2, in which he played a major role.
In 2000, at the age of 20, Chen landed a record deal with Emperor Entertainment Group. It took him a number of album releases before he got the chance to produce a hip hop album. His first hip-hop release was in February 2004, Please Steal This Album backed by MC Yan and Singaporean musician Hanjin Chen. Several singles from the album topped local pop charts. Chen has mentioned the difficulty of fitting the material in Hong Kong where it has been dominated by cantopop, but said the potential of hip hop is great. He is featured on M-flo's album, Cosmicolor, on the track "LOVE ME, HATE THE GAME" with Chan, Thaitanium and Ryohei Yamamoto.
Edison's foray into the fashion industry accompanied his rising success as a young pop icon. Edison, along with partners Kevin Poon and Billy Ip, became the founders of CLOT Inc., a clothing company described as a "lifestyle company" that is geared toward youth culture, and bringing street fashion to China and Hong Kong. The company has collaborated with many big clothing companies, such as Nike and A Bathing Ape. Below is EDC sporting the Nike x Clot Air Max IDs that he designed as part of a collaboration with artist Kanye West, only 24 pairs were made.
In collaboration with Clot and Hong Kong sub-culture icon MC Yan, Nike has created the Air Max 1 NL Premium. The first footwear project developed out of Hong Kong, Air Max 1 NL Premium pays homage to Chinese culture, the spirit of modern Hong Kong and the Air Max evolution. Only 300 pair were released worldwide.
In February, 2007, Edison invested $10 million HKD to open his own multi-media company, Clot Media Division, which plans to produce movies, commercials and music albums. In June, 2007, he released a Mandarin album, (Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself) with tracks produced by Kanye West, Just Blaze and Clinton Sparks.
On February 21, 2008 he publicly announced that he intended to step away indefinitely from the Hong Kong entertainment industry due to a photo scandal, devoting his time instead to public causes.
(Pics courtesy of LAMJC.com, Kookies.net & Sole Redemption)
