Hung La, the Vietnamese-American co-founder of Kwaidan Editions and the designer behind this bad-boy model—its title means “harmful man” in Vietnamese—introduced his sixth assortment to Paris this week, taking up a small gallery within the arty-scruffy higher reaches of the rue Saint Martin.

An engineer by coaching, La earned his stripes working at Balenciaga within the Ghesquière years and Celine throughout Phoebe Philo’s tenure. From the previous, he realized to dream; from the latter, he realized easy methods to keep grounded. Together with his personal model, he’s tapping into an underserved sartorial area of interest: Asian masculinity.

If zeroing in on Asian dangerous boys and villains rings stereotypical, Dan needs to be heard out. “For those who have a look at the visibility within the West of Asian id within the media, it’s very polarizing,” he mentioned. “You have got emasculated Breakfast at Tiffany’s or you will have Die Laborious explosives and kung fu—there’s not quite a lot of vary.” His mission is to deliver depth, texture, and Asian tradition to males’s put on.

Borrowing a mantra from Gandhi, La’s “Do or Die” assortment is proven right here on a band of real-life “misfits,” in all their tattooed, pierced, rough-hewn authenticity. They embrace Jiman, a mohawked Malaysian ex-punk turned activist and style PR; Hao, a long-haired DJ from Chengdu whom La met throughout Shanghai style week; and James, a reformed dangerous boy from the Philippines (proven right here in pink workwear). “Folks don’t understand what number of cool issues are taking place in Asia,” La mentioned. “We need to have a good time all these issues, and share them in a broader scope.”

The garments appeared trendy, modern, and devoid of nostalgia, which is a powerful level in a season outlined by precisely that. Additional-extra-large trucker denims are designed to fold over on the hips and be tacked down; “rocker” denims zip from stomach button to the small of the again; a “battle membership” bomber is embroidered with kickboxing patches, and a fringed biker jacket and chaps channel a cowboy vibe. Right here and there, the Indonesian slogan “menfolk punah,” crops up, which suggests “resist extinction.”