A creatively-curated garden party in Los Angeles embraces fellowship using inspiration from the Asian American community. 

Los Angeles is known for its vibrant entertainment landscape, bustling city full of traffic and a place for unknown talent to meet the people who will make their dreams come true. But amidst the chase for success and the excitement of the opportunities in such an inspiring city, many tend to be caught by surprise at the quiet moments that come on their journey. Even among the millions of people that live in Los Angeles, the city of angels can feel isolating when everyone is striving toward their own goals. 

This problem is the core of a creative project to cultivate community, taken on by Chelsea Zhang, who plays Rose Wilson in HBO Max’s Titans and Sophie in Love in Taipei on Paramount+, along with Yebin Ha, an LA-based Korean-American art director and designer and Alexa Jade, an LA-based photographer and designer. The three met through mutual friends in Los Angeles, as well as a mutual love for bringing people together through creative events. Zhang’s passion for hosting events for her friends and community partly stemmed from her experiences while filming Love in Taipei. 

“Love in Taipei was definitely a huge gift because I got to travel to Taiwan and also be immersed in Taiwanese culture…I was immediately welcomed into the Taiwanese American community that was so warm and welcoming, which only grew my love for the Asian American community in LA and in Hollywood,” Zhang said. 

Zhang explained that the uplifting environment she experienced on set inspired her to tap back into her love of bringing people together through hosting friendly gatherings. 

“There can be a competitiveness between Asian Americans, and by being welcomed into a community where we can share our gifts and our resources with each other…[that] was kind of the birth of wanting to put on more events for my community,” Zhang said. 

Zhang’s love for curating these kinds of events has provided her a community in Los Angeles, which she embraced to help create a vision for this new project. 

“Hosting events is the way that I meet people in the industry,” Zhang said. “I just have this desire to bring people together because I sense that there’s a lot of loneliness in the city…I met Yebin and a lot of creatives through becoming friends with people in LA and I love collaborating with other people.”

Zhang, Ha and Jade decided to team up to plan an aesthetic garden party that would feature friends and fellowship, carefully curated decor and delicious local food, as well as local brands sponsoring the event. Zhang brought her event-planning skills and inspiration for bringing the Asian-American community together in her city, Ha brought her creative-directing experience and artistic vision, while Jade brought her extensive experience in photography to capture the friendship and fun found throughout the evening. Ha had experience in establishing brand identity in past roles and projects, which she believes was a “good background to help elevate this garden party project.” She also works with Suá Superette, a newer Chinese market in the Hollywood area, who provided a budget and partnership for the party, and who Ha says has a passion for building community within the area. Ha, originally from Portland, Oregon, was inspired to take on this project because of her shared love for sharing meals with friends. 

“My friends and I back in Oregon…[would] invite people over and make dumplings together…I just love having people over in a way where we’re creating that safe space where we can just hang out together…I think the pandemic definitely lost the art of community,” Ha said. 

For this event, the group wanted to create a space where they could “combine [their] friends, nature, good food and familiar local brands,” Yebin said. 

The trio planned to use Jade’s backyard in the Los Angeles area, while Ha worked with Stephanie Liu Hjelmeseth, the co-founder of Suá, to maintain the brand’s image for the event and use her artistic flair to create videos of the event. Zhang used a handful of her connections to get in contact with local brands who sponsored the event, providing essentials like linen napkins, plates, and bowls. 

“We had a lot of sponsorships which was really cool for our first dinner party…we were so stoked to be able to give gift bags and create an elevated experience for everyone,” Zhang said. “I was able to treat my community and it was just a cool space to see all my friends interacting.” 

During the curated garden party, Jade was responsible for capturing the energy of the night via her camera, experimenting with flash-photography and breaking out of her usual fashion-based shoots. 

“Once it was time for dinner, [the lighting] was a little bit moody…there was candlelight and so I was shooting the food that had been put on the table, and just capturing emotion and people laughing,” Jade said. 

Ha explained that their mutual interests in music, fashion, beauty and bringing people together created the perfect framework for planning and hosting their event. She compared the project to ones that might be done in more corporate settings with higher pressure, emphasizing the importance of friendship and community, and how this set-up was the perfect way to bring people together in a creative way. 

“I definitely am so grateful to have friends that have amazing creative chemistry…you can be very experimental and have more fun,” Ha said. “Working with them is not the kind of feeling you can really replicate anywhere else.”

Words: Alexis Marion

Photography: Alexa Jade

Special Thanks: Alexa Jade, Chelsea Zhang & Yebin Ha