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Fashion’s First Superheroes Tackle Anti Asian Hate & Style Faux Pas

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House of Slay is a “fantastically glamorous adventure based on some of fashion’s most important creators.”

“Alone, each of you can be broken. But together you make a radiant fist.”

 

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Developed with XRM Media and Einhorn’s Epic Productions, alongside writer Jeremy Holt and illustrators Kevin Wada, Soo Lee, and Kimi Lee, The Slaysians originally came together largely by accident. Ms. Kim and Mr. Gurung had worked in the same building for 10 years and started bumping into each other — as well as the rest of the gang — at fashion events. Those chance meetings became nights out at Bubble T, a queer Asian dance party, and dinner parties.

The New York Times: Forget Shang-Chi. Forget the Eternals. The most unexpected super debut is happening this week online, courtesy of House of Slay, a web comic book series about five Asian best friends who fight the God of Darkness. And who also happen to be real.

Or at least are based on real people. Fashion people, to be exact.

 

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They include the designers Prabal Gurung and Phillip Lim, plus Laura Kim of Oscar de la Renta. Also the influencer Tina Leung and Ezra J. William, a restaurateur and socialite.

Friends who met through their work but found themselves drawn more closely together by the Asian hate crimes that proliferated during the coronavirus pandemic, the quintet formed a casual support group — they nicknamed themselves the Slaysians — that grew into a broader movement on social media. Now it has become the base of a pop culture fable meant to reach anyone who feels like an outsider, whether they care about fashion or not. Together the animated gang fights an evil overlord whose power grows with every episode of racial discrimination. Love and understanding must prevail to create a world safe for all.

 

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Vogue: Prabal Gurung’s superpower is his ability to control other people’s minds. Phillip Lim of 3.1 Phillip Lim can form a protective shield, and Oscar de la Renta’s Laura Kim can transport herself and her pals anywhere they want to go. Together, the designers with their friends and fellow superheroes, the stylist and social media influencer Tina Leung and restaurateur Ezra J. Williams, are the House of Slay. Last month, the fearsome fivesome hosted a coming-out party at Chinese Tuxedo that was also a launching pad for a digital comic book starring their alter egos that hit the internet Thursday, November 11.

 

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Modeled on traditional comic books with a nod to ballroom culture, the weekly series will follow the #Slaysians, as they also call themselves, on their adventures as they combat anti-Asian hate and build community. The tagline: “Alone, each of you can be broken. But together you make a radiant fist.”

 

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