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In recent years, dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker Kevin Kwan, author of Crazy Rich Asians, has made Los Angeles his home. The city is rich with art, fashion and intriguing social structures, all of which are key sources of inspiration for Kevin’s novels. Los Angeles has become his living and breathing studio, and going out into the city is a huge part of his creative process
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In the first of several ‘deep dives’ into the LA life that sustains Kevin creatively, we attend the opening of a new show (featuring the work of artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby) at the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Gardens, out in Pasadena, where the old money families of LA live. Kevin reflects on the effects of colonialism and social structures that inform his work.

We also deep dive at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, an upscale interiors shop and at an exhibition of works inspired by and about Kevin’s favourite writer, Joan Didion.

Despite the city bursting with all that feeds his creativity, Kevin explains why his New York friends still cannot believe that he has made Los Angeles his home.

(Photo: Kevin Kwan. Credit: Raen Badua)