Cover Edan Lui wears a Brunello Cucinelli outfit (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong/The Buffacow)
Edan Lui wears a Brunello Cucinelli outfit (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong/The Buffacow)
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Having returned from his first world tour, Mirror’s Edan Lui, who is on Tatler Asia’s Most Stylist list, talks films, music and Canto-pop’s growing appeal
2024 has so far been exciting for Hong Kong boyband Mirror—six years after their debut and having accumulated much fandom on the home front, they broke into the international scene this year: first with a tour to Asia, the US and the UK until May, then being dubbed as one of the “Future 25” world’s most influential musicians by American pop culture magazine Rolling Stone.
“It’s unbelievable,” says Mirror member Edan Lui, who is on Tatler’s Asia’s Most Stylish (AMS) list this year. “But we won’t stop and think we’ve already achieved international fame—because we haven’t [fully]. We will continue to do our best as musicians. It would be wonderful if more global audiences get to know us or other Canto-pop singers.”
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Above Edan Lui wears a Kenzo outfit (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong/The Buffacow)
Edan Lui wears a Kenzo outfit (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong/The Buffacow)
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This isn’t an easy goal. Lui says the Cantonese songs can be tricky to sing. “Sometimes, it isn’t easy to pronounce the words accurately when they come in the form of a song, and it can be tricky to deliver the lines smoothly. Unlike English, Cantonese isn’t a universal language, which limits our audience to those who speak the dialect [from Hong Kong and Guangzhou].”
But he is determined to break this barrier. “Not everyone will embrace Canto-pop if we just throw it out there and people don’t understand a single word,” he says. The band’s strategy is to branch out into singing in English, which is more familiar to global audiences or adopt a style similar to K-pop which, has gained international fame because it “sounds cool”.
Above Edan Lui wears a Burberry outfit (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong/The Buffacow)
Edan Lui wears a Burberry outfit (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong/The Buffacow)
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Mirror released its first English song Rumours in March 2023, and then Day 0 in April 2024. The latter featured American NBA star and rapper Dame Dolla and made news on Variety, NBC, The Independent and other international media. Lui says, “[New audiences] don’t have to love us immediately, but if songs like Day 0 can expose us to audiences out there, it may entice them to listen to Canto-pop songs.”
The 27-year-old also sees an evolution in his own music career. In 2018, while a year-three business and IT management student at HKU, he signed up for ViuTV’s talent show King V Maker and ended up in eighth place and became one of the 12 members of Mirror. Having grown up to Taiwanese singer Jay Chou’s songs, Lui, in his early career, leaned towards ballads and love songs such as in Little Comedian (2021) and in his first single Chat Mr E (2023).
Above Edan Lui wears a Louis Vuitton outfit (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong/The Buffacow)
Edan Lui wears a Louis Vuitton outfit (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong/The Buffacow)
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But he’s also trying different genres of music. His Moonlight Sonata in “E” Minor (2024) is influenced by K-pop style, Again! (2023) draws from J-pop and Loverse (2023) has a groovy R&B vibe. In January this year, he performed Taiwanese rock singer Jam Hsiao’s Pi Nang with fellow Mirror member Jer Lau.
“I am a fun-loving person. I love experimenting with my image, be that in films, music or theatre,” he says. This side of Lui’s personality reflects itself in the diverse looks he sports onstage or in music videos (MVs). Think his smoky eyes and sombre outfits for the MV of Moonlight Sonata in “E” Minor; his elf-like look in Again; or his rockstar black jacket in the concert with Lau.
On red carpets and at fashion weeks, the singer looks equally dashing and has collaborated with luxury brands such as Bulgari and Brunello Cucinelli—so it’s no wonder that he’s a Tatler AMS honouree in The Front Row category this year.
When Tatler caught up with him after his AMS photoshoot, Lui was doing his hair extension for a new period film—evidently, his diverse image also extends to films. He has already shown his acting chops in crime film The Moon Thieves (2024), comedies Over My Dead Body (2023) and Chilli Laugh Story (2022), and family drama Hong Kong Family (2022); he was nominated for Best New Actor at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2023 for the last two movies.
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Above Edan Lui wears Louis Vuitton outfit (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong/The Buffacow)
Edan Lui wears Louis Vuitton outfit (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong/The Buffacow)
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“I’ve never had long hair in my acting career before, and I thought it would be fun,” he says. As well as this period drama, Lui is also acting in a new murder mystery, which is based on the notorious Happy Valley “Cardboard Murder” case from 1974. He teases that he isn’t playing the lead role of the murderer, but says, “I’ve never lived through the same experiences as my character, whose state of mind isn’t that of an ordinary person. I hope when the movie comes out, the audience won’t see me, Edan Lui, but a different Edan who is this character.”
When asked whether he’d like to break into the international scene in films as well, Lui replies humbly, “Most Mirror members, including myself, don’t come from an acting background. I’ll first need to improve my English and refine my acting skills. It’s an artist’s dream to be in Hollywood or play a Marvel character. It’ll be amazing to be given an opportunity, but I’m taking it step by step.”
Credits for Edan Lui’s photo shoot
Creative & styling direction Cherry Mui
Photography The Buffacow
Hair Man Chan at Chic Private I Salon
Make-up San Chan, Jenny Fung
Production Zoe Yau
Photo assistants Sing, Mile Lam
Styling assistants Alix Lefebvre, Judy Cui
Production assistant Carlos Hui
Venue Regent, Hong Kong
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Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
