L.A. Times Image Magazine Transforms Chinatown’s Chung King Road Into an Open-Air Runway and Dining Room

Thirty-eight creatives sat on a carpet laid directly across the asphalt of Chung King Road on Wednesday night, turning one of downtown Los Angeles’ most historically layered pedestrian alleys into an open-air dining room. The gathering marked the 2026 edition of the Image Makers dinner, an annual convening organized by L.A. Times Image magazine to bring together the photographers, stylists, musicians and writers featured in its latest issue.

Chung King Road occupies a distinct position in the geography of Los Angeles culture. Originally developed in the 1930s as part of the “New Chinatown” plaza designed to replace the neighborhood displaced by Union Station’s construction, the narrow alleyway spent decades as a quiet commercial corridor before transforming in the late 1990s and 2000s into a dense cluster of contemporary art galleries. As gallery rents shifted and spaces cycled through new uses, the street retained its architectural footprint — red lanterns, recessed courtyards and storefronts built flush against the walkway. Hosting a seated dinner for nearly forty people in this specific corridor leverages that history, placing current cultural producers inside a physical space defined by continuous artistic reinvention.

Chef George Archbold designed and executed the menu hours after arriving from Munich, where he had been celebrating his 30th birthday. Rather than relying on traditional banquet catering, the meal followed the structure of modern California tasting formats: a date and cabbage salad finished with pine nuts, parmesan and citrus vinaigrette; salmon crudo; green tahini prawns grilled with herbs and lemon; steak au poivre; and baklava à la mode. Archbold’s approach reflects a broader shift in how independent chefs operate within Los Angeles’ creative economy, frequently moving between pop-up venues, private commissions and collaborative projects rather than anchoring themselves exclusively to brick-and-mortar restaurants.

The logistics of the evening fell to Ashley SP, audience marketing specialist for Image. Good Arthur, a flexible event space operating along the alley, served as the anchor venue. The production extended beyond the plate. Sahar Habibi curated the evening’s audio environment, while Wonderwerk supplied the wine program. Videography captured by Joey Barba, Joey Bueno Breese and Quincy Bowie Jr. was projected onto the surrounding walls throughout the dinner, integrating the documentation of the event into the event itself.

Fashion at the table functioned less as formalwear and more as an extension of the attendees’ professional output. Stylist RonBen wore a custom pigeon headpiece by Fernando Heme paired with Martine Rose extended-toe pumps in pink — a direct reference to avant-garde runway silhouettes that have increasingly bled into Los Angeles street style. Curator and writer Shelley Holcomb arrived styled by Jocelyn Corona, who also directed Holcomb’s feature shoot for the magazine issue. Musician Sage Elsesser, photographer Micaiah Carter, Japanese luxury fashion collectors Toreno Winn, Fiel and Emilia Yin, columnist Goth Shakira, writer Myriam Gurba and designer Eli Russell Linnetz were among those seated at the table.

For the first time, Nike L.A. partnered with the magazine on a formal merchandise collaboration. Attendees received navy blue sweatsuits featuring a modified L.A. Times logo on the front and the Image logo on the back. The uniform concept addresses a recurring tension in Los Angeles fashion: balancing the city’s deeply ingrained casual athletic wear with high-concept design. Nike’s regional division has steadily expanded its involvement in local arts programming over the past several years, moving beyond sports sponsorships into direct partnerships with cultural publishers and independent artists.

Image operates as a standalone culture and style publication under the L.A. Times umbrella, led by editor-in-chief Elisa Wouk Almino, who delivered a toast during the dinner. Unlike traditional newspaper lifestyle sections, Image functions with the editorial cadence and visual density of an independent magazine, utilizing staff roles such as fashion director at large Keyla Marquez and design director Jess Aquino de Jesus to build issues that document the city’s intersecting art, music and fashion scenes.

Guests remained on Chung King Road well past the final course, lingering as the carpets were rolled up. The 2026 Image Makers roster is now fully documented across the magazine’s current issue and the video projections archived from the evening.