On Saturday evening, over 650 guests donned their heritage-inspired black tie attire to attend the fifth annual Gold Gala; a resplendent fete that honors impactful Asian and Pacific Islander leaders in entertainment, fashion, sports, and culture. Hosted by the cultural platform Gold House, the likes of Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Mindy Kaling, Charles Melton, and Simu Liu gathered at the sprawling Music Center courtyard in downtown Los Angeles to celebrate.
On the night, Chopra Jonas was honored with the prestigious Global Vanguard award for her 25-year career bridging Bollywood and Hollywood. The actress stepped out with her mother, Dr. Madhu Chopra, as her plus one. “Being celebrated by my own community is the dream and that’s why I asked my mom to be my date tonight. I owe it to her for giving up so much so that I could pursue my own dreams,” Chopra Jonas told Vogue. “So many of our families do that for all of us; to let us be where we are today. We all understand that feeling [of support], so being here with my mother and sharing this experience of love and acceptance is even more special.”
Dressed in an embroidered gown by designer Amit Aggarwal, that was crafted from an archival Chikankari sari, Chopra Jonas reflected on how much the API community has grown since she began her career. “When I first started out, there were so few people and everyone was kind of staggered. We needed to break out of the box that we got put into. We were the diversity check mark or we were put into a stereotypical part, which we had to claw our way out of,” she said. “But because of the tenacity and the talent of so many people from the Asian diaspora, we are now helming shows as leads and producers. To come to a place where we all are standing up for our diversity together, it’s so cool.”
EJAE, the singer and newly-minted Oscar winner from KPop Demon Hunters, made her Gold Gala debut in an ethereal South Korean dress by Leje. “I’m really looking forward to saying hi to everyone and to continue supporting our community. This event is such an important moment because representation matters,” she said. “In the music industry, you still don’t see many Asian women, especially in the song writing room and behind the scenes. It can be lonely sometimes. I want to see more people who look like me. It’s important to show people that we can do this too.”
Bowen Yang, kitted out in a lavender Ken Ohashi for Brooks Brothers suit, kicked off the al fresco dinner with hilarious quips and poignant messages about Asian culture—both setting the evening’s tone and reinforcing the gala’s theme of fostering shared abundance in a world increasingly defined by division. “The challenges that I had to overcome actually end up being universal. I always fall into the trap of thinking that it’s specific to me, but then as I talked to my friends and other Asians, we realized there’s different modulations of the same challenges in different industries,” Yang told Vogue. “We are both relegated to the sidekick role, and that’s something that I feel like I am starting to unravel a little bit. Nights like the Gold Gala are so important in terms of reframing that mindset. I love that this has become a yearly occasion and we have a space to gather and celebrate each other and openly talk. We now have made our own table—literally and metaphorically.”
