into the brand." For him Gaga's performance fits in the "new Mugler world", a "fantasy world" fusion of high fashion and pop with an existence both real and digital. Nicopanda Nicola, along with his brother Andrea Formichetti, created the Nicopanda line based on the panda cartoon that looks like Nicola. The story behind the name, accordingly to Nicola, "my friends used to call me Nico Panda because I’m half Asian, I had this long beard back then; and was a little chubby, so I looked like a bear—an Asian bear. So people started calling me Nico Panda" Nicola's New York The nicopanda line was first introduced in September 2011 at Nicola's pop up shop in New York's Tribeca district. Along with the Gage/Clemenceau Architects, the space at 50 walker street was transformed into a mirrored prism that housed vintage Versace, MUGLER, Uniqlo, Nicopanda products like the zombiepanda rings, iPhone and iPad skins in collaboration with Gizmobies, and looks by the Haus of Gaga. Nicola worried that people wouldn't show up to the store, While the pop-up was happening, Nicola made a competition for his fans on Twitter, where the winners were invited to the pop-up for a breakfast with Nicola and a preview of the new Uniqlo line he worked on, the Innovation Project. Fans drove from Ohio and flew in from Phoenix for this chance. Nicopanda Lane Crawford In May 2012, Nicola opened Nicopanda pop up stores at Lane Crawford in Beijing and Hong Kong. Nicopanda Tokyo After opening up pop-up stores in Hong Kong and Beijing, Nicola opened up more pop-ups in Tokyo in June 2012. There were pop-ups in LHP in the Harajuku district, in Opening Ceremony in the Shibuya district, and also a pop-up shop and gallery at the Isetan Shinjuku department store. It was in this pop-up gallery that the Amebapanda chetti design was first presented, along with the Nicopanda X Hello Kitty collaboration. Villa Effe In August 2012, Nicola and his brother Andrea opened up a "super complex" in Nicola's hometown of Numazu, Shizuoka, Japan. Villa Effe holds a wedding hall, a restaurant, a beauty salon and a shopping hall that includes displays of Haus of Gaga looks and the Nicopanda line. Vogue Hommes Japan Formichetti was fashion editor for Vogue Hommes Japan from its inception until fall 2012, when the magazine was folded and repackaged into GQ Style. Uniqlo As of January 2013,