Luxury brand consumers and fashion freaks often ignore the ‘made in China’ tags as cheap and low quality products. Hence Chinese brands were not popular among the high demanding quality conscious western customers. Shanghai Tang, has, however challenged these pre- conceived notions about Chinese brands. With ‘Made by Chinese’ as its tag line, Shanghai Tang had been making inroads into the fashion capitals of the world such as London, Paris and Milan, ever since it came into being in the 1990s and had established itself, with reasonable success as a Chinese luxury brand.

Shanghai Tang offers a range that is essentially Chinese, but with a modern flavor and style. The word Shanghai Tang implies the bund. Tang was launched in 1994 by David Tang Wing-Cheung, a wealthy Chinese businessman in Hong Kong. Shanghai itself was synonymous with sophistication, elegance and charm, and was a place where the western influences superimposed themselves on an entirely Chinese city. Shanghai Tang efficiently utilized the craftsmanship and skill of Chinese tailors. They revived the diminishing art of ‘Chinese haute couture’ (delicately crafted apparel) and ensured that their creations captured and evoked Chinese culture. Tangs products include a wide variety of products like shirts, kurtas, velvets, home furnishings, leather goods, silverware, porcelain, and novelty gifts that featured Chinese inspired designs. Tang’s products were renowned for their combination of traditional Chinese designs and motifs with lighthearted humor and contemporary sensibility. The highlights of Tang included fusion of the old-China fashion with bold-new-world styles and colors.

Shanghai Tang’s first store in the west was opened in New York in 1997.Now they have stores in Paris, Milan, London etc. Tang stocked Men’s mandarin suits and children’s wear with names such as ‘Double Fish Tang’, ‘Velvet Tang’, ‘Happiness Tang’ and Eight Ferries Silk’. The retail price range varies from $ 150 to $ 250. The ‘authentic’ collections include silk shirts which are priced at $275, velvet jackets with a silk dragon-print lining for $645, Chinese-button cotton mandarin shirts for $105, silk-lined Mongolian cashmere sweaters for $595, and woolen slacks for $250.To respond to the needs of western customers, they used the service of renowned designers like Philip Treacy and Gabby Harris and introduced new varieties of fusion clothes for men.

Shanghai Tang’s range also had a made-to-measure business, where customers could create their own wedding gowns and evening gowns for $1,500 to $5,000. The price depended upon the choice of fabric, which included hand-brocaded silk, lace and beaded fabrics, which cost $40 to $80 a yard. In 2008, they introduced a new collection called Luck 2008 which combines the Chinese luck symbols with modern designer wear.

In the words of its founder Tang, the vision of Shanghai Tang was to “create the first global Chinese lifestyle brand by revitalizing Chinese designs—interweaving traditional Chinese culture with the dynamism of the 21st century”. However they still face stiff competition from other international brands like Gucci, Armani, Hugo Boss etc. The success of Shanghai Tang will depend on its ability to diversify the products without compromising the elegance of eastern classic style.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, October 18th, 2008 at 8:59 am and is filed under Luxury lifestyle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.