Cosmopolitan, confident and brimming with Shanghai Tang is China’s world*class luxury brand Using vibrant and bold colours, exquisite and radical designs and sporting a highly desirable brand label, it has become the epitome of China chic.
Even in its early beginnings in 1994, as a small tailoring boutique in Hong Kong, Shanghai Tang managed to attract over 1 million visitors within its first year. Now, with an international network of 19 boutiques around the world in London, Paris, New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore, *visitors will be soaring into tens of millions.
Fittingly, there are three outlets dotted around Shanghai; two in Puxi, one in Pudong. With a rich past of exoticism and excess, Shanghai, the ‘Paris of the Orient’, is now at the forefront of international fascination and has managed to attract all the luxury brands which are intent on discovering this huge new market. With its fusion of ‘East-meets-West’ and a strong identity of cosmopolitan extravagance, it’s easy to understand why Shanghai Tang has become a leader in this game.
Branching out into home furnishings and gifts, Shanghai Tang sells a range of interesting and unexpected goods alongside its range of clothing and accessories, pepperpots, teapots, umbrellas, dressing gowns, bedlinen, cushions and towels all bear the bold characteristics of Shanghai Tang and are emblazoned with the distinctive logo.
You can even buy a travel complete with eye mask, slippers and pillow all made from the finest silk. It is, however, the line of clothing that garners such respect and adoration from its many fans Indeed, it’s difficult to find another store filled with such intense, brilliant and bold designs with silk jackets in shocking pink and stunning dresses in oranges and luminous greens, the Shanghai Tang shopping experience arouses the strongest visual reactions.
And if any shop might encourage you to ‘blow it on your credit card’, this is without doubt the one.
Traditional Chinese culture inspires most of the Shanghai Tang designs. A recent spring collection was inspired by Jing Xi (Peking Opera), where the extravagant and rich costumes seen on stage provided the basis for a more practical yet equally exuberant design. Its daring vision and a la mode style however brings it totally up to date and if you want to be authentically ‘Shanghai Chic’, you will need at least one garment from Shanghai Tang in your wardrobe.