Shanghai Tang History

← Back to the current Shanghai Tang profile

The Company Description of Its Time

Shanghai Tang describes itself as the pioneering luxury brand from China, with a mission to be the global curator of modern Chinese chic. It began in 1994 as a bespoke tailoring atelier, drawing on the craftsmanship of traditional Shanghainese tailoring and rich fabrics to cut impeccable clothing, and grew by reinterpreting the opulence of 1930s Shanghai - the mandarin collar, the qipao silhouette, vivid silk and bold color - for a contemporary luxury customer. The founder was the Hong Kong businessman Sir David Tang, and the brand's first home was the ground floor of the Pedder Building in Central, Hong Kong.

From the Pedder Building to the Shanghai Tang Mansion

After 17 years, the 6,300-square-foot flagship in the Pedder Building closed in October 2011, with rising rents cited as the main reason. The brand answered with a piece of retail theatre worthy of its founder: from November 4 to December 31, 2011 it kept a presence in Central as 'A New Journey as a Nomad of Central,' a series of Mongolian gers erected on the roof of Central Pier 1, followed by the 'Shanghai Tang Loft' upstairs in the Pedder Building from October 2012's eve through February 2012. In April 2012 the new flagship opened on Duddell Street - the Shanghai Tang Mansion, at close to 1,400 square metres the brand's largest store, designed by the Shanghai-based firm Design MVW, with a second mega-flagship, the Cathay Mansion, in Shanghai.

Richemont sold Shanghai Tang in 2017 to the Italian entrepreneur Alessandro Bastagli and Cassia Investments, and in December 2018 China's Lunar Capital acquired the brand, under which it has been described since 2020 as a core brand of the UTAN Group. David Tang's creation - the label that proved a Chinese luxury house could stand on the world's great shopping streets - continues under Chinese ownership.

← Back to the current Shanghai Tang profile