After a year full of celebrity-laden and alcohol-fueled parties intended to push international fashion brands on us all, last week brought another with Yong Foo Elite hosting the fashion show for Shanghai Tang's Fall/Winter 2006 Collection, "Shanghai Redux." It was a good match of venue, clothes, crowd and of course free flowing champagne. The brand says Shanghai but is this really style from our city? The truth is, of course, not so simple. Founded in 1994 by Hong Kong business tycoon David Tang, it originally traded in well-tailored Women's Qipao, Men's Mandarin jackets and high-end Chinoise accessories. Walking into their flagship store in Hong Kong, you are struck with an immediate feeling of a spacious and ultra-luxurious version of a tailor shop on Mao Ming Lu. The Swiss luxury goods house Richemont purchased them in 1998 and in addition to 22 boutiques worldwide, they now have a French CEO and an Asian American creative director. Very East-Meets-West. The clothes? Shanghai Tang takes the most obvious artifacts from Shanghai and Chinese aesthetics and repurposes them in a luxury context. For this latest collection one sees Shanghai 1930's throughout. Fur and flapper fringe details. Fabric prints featuring the infamous images of Chinese calendar girls. This is Shanghai 1930 to the point of cliche. But the clothes are cut for a modern figure and more importantly feature fabrics and styling that the shop on Mao Ming Lu can't deliver. Shanghai redux indeed. Is this real Chinese fashion? Let the party pictures decide.
