Iconic theater flagship of Shanghai Tang
By Patsy Yang |
July 21, 2013, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
'上海滩'位于国泰电影院内的旗舰店融合装饰艺术与摩登气息，继续书写"东方遇上西方"的传奇。
Sitting inside the newly opened Shanghai Tang Cathay Mansion, Raphael le Masne de Chermont, in his eclectic Shanghai Tang look, couldn't hold back his excitement about this new monumental home located in the heart of Shanghai.
"We had our first Shanghai Tang boutique in Shanghai on Maoming Road, and this iconic 1940s Art Deco cinema building, not far way from our first Shanghai store, is ideal for our brand," said de Chermont, executive chairman of Shanghai Tang since 2001.
He noted that the brand "started as a Shanghainese tailoring atelier," and "Maoming Road, originally named Rue Cardinal Mercier, was historically a famous street for tailoring in the 1930s."
As the brand's largest flagship store, the ambitious project was led by Shanghai-based architect firm Design MVW and offers multi-sensory shopping experiences in a sophisticated retail space of over 10,000 square feet, as an exciting showcase of the modern interpretation of Chinese heritage and culture. At the same time, the restoration respects the Cathay Theater's original Art Deco facade, while a new life is brought to the interior with a creative approach to blend Asian and Western aesthetics.
"We had 22 shops in China, but nothing big. We need to anchor our long-time presence and show scale in China, so this project is born. The iconic theater holds many emotional memories for Shanghai people,'' de Chermont said.
Shanghai Tang, beginning as a daring and colorful concept boutique in 1994 by David Tang, is deeply anchored in the tradition of Shanghainese tailoring. "The beautiful concept was a fantastic DNA for the brand and we have adapted the products to contemporary taste, making it more relevant and wearable so the brand would be well-traveled and relevant to the world-wide market,'' he said. It is now a well-balanced brand with 50 percent Western and 50 percent Asian customers.
"What really matters is that today's China is perfectly mature to adopt a premium international brand inspired by Chinese culture."
In the past 12 years, the challenge for de Chermont was to work against cliches about China. "We believe that China is beautiful and has a lot to offer. We believe in the positive thinking and the colors of China. The main challenge was the brand awareness and it still is."
The new collection for autumn and winter 2013 is created by a new team of designers with the brand image consultant director, Raffaele Borriello. "Our designers are usually Chinese origin but I don't care where they come from. What I'm looking for is the talent, who is ready to embrace their own culture, be proud instead of copying the Western world," de Chermont said. "The best is to have a team of designers with French and Italians bringing the know-how of fashion and luxurious glamor while Chinese bring their own culture. The mission of Shanghai Tang is to interpret Chinese chic, relevant to the modern world, and we don't copy. We stay with our own creativity."
Shanghai Tang was the first brand to pioneer "luxury China'' when there were no Asian brands that had an international presence at the time. With more and more brands starting to realize Chinese culture is worth branding, de Chermont is excited and believes there will be more coming.
"I always wanted to have more competitors so that we can have more voice. We've been alone in the market for 15 years and you don't want to stay in a niche. I'm not against Chinese luxury and premium brands but I'm competing with Western brands," he said. "I see the trend for affordable luxury like us, Tory Burch, Kate Spade ... Chinese customers are clever and they love to mix and match, which is a perfect time for us to grow even with the market declining."
De Chermont said Shanghai Tang was one of the first brands to launch e-commerce in the last 12 years, and e-commerce business grows 100 percent each year. They will launch a Chinese-version e-commerce website in next nine months. "In the future, you will have big flagship stores, a few specialty stores in provincial cities and mega online shops."
Sitting inside the newly opened Shanghai Tang Cathay Mansion, Raphael le Masne de Chermont, in his eclectic Shanghai Tang look, couldn't hold back his excitement about this new monumental home located in the heart of Shanghai.
"We had our first Shanghai Tang boutique in Shanghai on Maoming Road, and this iconic 1940s Art Deco cinema building, not far way from our first Shanghai store, is ideal for our brand," said de Chermont, executive chairman of Shanghai Tang since 2001.
He noted that the brand "started as a Shanghainese tailoring atelier," and "Maoming Road, originally named Rue Cardinal Mercier, was historically a famous street for tailoring in the 1930s."
As the brand's largest flagship store, the ambitious project was led by Shanghai-based architect firm Design MVW and offers multi-sensory shopping experiences in a sophisticated retail space of over 10,000 square feet, as an exciting showcase of the modern interpretation of Chinese heritage and culture. At the same time, the restoration respects the Cathay Theater's original Art Deco facade, while a new life is brought to the interior with a creative approach to blend Asian and Western aesthetics.
"We had 22 shops in China, but nothing big. We need to anchor our long-time presence and show scale in China, so this project is born. The iconic theater holds many emotional memories for Shanghai people,'' de Chermont said.
Shanghai Tang, beginning as a daring and colorful concept boutique in 1994 by David Tang, is deeply anchored in the tradition of Shanghainese tailoring. "The beautiful concept was a fantastic DNA for the brand and we have adapted the products to contemporary taste, making it more relevant and wearable so the brand would be well-traveled and relevant to the world-wide market,'' he said. It is now a well-balanced brand with 50 percent Western and 50 percent Asian customers.
"What really matters is that today's China is perfectly mature to adopt a premium international brand inspired by Chinese culture."
In the past 12 years, the challenge for de Chermont was to work against cliches about China. "We believe that China is beautiful and has a lot to offer. We believe in the positive thinking and the colors of China. The main challenge was the brand awareness and it still is."
The new collection for autumn and winter 2013 is created by a new team of designers with the brand image consultant director, Raffaele Borriello. "Our designers are usually Chinese origin but I don't care where they come from. What I'm looking for is the talent, who is ready to embrace their own culture, be proud instead of copying the Western world," de Chermont said. "The best is to have a team of designers with French and Italians bringing the know-how of fashion and luxurious glamor while Chinese bring their own culture. The mission of Shanghai Tang is to interpret Chinese chic, relevant to the modern world, and we don't copy. We stay with our own creativity."
Shanghai Tang was the first brand to pioneer "luxury China'' when there were no Asian brands that had an international presence at the time. With more and more brands starting to realize Chinese culture is worth branding, de Chermont is excited and believes there will be more coming.
"I always wanted to have more competitors so that we can have more voice. We've been alone in the market for 15 years and you don't want to stay in a niche. I'm not against Chinese luxury and premium brands but I'm competing with Western brands," he said. "I see the trend for affordable luxury like us, Tory Burch, Kate Spade ... Chinese customers are clever and they love to mix and match, which is a perfect time for us to grow even with the market declining."
De Chermont said Shanghai Tang was one of the first brands to launch e-commerce in the last 12 years, and e-commerce business grows 100 percent each year. They will launch a Chinese-version e-commerce website in next nine months. "In the future, you will have big flagship stores, a few specialty stores in provincial cities and mega online shops."
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