PHOENIX RISING

The return of Shanghai Tang menswear

- JONATHAN HO

FOUNDED IN 1994, Shanghai Tang was a brainchild of anglophile Sir David Tang, an entrepreneur-socialite who envisioned a revival of traditional Chinese fashion and by making it relevant to a modern audience. Tang’s own flamboyance was interpreted with the brand’s bold use of colours and prints ‒ most iconically, the upturned sleeve cuffs of the velvet Tang jackets (唐装) with silk embroidered motifs. On 14 January, accompanied by the stirring soundtrack from renowned Shanghai-based violinist Mengla Huang, the brand celebrated Milan Fashion Week coinciding with Chinese New Year with a long-awaited debut at the 2023 Fall/Winter Milan Fashion Week.