Expansion into a global brand, and resulting change
The late 1990s and early 2000s were marked by change for Shanghai Tang. Tang wanted to turn the company into a global brand, and so his Hong Kong location was followed by 24 outlets worldwide over the years, including Bangkok, Beijing, Honolulu, London, Miami, New York City (1997-1999[11]), Las Vegas, Madrid, Paris, Shanghai, Tokyo, Singapore and Macau. They are often located in well-known areas such as Singapore's Orchard Road, Bangkok's Sukhumvit Road, and Shanghai's Xintiandi.[2]
Shanghai Tang's first American store was opened in New York on November 21, 1997,[7] and in 1998, the Swiss company Richemont bought a controlling stake in the fashion house.[12] However, the New York store, located on Madison Avenue, closed in less than two years due to lower-than-expected sales, relative to the high rent.[2] The store was moved to a smaller venue in 2001.[13][2]
In 2001, Raphael le Masne de Chermont, from the parent company Richemont, was appointed CEO of Shanghai Tang.[14] In addition, Joanne Ooi joined the company as creative director the same year.[15] As the chief executive, Le Masne de Chermont wanted to figure out a way to cater to both the Chinese and international market, remarking, "[Shanghai Tang was] too dependent on Western people visiting Hong Kong, and we needed to transform the brand into something mainland Chinese wanted to buy".[16] As part of the strategy to revitalize Shanghai Tang, Ooi traveled across the country, taking notes on Chinese culture. She then picked themes based on her notes that formed the basis of the company's seasonal collections.[10] Le Masne de Chermont and Ooi opted to transform the brand from 1930s Shanghai, into a more contemporary style that retained its vibrant colours from previous designs.
Shanghai Tang helped design costumes for the 2004 Yonfan film Colour Blossoms, starring Teresa Cheung.[17]
As part of their focus on the Chinese market, Shanghai Tang created the Mandarin Collar Society in 2007.[18] It is an invitation-only club to promote shirts with a mandarin collar as standard work attire in Asia.[19] Ooi left Shanghai Tang by the end of the following year to work for a biotech company.[20]
