Shiatzy Chen

Shiatzy Chen is a Taiwanese luxury fashion house established in 1978 by Wang Chen Tsai-Hsia and her husband, Wang Yuan-Hong. The business began as Shiatzy International Company Limited and developed into one of Taiwan’s best-known homegrown designer labels. Its design identity is often described as “neo-Chinese chic”: traditional Chinese silhouettes, textile techniques, embroidery, ornament, and craft references are reinterpreted through the construction, styling, and seasonal presentation associated with international fashion. The label’s product scope has included women’s ready-to-wear, menswear, qipao- and changpao-inspired garments, outerwear, accessories, footwear, and selected lifestyle products. A particularly recognizable category is its quilted winter jacket, frequently made reversible and offered in varied fabrics, patterns, color combinations, and decorative treatments. The company added menswear in 1987, including ready-to-wear changpaos suitable for weddings and engagement ceremonies. It later broadened its offer with accessories and furniture connected to its flagship retail concept. International development became a defining part of the brand’s strategy. In 1990, Shiatzy Chen established a Paris studio to study Western dressmaking methods while also serving as a training center for Taiwanese dressmakers and designers. A Paris flagship followed in 2001. After Harry Wang, the founders’ son, became chief executive in 2003, the company accelerated its mainland Chinese expansion, including a prominent Shanghai flagship on the Bund that opened in 2005, followed by locations in Beijing and Hong Kong. The Shanghai site occupied a restored historic building with interiors designed by Jaya Ibrahim. The company also operated a broad Taiwanese retail network through directly managed stores and department-store counters. Manufacturing and craft capacity expanded alongside retail. In 2007, the company opened a second factory in Shanghai, a 6,000-square-metre facility designed by Johannes Hartfuss. It was intended to accommodate more than 1,000 workers, including dressmakers and embroiderers, supporting the labor-intensive construction and embellishment associated with the label. Taiwan has remained the company’s principal revenue market, even as its clientele and retail presence have become international. Shiatzy Chen’s visibility in global fashion increased through its Paris activities. The house made its official Paris Fashion Week debut in October 2008 at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts and joined the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode in 2009. In 2010, it staged an exhibition of 100 flower-themed dresses at the Taipei International Flora Exposition and participated in the Hong Kong Museum of History exhibition “The Evergreen Classic – Transformation of the Qipao.” In 2017, it opened a boutique on Paris’s Avenue Montaigne, described as the first Asian brand on that avenue. Later initiatives included a Disney capsule collection in 2018 and a sporty spring collection inspired by the warrior figure Hua Mulan in 2020. The brand’s clientele has included Taiwanese public figures, business leaders, entertainers, politicians, and international celebrities. Its positioning rests on cultural translation rather than historical costume reproduction: Chinese visual language and craft are used as foundations for luxury ready-to-wear with an international retail and runway vocabulary. The company remains a privately held Taiwanese fashion business with no publicly documented stock listing or current financial disclosure in the supplied references.

Shiatzy Chen was founded in Taiwan in 1978 by Wang Chen Tsai-Hsia and her husband, Wang Yuan-Hong, a businessman involved in the textile trade. The operating company was established as Shiatzy International Company Limited. From its Taiwanese base, the label developed a fashion proposition centered on the combination of Chinese clothing traditions, textile craft, and modern Western construction. The company added menswear in 1987. Its offer included off-the-peg changpaos designed for weddings and traditional engagement celebrations, extending the brand beyond women’s fashion while retaining its connection to Chinese formal dress. Quilted winter jackets, often reversible and produced in numerous fabrics, patterns, and color combinations, became one of the label’s recognizable commercial categories. International technical and commercial development followed. In 1990, Shiatzy Chen established a studio in Paris. The studio was intended both to deepen the company’s understanding of Western dressmaking and to train Taiwanese dressmakers and designers. A Paris flagship opened in 2001. The business then entered mainland China after Harry Wang, the founders’ son, became chief executive in 2003. A major Shanghai flagship opened on the Bund in October 2005 after restoration work on the building. The interior was designed by Indonesian architect and designer Jaya Ibrahim. Further expansion included stores in Hong Kong and Beijing, while the company planned a much larger mainland Chinese network alongside its Taiwanese stores and department-store counters. Manufacturing infrastructure expanded in 2007 with a second factory in Shanghai. The 6,000-square-metre facility was designed by German architect Johannes Hartfuss and was intended to house more than 1,000 employees, including dressmakers and embroiderers. That expansion reflected the importance of skilled labor and decorative craft to the company’s product identity. During the same period, the label extended its catalogue into accessories and furniture, with these products offered through flagship locations in Taipei, Shanghai, and Paris. Shiatzy Chen’s international fashion profile grew through its Paris runway activity. On 5 October 2008, it made its official Paris Fashion Week debut at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. The event made the house the second Taiwanese design label identified in the reference material to officially show at Paris Fashion Week. In November 2009, the company joined the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode. The brand continued to use exhibitions and partnerships to present its design language. In 2010, it staged an exhibition of 100 flower-themed dresses at the Taipei International Flora Exposition, using what was described as the longest catwalk in Taiwan’s fashion business at the time. Some Shiatzy Chen qipao-inspired designs were also included in the Hong Kong Museum of History exhibition “The Evergreen Classic – Transformation of the Qipao,” held from June to September 2010. In the same year, the brand and Cha Cha Thé, a tea-culture business owned by Harry Wang’s brother Jack Wang, created an exclusive sales area at Galeries Lafayette in Paris and a tea lounge in Taipei. The company’s later retail development included a boutique on Paris’s Avenue Montaigne, opened in 2017. The reference material identifies Shiatzy Chen as the first Asian brand to open on that avenue. In August 2018, the label launched a capsule collection with Disney. In October 2020, it presented a sporty spring collection drawing on the figure of Hua Mulan. Wang Chen Tsai-Hsia used embroidery on cotton and introduced materials such as gingham, showing an effort to adapt the house’s craft vocabulary to a more casual and athletic collection. Shiatzy Chen has remained associated with Taiwan even as it has pursued international recognition. Taiwanese customers have been its principal revenue base, while its wider clientele has included public figures and celebrities from Taiwan, mainland China, Hong Kong, Britain, and other markets. The brand’s enduring proposition is to make Chinese aesthetic references legible within the global luxury-fashion system rather than treating them solely as historical costume.

1. 2020Hua Mulan-inspired sporty collection

   The brand presents a sporty spring collection inspired by Hua Mulan and experiments with cotton embroidery and gingham.

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2. 2018Disney capsule collection launches

   The label releases a capsule collection created with Disney.

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3. 2017Avenue Montaigne boutique opens

   Shiatzy Chen opens a boutique on Paris’s Avenue Montaigne.

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4. 2010Flora Exposition dress exhibition

   The brand presents 100 flower-themed dresses at the Taipei International Flora Exposition.

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5. 2009Membership in the Chambre Syndicale

   Shiatzy Chen joins the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode.

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6. 2008Paris Fashion Week debut

   The house officially presents at Paris Fashion Week at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts.

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7. 2007Second Shanghai factory opens

   A 6,000-square-metre facility expands production and craft capacity in Shanghai.

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8. 2005Shanghai Bund flagship opens

   The company opens a restored-building flagship on Shanghai’s Bund.

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9. 2003Harry Wang becomes chief executive

   The founders’ son takes the chief executive role and the company begins its mainland Chinese market entry.

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10. 2001Paris flagship opens

    Shiatzy Chen opens its first Paris flagship store.

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11. 1990Paris studio is established

    A Paris studio is created for Western dressmaking research and as a training center for Taiwanese fashion professionals.

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12. 1987Menswear line is introduced

    The company adds menswear, including ready-to-wear changpaos for weddings and traditional engagement events.

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13. 1978Shiatzy International Company Limited is founded

    Wang Chen Tsai-Hsia and Wang Yuan-Hong establish the company that develops the Shiatzy Chen fashion house in Taiwan.

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A Taiwanese luxury fashion house translating Chinese aesthetics, dress traditions, embroidery, and handicraft into contemporary international ready-to-wear.

• Women’s luxury ready-to-wearReady-to-wear1978

  The core womenswear line translates Chinese visual references into contemporary luxury clothing. Designs draw on qipao construction, traditional ornament, embroidery, patterned textiles, and other elements of Chinese dress while using international ready-to-wear techniques and seasonal styling. The line serves as the principal vehicle for the house’s neo-Chinese identity.

• Qipao-inspired dressesDresses

  Shiatzy Chen’s qipao-inspired designs reinterpret the close-fitting Chinese dress through modern fabrics, construction, decoration, and presentation. They have appeared in the brand’s collections and in exhibitions about the transformation of the qipao, positioning the style as a continuing design reference rather than a strictly historical garment.

• Quilted reversible jacketsOuterwear

  Quilted winter jackets are among the label’s recognizable offerings. Many are reversible and produced in varied fabrics, patterns, color combinations, and decorative treatments. The category combines practical outerwear with the textile richness and visual contrast associated with the brand’s broader Chinese-craft-inspired design language.

• Changpao-inspired menswearMenswear1987

  Introduced in 1987, the menswear line included off-the-peg changpaos aimed especially at weddings and traditional engagement parties. It extended Shiatzy Chen’s use of Chinese formalwear references into a commercial men’s wardrobe while retaining the house’s emphasis on contemporary fabrication and ready-to-wear accessibility.

• AccessoriesAccessories2007

  The company expanded beyond apparel into accessories as its retail and international operations developed. The supplied reference does not specify a complete current accessories assortment, but identifies accessories as part of the broader Shiatzy Chen catalogue sold through flagship-oriented retail.

• Furniture and lifestyle productsLifestyle2007

  Shiatzy Chen added a furniture line and related lifestyle products to its catalogue, with the reference associating these offerings with flagship stores in Taipei, Shanghai, and Paris. The expansion extended the brand’s aesthetic from clothing and accessories into designed environments and objects.

• 2020Hua Mulan sporty spring collection

  International

  The collection used the Chinese legendary warrior Hua Mulan as a conceptual reference while moving toward sportier silhouettes and fresher materials.

  Outcome. The collection demonstrated an effort to adapt the label’s Chinese cultural vocabulary to casual and athletic fashion.

  Source
• 2018Disney capsule collection

  International

  The house launched a capsule collection with Disney, bringing a globally recognizable entertainment property into its fashion assortment.

  Source
• 2010100 Flower-Themed Dresses Exhibition

  Taiwan

  Shiatzy Chen presented 100 flower-themed dresses at the Taipei International Flora Exposition in an unusually large fashion exhibition and runway presentation.

  Outcome. The presentation was described in the reference material as record-setting for the Taiwanese fashion business in terms of the length of its catwalk.

  Source
• 2010Cha Cha Thé and Galeries Lafayette retail collaboration

  France · Taiwan

  Shiatzy Chen collaborated with the tea-culture brand Cha Cha Thé on an exclusive sales area at Galeries Lafayette in Paris and a tea lounge in Taipei.

  Outcome. The initiative connected the fashion label with Taiwanese tea culture and created a cross-category retail experience in two markets.

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• 2017Open an Avenue Montaigne boutiqueStrategy

  The company continued to build prestige retail visibility in Paris, a key international fashion capital.

  What changed. The brand opened a boutique on Avenue Montaigne.

  Aftermath. The opening further positioned Shiatzy Chen among international luxury and designer labels represented in Paris.

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• 2008Present at Paris Fashion WeekProduct launch

  The label sought formal recognition within the international fashion calendar.

  What changed. Shiatzy Chen staged its official Paris Fashion Week debut at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts.

  Aftermath. The brand continued showing in Paris and strengthened its international designer-house profile.

  Source
• 2007Expand Shanghai manufacturing capacityStrategy

  The labor-intensive nature of the brand’s garments and embroidery required additional production and craft capacity.

  What changed. The company opened a second, 6,000-square-metre factory in Shanghai designed to accommodate more than 1,000 workers.

  Aftermath. The expansion strengthened the company’s ability to produce apparel and decorative work at a larger scale.

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• 2003Enter the mainland Chinese marketStrategy

  After Harry Wang became chief executive, the company pursued international growth beyond Taiwan and its Paris base.

  What changed. Shiatzy Chen began expanding into mainland China, including the development of flagship stores in Shanghai and later locations in Beijing.

  Aftermath. The company established a visible retail presence in mainland China and Hong Kong.

  Source
• 1990Establish a Paris design and training studioStrategy

  The brand needed greater exposure to Western dressmaking methods and a way to develop technical skills among Taiwanese fashion personnel.

  What changed. It established a Paris studio for dressmaking research and training.

  Aftermath. The studio supported the company’s later Paris retail and runway activities.

  Source
• 1987Add menswear and ready-to-wear changpaosStrategy

  The company sought to broaden its offer beyond its initial womenswear-focused business while retaining a clear connection to Chinese dress traditions.

  What changed. Shiatzy Chen introduced menswear, including off-the-peg changpaos for weddings and traditional engagement ceremonies.

  Aftermath. Menswear became part of the house’s broader fashion catalogue.

  Source

• 2020Shiatzy Chen presents Hua Mulan-inspired sporty collection

  The spring collection used the female warrior Hua Mulan as a source of inspiration and experimented with cotton embroidery, gingham, and lighter contemporary fabrics.

  Product launchProduct generation
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• 2018Shiatzy Chen launches Disney capsule collection

  The brand introduced a capsule collection developed with Disney.

  Product launch
  Source
• 2017Shiatzy Chen opens Avenue Montaigne boutique

  The label opened a boutique on Avenue Montaigne in Paris, described in the reference material as the first Asian brand on the avenue.

  Product launch
  Source
• 2010Shiatzy Chen presents 100 flower-themed dresses in Taipei

  The brand staged a large exhibition at the Taipei International Flora Exposition featuring 100 flower-themed dresses.

  Campaign
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• 2009Shiatzy Chen joins the Chambre Syndicale

  The company became a member of the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode.

  Other
  Source
• 2008Shiatzy Chen makes its Paris Fashion Week debut

  The house presented its first official Paris Fashion Week show at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts.

  Product launch
  Source
• 2007Shiatzy Chen opens second Shanghai factory

  A 6,000-square-metre Shanghai factory expanded the brand’s manufacturing and craft capacity, with space for more than 1,000 employees.

  Other
  Source
• 2005Shiatzy Chen opens Shanghai Bund flagship

  The brand opened a flagship store on Shanghai’s Bund in a restored building with interiors designed by Jaya Ibrahim.

  Product launch
  Source
• 2003Shiatzy Chen expands into mainland China under Harry Wang

  Following Harry Wang’s appointment as chief executive, the company entered the mainland Chinese market and developed stores in Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong.

  Other
  Source
• 2001Shiatzy Chen opens a Paris flagship store

  The Taiwanese fashion house opened a flagship location in Paris after establishing a Paris studio in 1990.

  Other
  Source

1. Shiatzy Chen