Shang Xia's Timeless Modernity

Shang Xia is not your typical luxury brand; it’s at the forefront of a movement to rebrand the ‘Made in China’ label. The focus at their Hong Kong plaza store – their only retail outlet for now – is on modernising ancient Chinese craftsmanship, a philosophy that is reflected in the brand’s name. From the seamless coats sculpted out of felt in the steppes of Mongolia to the paper-thin eggshell porcelain bowls that illuminate with transparency in any light, a sense of lost artistry emanates from each of the brand’s 200 pieces. 

“There’s a Chinese phrase called cheng shang qi xia which means ‘Bring the past to the future’. All of this traditional artisanal craftsmanship, if we don’t appreciate it today, will stop at our generation,” says Jiang Qiong Er, Shang Xia’s CEO and Artistic Director. “The craftsman we work with are already 60, 70, sometimes even 80 years old. They are creating collection pieces for museums or making low quality souvenirs for tourists. Their products have no use in daily life.”

And while many of Shang Xia’s creations look gorgeous just sitting on a shelf, they are designed to be practical, like the tea set made of alabaster porcelain baked at dangerously high temperatures and swathed in woven bamboo with fibres just millimetres thick. When Jiang and her team found the master weaver in Sichuan province, he was working on a three dimensional elephant bigger than a person. Beautiful, yes, admits Jiang, but who needs a giant 3D elephant made of bamboo fibres? They asked him to apply his art to the tea sets, using the bamboo to isolate the heat from the tea from the skin, and he happily obliged.

“The real renaissance that we want to bring to traditional craftsmanship is to give it a new life with a contemporary aesthetic and Chinese style, like the furniture from Ming Dynasty or porcelain from Song Dynasty,” says Jiang. “If we can retranslate this beauty from those dynasties, we’ve created something timeless that can correspond to this life, but is inspired by history.”

And not just ancient history. The clothing line includes navy cotton Mao jackets brought into the future with hand-stitched red seams, a product that is actually made in India. According to Jiang, most of the goods at Shang Xia are made in China, but some have to cross international lines into neighbouring Asian countries.

“During the last several centuries, China exported a lot of its craftsmanship to neighbouring countries. And [these countries] didn’t have the Cultural Revolution, so some know-how was better-preserved in other countries, even though it was originally from China. Our mission is to go and find it again and bring it back to China.”

The most difficult part of Shang Xia’s mission isn’t finding the craftsmen; it’s bringing the past into the present in new ways and finding a new audience to accept the products. Or as Jiang puts it, “How can we keep preserving Chinese heritage while also innovating?”

A beautiful hand-woven cashmere qipao provides a glimpse into the shades of modernity Shang Xia is using to inspire younger generations to take an interest in China’s artisanal history, an imperative for the brand to move into the future. With products priced from RMB 500 to upwards of RMB 150,000, it’s almost as if Jiang is asking the country’s new wealthy class to become patrons of their ancestor’s traditional arts, which is why she’s happy that other brands are following suit and looking to the past for inspiration.

“I think China will enter a new era. The last 30 years have been about economic development. The next 30 years will be about conquering the world with culture,” Jiang says. “Shang Xia is only a part of the craftsmanship renaissance. The more people who join who promote the Chinese quality and culture, the stronger it will be.”

And the connection with Hermes? Well, that’s helped on the financial side as Shang Xia has no timeline to prove profitability, but for the most part, the French brand stays out of Shang Xia’s way, recognising that Chinese style and operations are completely different and offering advice when necessary.

“We keep one very clear principle: from the creative and cultural side, we are Chinese. [Hermes] tells what they think; they make suggestions. Then we decide.”

For now that decision means growing slowly. There are plans for a shop in Beijing and another in Paris, but Jiang is in no rush to expand.

"It all depends on a good opportunity. We have to find the right place to share Shang Xia with people. If you have a deadline, you have to make a lot of compromises on quality." And that just isn't Shang Xia's style.

1F, Hong Kong Plaza, 238 Huaihai Zhong Lu, near Huangpi Nan Lu. Tel: 6390 8899. Web: www.shang-xia.com