We’ll always have Paris: Taiwan fashion house woos Asia clientele by showing in ‘the top fashion city in the world’
Despite being rejected by many international department stores for its Chineseness and high price point, Taiwanese label Shiatzy Chen, founded 40 years ago, will persist with Paris shows, while launching a leisure line online
In recent years, the New York, London, Milan and Paris fashion weeks have seen an influx of Chinese designers trying to make an impact with a wider audience.
Most of them are up-and-coming names just starting out, or labels that have been around for less than a decade. One of the first brands to decamp to Paris to show its collections, however, was Shiatzy Chen, a 40-year-old company founded in Taiwan by designer Wang Chen Tsai-hsia, also known as Madame Wang, which held its first show in Paris 10 years ago.
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Known for its Chinese-inflected pieces that cater to a loyal clientele of luxury shoppers in Asia, Shiatzy Chen positions itself as a luxury brand, defying the notion that the label “Made in China” can’t be attached to high-end products.
Its price point is on a par with that of most European luxury companies, something that often doesn’t sit well with the global customers Shiatzy Chen has been chasing after for the past decade or so.
Henry Wang, the CEO of the company and the son of Madame Wang, is quick to point this out when we meet just before the autumn-winter 2018 show in Paris. “Lots of international department stores tell us that they don’t like the styling, maybe because it’s too Asian, too Chinese. The price range is also high,” he says.
