{"id":15991,"date":"2010-09-20T08:47:55","date_gmt":"2010-09-20T16:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/?p=15991"},"modified":"2010-10-04T15:00:18","modified_gmt":"2010-10-04T23:00:18","slug":"hermes-launches-shang-xia-in-shanghai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/style\/hermes-launches-shang-xia-in-shanghai","title":{"rendered":"Herm\u00c3\u00a8s Launches Shang Xia In Shanghai"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Shang Xia, three years in the making<\/p><\/div>\n

Today in Shanghai, Jing Daily had the privilege of attending a media event hosted by Herm\u00c3\u00a8s\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 new \u00e2\u20ac\u0153created in China\u00e2\u20ac\u009d luxury brand Shang Xia<\/a>, the first-ever Chinese high-end lifestyle brand built from the ground up by a major European luxury house. Hosted at One Xintiandi<\/a>, a multi-floored hot-spot in the Old Shanghai style, Shang Xia was finally unveiled at a media event attended by Jing Daily as well as local and international publications like Noblesse, the Hong Kong Journal, Modern Weekly, Time Out and FHM. Also in attendance were the district vice mayor and representatives of Nike and HSBC, among others.<\/p>\n

At the unveiling, speeches were delivered by four individuals who have been key to the creation and development of the Shang Xia brand: Jiang Qiong Er<\/strong> (Shang Xia\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s artistic director), Herm\u00c3\u00a8s CEO Patrick Thomas<\/strong>, Japanese architect Kento Kuma<\/strong> (who designed Shang Xia\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first boutique), and fashion photographer Paolo Roversi<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Brand Unveiled<\/h3>\n
$\"Jiang$ <\/a>
Shang Xia CEO and chief designer Jiang Qiong Er<\/p><\/div>\n
Beginning the event, Jiang Qiong Er said that she has dreamt of building a brand like Shang Xia for 10 years, with the company itself being three years in the making. More than being just another brand, Jiang said she sees Shang Xia as a life philosophy. The name \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Shang Xia\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (\u00e2\u20ac\u009dUp Down\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in Mandarin) was chosen to express two opposing forces or sides \u00e2\u20ac\u201d yin and yang, extraordinary and ordinary \u00e2\u20ac\u201d that come together to strike a harmonious balance. Jiang went on to say that Shang Xia is an organic brand, which Herm\u00c3\u00a8s viewed as a seed, rather than just an acquisition, that it needed to nurture and help grow. So what made Herm\u00c3\u00a8s look to China in the first place? As Jiang pointed out, not only is China a great candidate for business and expansion, but Herm\u00c3\u00a8s found the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s long history of craftsmanship irresistable.<\/p>\n
After Jiang\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s speech, Patrick Thomas, the CEO of Herm\u00c3\u00a8s, gave further details about Shang Xia\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s philosophy and design. Shang Xia, Thomas said, is not a second line of Herm\u00c3\u00a8s, nor is it a copy designed for China. In terms of craftsmanship and creativity, Shang Xia is on par with Herm\u00c3\u00a8s, yet everything else is different. For the past three years, 20-30 people have been working on Shang Xia, with production completely localized rather than done in Europe. This, Thomas pointed out, is a way of supporting the local culture as well as traditional Chinese arts like weaving and porcelain making.<\/p>\n
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$\"Hermes$ <\/a>
Hermes CEO Patrick Thomas<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Thomas went on to add that we will not be seeing Shang Xia products sold at Herm\u00c3\u00a8s boutiques, or vice versa. Shang Xia is a wholly separate first line, which the company hopes to see expanding beyond the borders of China over time. Interestingly, Thomas said that the second Shang Xia boutique could open in France. Prior to the launch, the rumor was that the second store would be located in Beijing.<\/p>\n
Kento Kuma, the Japanese architect who designed Shang Xia\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s debut boutique, spoke next, remarking on the impression that Chinese craftsmanship has made on his work. Kuma said that his choice to sign on for the Shang Xia project was greatly influenced by his appreciation of Jiang Qiong Er\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s vision of old-meets-new, and of modernized tradition. Kuma said that he, like Shang Xia, hopes to promote Asian values in his work.<\/p>\n
Wrapping up the speeches, photographer Paolo Roversi said that Shang Xia represents more than just craftsmanship but also \u00e2\u20ac\u0153soul and love.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Decked out in a Shang Xia outfit<\/a>, Roversi said he is confident that the company will break through barriers and become a truly international brand.<\/p>\n
Next came the unveiling of some of Shang Xia\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s products, which have been kept under tight wraps over the past year. First came a small zitan<\/a> wood stool by Master Gu, the smallest piece from the Da Tian Di (\u00e5\u00a4\u00a7\u00e5\u00a4\u00a9\u00e5\u0153\u00b0, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Big Sky Ground\u00e2\u20ac\u009d) furniture series. This particular piece has perfectly squared edges with a rounded recess (which we find to be the trademark of Shang Xia) in the center. After being finished with sandpaper with a grit finer than toothpaste, the surface of this piece is as smooth as silk.<\/p>\n
The next Shang Xia item displayed was a traditional Chinese robe. Made of cashmere felt, the robe is created from a single piece of fabric with no cutting, and is completely hand-crafted \u00e2\u20ac\u201d almost, as Jiang Qiong Er pointed out, like sculpting a piece of clothing. Warm and comfortable with a silky smooth touch, this piece was created by two sisters from Mongolia.<\/p>\n
\n
$\"Jiang$ <\/a>
Jiang Qiong Er displays a zitan piece from the Da Tian Di collection<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
A unique ceramic and bamboo tea pot was then shown. Fired in 1380 degree Celsius heat to produce a pure, translucent white finish, the tea pot is then wrapped in .05mm thick bamboo weaving. Taking 10 days per pot to weave, the bamboo covering \u00e2\u20ac\u201d woven by bamboo master Zhang \u00e2\u20ac\u201d is, incredibly, free of joints, with the beginning and end of the bamboo strands completely imperceptible.<\/p>\n
Finally, Jiang Qiong Er displayed fine eggshell porcelain b0wls made by Master Lu from Jiangxi province, which measure only 2mm at their thickest point and, after careful sanding and shaving, only 0.5 mm at their thinnest. Perhaps more important to the design of these porcelain bowls, however, is the sound they make. So perfect in thickness and shape are they that each bowl has a distinct ring, which resonates evenly throughout the bowl.<\/p>\n
Attendees were then treated to a breathtaking video of the Chinese composer Dou Wei giving a performance using different sized Shang Xia porcelain bowls as instruments.<\/p>\n
The First Boutique<\/h3>\n
Following the media event at One Xintiandi, attendees got a first look at the debut Shang Xia boutique at Hong Kong New World Plaza (\u00e9\u00a6\u2122\u00e6\u00b8\u00af\u00e6\u2013\u00b0\u00e4\u00b8\u2013\u00e7\u2022\u0152\u00e5\u00b9\u00bf\u00e5\u0153\u00ba). Kento Kuma\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s design evokes the feel of an ice cave, with Shang Xia\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s full range of furniture, home decorations, clothing and porcelain displayed on bamboo shelves and wall racks. Pricing for most items is reasonable by luxury standards, considering the craftsmanship of the products and top quality of the materials used in their design, with sweaters retailing for 2125 yuan (US$316), jackets around 7400 yuan ($1,105) and shoes around 2200 yuan ($327).<\/p>\n
The Jing Daily team would like to thank Angela Hua and Jiang Qiong Er of Shang Xia and Patrick Thomas of Herm\u00c3\u00a8s for staging this exciting and important event. We feel that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll soon be seeing more major global brands follow suit in coming years and take advantage of the vast wealth of talent, long history of craftsmanship, and unique indigenous techniques in China that people throughout the world are just starting to discover.<\/p>\n
View additional photos of the Shang Xia opening at Jing Daily<\/a><\/p>\n
Herm\u00c3\u00a8s Launches Shang Xia In Shanghai<\/a> originally appeared on Jing Daily<\/a>, and is republished on Signature9 with permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jing Daily had the privilege of attending a media event hosted by Herm\u00c3\u00a8s\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 new \u00e2\u20ac\u0153created in China\u00e2\u20ac\u009d luxury brand Shang Xia, the first-ever Chinese high-end lifestyle brand built from the ground up by a major European luxury house.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6839],"tags":[3594,4509,3962,4508],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15991"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15991"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16176,"href":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15991\/revisions\/16176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}