Chinese label Shanghai Tang sold to Lunar Capital group

By

Dominique Muret

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Dec 6, 2018

Alessandro Bastagli has thrown in the towel. The Italian businessman bought upmarket Chinese fashion label Shanghai Tang less than two years ago from the Richemont luxury group, and has now sold it to Chinese investment fund Lunar Capital for an undisclosed amount.

Through the family holding company Finalba, Alessandro Bastagli owns yarn manufacturer Lineapiù and A.Moda, the licensed producer and distributor of brands like Everlast, Dimensione Danza and Virtus. For the time being, Bastagli does not wish to comment on the sale of Shanghai Tang, but a source has confirmed to FashionNetwork.com the news that was reported by Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore.

In July 2017, Bastagli and a consortium of investors including the Hong Kong-based Cassia Investments fund and a UK investment fund bought the Chinese ready-to-wear label for an undisclosed amount. Bastagli was the Executive President of Shanghai Tang. Disagreements between Cassia Investments and Bastagli led the two to sell their majority stake in Shanghai Tang to Lunar Capital, the owner of several Chinese brands, chiefly in the childrenswear segment, as well as Italian high-end children’s line I Pinco Pallino.

With Shanghai Tang, Bastagli had embarked on an ambitious project, his intention being to transform a label that was chiefly known in Asia into an international brand produced in Italy. To do so, Bastagli developed a supply chain in Italy and invested in a lavish showroom on Milan’s prestigious via Montenapoleone, hiring Massimiliano Giornetti, formerly with Salvatore Ferragamo, as creative director. Giornetti, who worked on Shanghai Tang from his Florence studio with a team of five designers, has also left the company.

Shanghai Tang was founded in Hong Kong in 1994 by David Tang, heir to an established Shanghai family. In 1998, Swiss luxury group Richemont bought a majority stake in the label, eventually acquiring full ownership in 2008. After Bastagli’s acquisition, the plan was to transform the label into a more Western-style luxury brand targeting a younger clientèle, from outside Asia too. But Bastagli didn’t manage to make more headway than Richemont did. Shanghai Tang’s elaborate, nearly baroque fashion and markedly Oriental style has failed to attract millennials, more inclined towards luxury sportswear and genuine designer clothes.

Shanghai Tang generates a revenue of €30 million and is chiefly distributed in Asia, via 13 directly owned monobrand stores and eight franchised ones, in China, Macao, Hong Kong and Singapore.