Man of Tang meets the Big Apple
David Tang has discovered to his chagrin that even a formidable public relations machine cannot get past New York's finest.
And neither could scores of New York's shiniest - Manhattan's movers-and-shakers whose designer clothes and hairdos wilted in the rain outside the grand opening of Shanghai Tang last Friday as hundreds of others crammed inside.
At the insistence of his fung shui guru, Mr Tang chose an auspicious 6.18pm start to three days of festivities in what was undoubtedly Manhattan's social event of the weekend. But for many of those who had received invites but could not squeeze inside, it was something of an inauspicious start. Mr Tang, whose greatest publicity assets were the Duchess of York and his own ebullient self, was in some ways a victim of his - and his new store's - runaway success. So many invitees turned up that the police cited New York's tough fire codes and refused to let everyone in.
As the officers tried to disperse the crowd and urged guests to leave, Mr Tang emerged with a megaphone to thank everyone for coming and apologising that not everyone could guzzle the Champagne - or schmooze with VIP guests including Sarah Ferguson and actor John Tuturro - inside the trendy Madison Avenue boutique.
Things were hardly more sedate the next day, when Mr Tang secured the New York premiere of Wayne Wang's 1997 epic Chinese Box, or on Sunday, when he closed down the avenue outside the store for an outdoor concert by teenage violinist Vanessa Mae. But the weekend climaxed with a tasteful dinner for Mr Tang's closest buddies at Sotheby's, where the elite dined to the sounds of a specially-commissioned opera by Chinese composer Tan Dun.
The launch reportedly cost more than US$10 million (HK$77.3 million).
But now that the fizz on the bubbly has evaporated, what are the prospects for the expansion of the Tang dynasty into the tough consumer climate of New York and the rest of the US? 'He couldn't have come to New York at a better time,' said Karl Partale, a vice-president with Elle magazine. 'Some of the new Italian houses came here two years ago, and they are beginning to see the benefit. But Tang is right on the bubble and I see no reason not to be optimistic about 1998.
'If he has something to offer in the way of image and style, then it will work.' There is indeed something of an image, and it has already impressed the people who can make or break a fashion store - New York's fashion writers. Vogue's European editor Hamish Bowles is one of many who have returned from Shanghai Tang in Hong Kong with velvet Mao jackets which they have been parading at the city's social soirees.
'We're bullish on Shanghai Tang,' fashion analyst David Wolfe said. 'It's one of those wonderful moments of somebody doing exactly the right thing at exactly the right time. We've projected China as a major influence for 1997-98.' Mr Tang has capitalised on the initial warmth towards his products with a cascade of media interviews, ranging from Luxe, a new upmarket magazine which featured him on the cover of its premiere issue, to Newsweek.
But why even hire a PR firm when you have a close friend in Fergie? The duchess gave Mr Tang a massively lucrative plug in front of 40 million housewives on the Oprah show, talking at length about her friendship with Mr Tang and the new store - and then producing a Shanghai Tang bag and presenting Oprah Winfrey with a trademark Mao jacket.
With the Christmas season coming up, and with Americans hungry for the brash, primary colours take on Chinese culture which is being marketed by Shanghai Tang, the store may be set for a bumper opening.
Mr Tang has built his nest in the upscale fashion mecca of Manhattan - a few golden blocks of Madison Avenue where Calvin Klein, Barney's and other A-list companies have their flagship stores. Even in the most expensive city in the West, Mr Tang appears happy his Madison Avenue rent of about US$2 million a year is 60 per cent less than what he pays for his Hong Kong store.
'We make a good profit in Hong Kong so I am confident we'll make a good profit in New York,' he said, sitting in the 12,000 square foot riot of colour and sophisticated vulgarity that he designed himself.
'But we have to drag people in mentally and physically. That's why I've tried to create a place people will be attracted to.' He has been hands-on in setting up his US business: he was striding round the store while it was under construction, barking out orders to the workers while trying to balance his commitments to rub shoulders with celebrities and journalists.
'I find it absolutely impossible to delegate,' he said.
Immediately after the launch, Mr Tang flew to Las Vegas to discuss a site for a second store. He dismisses suggestions the store's upscale concept will not work in the desert Babylon which brought the world such monuments to kitsch as Caesar's Palace. And he has a list of other targets in the masterplan for world domination - Los Angeles, Dallas, San Francisco, and eventually, some South American cities like Rio and Buenos Aires.
His 'Made By Chinese' emporium is designed to transform America's concept of mainland products. In other words, out with the traditional 'Made In China'.
If Hong Kong's most famous cultural export has his way, Shanghai Tang will give US trade officials - already fretting over Washington's huge deficit with China - another case of indigestion.
