Taiwan-based luxury label Shiatzy Chen was among the Asian brands, including Masha Ma and Uma Wang, that cancelled their shows during Paris Fashion Week because of the coronavirus outbreak. However, the label still found a way to present its autumn/winter 2020 collection – instead of holding a catwalk show, it invited editors and buyers for intimate meetings with its founder, designer Wang Chen Tsai-hsia , also known as Madame Wang, in Paris. Chinese and Asian brands that normally show their collections in Europe have been deeply affected by the outbreak of the virus . From disruptions to their supply chains to factory closures and flight cancellations, the weeks leading up to fashion week have been very tense for designers such as Madame Wang. “It’s been difficult for us, especially this season, but even though we cancelled the show we still want to push the collection. We came up with a new concept to show it by arranging one-on-one meetings with buyers and media,” says Madame Wang through a translator when we meet her in the brand’s showroom on Rue Saint-Honoré, in the heart of Paris. “When I have a show, everything is so hectic, but this is a very classy way to show the collection and, after all, isn’t this the way designers used to do it in the past?” Known for its East-meets-West aesthetic and celebrity fan base, which includes A-listers such as actress Michelle Yeoh, Shiatzy Chen is part of a successful family-run business group (Harry Wang, Madame Wang’s son, acts as CEO) that also includes Taiwanese gourmet brand Cha Cha Thé and the Taiwan distribution arm of French beauty company L’Occitane en Provence. When we sat down with Madame Wang in Paris, she and her Taiwan-based team had just wrapped up the look book shoot for the autumn/winter 2020 collection, which was inspired by the theatre world during the Baroque era of the 17th and 18th centuries. The clothes featured intricate details, luxury fabrics such as lace, and multilayered ruffles. “Our embroidery workshop is in Shanghai, so because of the coronavirus they haven’t been able to work, and it had some impact on us,” says Madame Wang while showing us some of the outfits. “Our production is between China and Taiwan and – for the time being – the Taiwanese team is taking over embroidery, too. Our fabrics come from Italy, so we’re very global. It’s complex to manage each part of the process and it’s been quite chaotic.” In recent seasons, some brands have been reconsidering the value of holding a catwalk show, which can be resource-intensive and is not as effective as it used to be at drawing eyeballs during the packed fashion week schedule. However, Madame Wang – who keeps a flat in Paris and travels to the city about six times a year – has no plans to stop showing. “It’s a long-standing tradition for us, and Paris Fashion Week is the top of the top so the show is very meaningful to us,” says Madame Wang. “If one day we were to stop showing in Paris, there would have to be a very strong reason for it.” While Shiatzy Chen has customers all over the world, Asia is still its main market. Recently, the brand has been experimenting with new ways to reach its clients in the region, where the spread of the coronavirus has brought China to a standstill and has deeply affected the retail environment throughout the continent. “We’ve been impacted by store closures and what’s happening in Asia, but our teams have been reaching out to our top clients in places like Hong Kong to show them our collection selectively. We send a lot of messages to our customers to express how much we care about them, because I feel that this is more important than the business right now,” says Madame Wang. “Every sector has been affected, not just us, so it’s not really just about business.” While Madame Wang expressed concern over the situation in Hong Kong – where the formerly thriving retail sector has been battered by nine months of protests and now by the virus – she explains that her brand does not rely heavily on Chinese shoppers travelling to Hong Kong, and has a strong local clientele. Furthermore, unlike other luxury labels that count up to nine stores in Hong Kong, Shiatzy Chen has only three boutiques in the city, which mainly target local customers who, according to the designer, have been loyal for years. In spite of her success with Asia’s elite, however, Madame Wang is aware that reaching fickle millennial and Generation Z shoppers is vital in a fast-changing market like Asia. “Getting younger is our objective now and a lot of our customers are very loyal, and their daughters, when they grow older, really appreciate our brand because it represents Chinese heritage but in a Westernised and modern way,” says Madame Wang. “We’re unique in the market.”