M+ x SHANGHAI TANG ‘Madame Song: Pioneering Art and Fashion in China’ Exhibition Opening Ceremony – Fashion Show on 27 July, 2023

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 5 August 2023 – On 27^th July, 2023, M+, Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District, invited over 600 guests to inaugurate the first-ever museum exhibition in the world dedicated to Song Huai-Kuei—widely known during her lifetime as Madame Song. The exhibition was open to the public on 29^th July, 2023.

At the opening ceremony, M+ collaborated with fashion brand Shanghai Tang to present a fashion show, inviting guests to reminisce on Madame Song’s lifelong dedication to promote China’s culture to the world. Synonymous with the idea of ‘East meets West’, Shanghai Tang paired up their imperial tailoring collection with Madame Song’s multiple identities—artist, entrepreneur, fashionista, and cultural ambassador. Shanghai Tang’s founder the late Sir David Tang was Madame Song’s good friend, making the fashion stunt even more meaningful.

Shanghai Tang showcased bespoke dresses and jewellery series which represent the possibility of promoting cultural exchanges. The celebrity models on the fashion runway that night included Angie Ng, Zelia Zhong, Moon Lau, Christy Lai, Joyce Ngai and more. At the show’s finale, Suhanya Raffel, Museum Director, M+, led celebrity models to cheer and celebrate the perfect opening evening. Representatives from the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA), M+, Song Huai-Kuei’s family members and sponsors of ‘Madame Song: Pioneering Art and Fashion in China’ attended the exhibition opening ceremony. During the event, Bernard Chan, Chairman of the M+ Board, Betty Fung, Chief Executive Officer, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, Suhanya Raffel, Museum Director, M+, Doryun Chong, Deputy Director, Curatorial, and Chief Curator, M+, and Dr Pi Li, curator of ‘Madame Song: Pioneering Art and Fashion in China’ and former Senior Curator and Head of Curatorial Affairs, M+ also dressed in Shanghai Tang to join in the ceremony.

Madame Song’s extraordinary story offers a lens through which the audience can appreciate the significant transformation of China’s visual culture after the country’s reform and opening-up to the world. Centred around the life and times of Song Huai-Kuei, the exhibition will feature more than 320 objects to narrate Song’s fascinating biography and her underestimated influence on transforming China during the period of reform and opening-up in the 1980s into a cosmopolitan and culturally diverse society today.

In July 2023, Shanghai Tang launched a pop-up store at The M+ Shop. In addition to showcasing the home items, clothes, handbags, and accessories of the brand, Shanghai Tang also selected a series of artworks and artist collaborated merchandise that are exclusively sold in limited quantities at The M+ Shop. SHANGHAI TANG+ pop-up space is featured at the shop next to the museum’s Artist Square Entrance, specially adorned with Shanghai Tang’s iconic fluorescent colours. Shanghai Tang believes that the symbol “+” represents the diverse and inclusive nature of the collaboration, pointing not only to the visual cultural forms that M+ has always conveyed, but also to a selection of designs carefully curated for the artistic pop-up. The brand hopes that the symbol “+”brings more potentials for fashion, art, lifestyle, and international cultural exchanges.

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About SHANGHAI TANG

SHANGHAI TANG was established by Sir David Tang KBE, in Hong Kong in 1994. The brand name adopts the transliteration of ‘Shanghai Bund’ in Chinese and humorously combines it with the English pronunciation of the founder’s surname ‘Tang’. Inspired by the romance and opulence of the 1930’s Shanghai Bund, Sir David Tang opened a Chinese-style tailor shop in Hong Kong dedicated to preserving the traditional craftsmanship of Chinese tailoring.

SHANGHAI TANG is renowned for combining unique design concepts with traditional Chinese elements. Innovative fabrication and bold colours are applied with traditional Chinese craftsmanship to create a new contemporary oriental aesthetic. Over the years, many international celebrities have favoured the brand including the late Princess Diana, Gong Li, Nicole Kidman, Kate Moss, and Sammi Cheng, to name a few. The brand pays attention to the importance of art to Chinese culture, and continuously collaborates with famous Chinese contemporary artists, such as Liu Ye, Xu Bing, etc., making art one of the core values of SHANGHAI TANG.

Today, SHANGHAI TANG is still leading the exquisite oriental lifestyle, adhering to the core concept of ‘Make Life a Party’. Through traditional Chinese designs, delicate craftsmanship, high-quality products and excellent services, SHANGHAI TANG has prospered into a recognizable Chinese brand and extends the allure of contemporary oriental aesthetics to various products and art collaborations. The brand’s product line includes bespoke tailoring services, ready-to-wear, accessories, jewellery, homeware and artworks.