Designer David Tang launches China themed store for the youthful rich
Entrepreneur David Tang has launched the first of a planned string of shops that target the mainland's youthful rich, writes Charmaine Chan
It is two days before the opening of David Tang's lifestyle shop in Wan Chai and he is in a feisty mood. Staff scurry about filling empty shelves, a table is missing its top, a newspaper advert needs to be finalised and profanity bounces off the walls. So when two expensively dressed tourists wander in off Johnston Road, lured by a faux fireplace and yellow floral armchairs, he booms in exasperation: "Hello. Who are you? We're not open yet. Sorry. Come back after Saturday, 5pm. And bring your money."
Whether the women will return is anyone's guess. But Tang is hoping his shop, which opened on November 16, will be a magnet for just that sort of well-heeled shopper - young, curious and mainland Chinese - ready to part with their cash for what he says will be a "different retail experience".
China recognises it cannot continue to be an exporting nation, that growth has to come from within
"It's not every day that you come to a shop where you find a sitting room, a dining room, a bathroom, a dressing room and a kitchen," he says, explaining the interior layout of Tang Tang Tang Tang, which occupies the ground floor of the heritage building that also houses The Pawn restaurant and bar.
"I've gone out of my way to create something fantastic - fantasy-wise I mean," he says. "It's a bit of a dream because I wouldn't expect a 25-year-old to have a flat like this. But the whole world is about aspiration, and ambitious people need to look up to something in order to get them going."
Judging by the shop's name, he might also be talking about himself, although Tang Four (for short) was apparently chosen because it is a play on the opening to Beethoven's Symphony No 5 ("Da Da Da Da", he sings in case the message is lost) and an amusing way to make people remember the shop.
It's hard to forget anything Tang does, least of all the fashion house that bears his name, Shanghai Tang, which was bought by luxury group Richemont in 1998.
