Geneva — Richemont has sold Shanghai Tang, a Hong Kong-based fashion maker that was one of the first Chinese luxury labels to seek a global presence, to Italian entrepreneur Alessandro Bastagli. The Swiss company is ending a 19-year ownership of Shanghai Tang, which makes men’s and women’s clothing combining western and Chinese design influences. It is Richemont’s first sale of a luxury brand since it disposed of Italian penmaker Montegrappa in 2007. "The disposal of Shanghai Tang is a logical step," Rene Weber, an analyst at Vontobel, said in a note. "The brand was material in terms of neither sales nor profit." Shanghai Tang, known for form-fitting qipao dresses worn in Wong Kar-Wai’s 2000 film, In the Mood for Love, was begun by Sir David Tang as a bespoke tailor shop in 1994, and now has about 48 stores. While the brand benefited from turn-of-the-millennium buzz about China expanding its global cultural influence to match its prowess in manufacturing, it never caught on in a big...
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