If Chinese men have established any fashion sense today, it’s been due not only to the arrival of many fascinating foreign brands, but also to a handful of Chinese menswear labels that paved the way long before western influences showed up. Goldlion – a name which carries a very strong and direct association with masculinity – may mean nothing to most readers in the west. It is in fact the most iconic Chinese menswear brand, established in 1968 in Hong Kong by Dr Tsang Hin-Chi.
Goldlion (www.goldlion.com) started as a family workshop for neckties, and began tapping the Chinese mainland market in 1984. It continues to expand its collection, and its growth into other countries. It was the first label to awaken Chinese to the concept of men’s formal wear, and it was not long before Goldlion became synonymous with luxury for many. Its necktie, which reached top sales among Chinese brands, was for years considered the trendiest and most desirable of fashion accessories.
About a year ago, I was asked by Goldlion’s very bright general manageress, Madame Hu Bing Xin, to redesign its concept store for the new upscale line Gold Label. I started by searching through the brand’s archive with my team, in order to find interesting elements to boost my creative input. I was not disappointed. I learned that the founder, besides being a very good businessman and philanthropist, was part of celestial history as well. In 1993, the Nanjing Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Science had decided to name a newly discovered asteroid, number 3388, the “ Tsang Hin Chi Star”.
(This is truly China for me – the strange but highly seductive mixing of business and romanticism, which is somehow a new, emotional way to do business. This is the side of China that the west does not know well, and the kind of attitude that keeps me deeply attached and in love with the place and its people. I always have been, so far as I remember, a dreamer. It is probably why today I can build a very serious business based on my capacity to build similar dreams for Chinese people.)
In 2005, Goldlion had also launched its logo into space, together with the rocket Shenzhou VI. There is truly something about this genture that reminds me of The Little Prince, the marvellous book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I first read it when I was seven years old, and it’s very strange but fascinating for me to see how I could return to it conceptually, through what I thought was going to be a very commercial job.
Today, Goldlion, the original iconic Chinese brand, has nearly 900 shops and counters all over China. With a newly appointed and very talented designer, it seems to be here for good – and primed to make Chinese consumers realise that they have an interesting alternative to foreign male brands.
