Chinese Craftsmanship Meets Western Luxury

Shang Xia

Much like its name suggest – a literal translation of ‘up and down’ –  Shang Xia is a luxury lifestyle brand of contrasts. Focused on the ancient Chinese values of harmony and balance, it charts a singular voyage between utility and extravagance, between historic Chinese design and modern Western sensibility.

Formed in 2008, as a collaborative vision between owner French luxury brand Hermès and artistic director Jian Qiong Er, the intent was to create a new, understated luxury label quite unlike any other – one that honoured traditional Chinese craftsmanship, but in a thoroughly modern setting.
 
Stepping into the flagship space is like entering another sphere of splendour and simplicity; into an ethereally light cocoon of precious objects. Every item of furniture, décor and clothing is handmade from refined and exquisite traditional materials like bamboo, jade and eggshell porcelain.

The Da Tian Di collection of delicately ergonomic Zitan wood furniture is at once modern and ancient; each bowl from the Shan Shui collection is entirely hand-carved from lustrous moss agate, each piece yielding a single, unique vessel, and entailing upwards of 80 hours of work. From luminescent, hand-carved jade necklaces, to architecturally sculpted Mongolian cashmere felted coats and wraps, heritage and subtlety are perfectly united, and China finally has a luxury brand to be proud of.