Redefining a classic: a cheongsam for the modern day

One of the most iconic images in Hong Kong cinema is Maggie Cheung walking past Tony Leung in Wong Kar-wai’s 2000 film In the Mood for Love. It isn’t the unrequited love between these two characters that most remember, or even Christopher Doyle’s remarkable photography. It’s Maggie Cheung’s cheongsam. This unique Chinese dress evokes a profound sense of romanticism: it inspires nostalgia for a bygone era and symbolises the simple and refined beauty of old Hong Kong.

In the hands of up-and-coming Hong Kong fashion designer Chocolate Tsang, this celebrated dress is reinvented for the contemporary age – and the contemporary wearer. Tsang’s fashion brand, Stand Tall D , is a call to arms. She wants us to “stand a bit straighter” – referring not only to our physical posture but also to our inner confidence. Her daring yet practical cheongsam designs are bringing this traditional Chinese garment into the modern era, connecting past and present, one stitch at a time.

How Tsang started designing cheongsam

“No one in my family worked in clothing but, from primary school, I longed to create things with my own hands,” Tsang says. When she became a teenager, she began learning the fundamentals of pattern-making, then further developed her skills as a student of Fashion Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Hong Kong. After she graduated, a friend who shared Tsang’s passion for the cheongsam and fondness for In the Mood for Love convinced her to apprentice under renowned Hong Kong tailor Yan Ka-man. This apprenticeship set Tsang on the creative path that ultimately led to Stand Tall D.

“Master Yan is 89 this year and still working,” says Tsang. “He’s a truly dedicated craftsman who’s responsible for numerous cheongsam designs – from early film costumes (including those for In the Mood for Love) to Miss Hong Kong pageant attire. His patterns are exquisitely fitted, creating exceptional visual effects.”

Under Master Yan’s guidance, Tsang immersed herself in 1960s cheongsam craftsmanship – something she considers a lost art form. The techniques required to create the cheongsam are some of the most challenging Tsang has ever encountered: “Intricate and multi-stepped, its difficulty rivals that of Italian tailoring.”

Tradition meets modernity

While Tsang adheres to traditional tailoring styles, she doesn’t feel constrained by the past or a sense of nostalgia or formality. Stepping into her Kwai Chung studio, one is immediately struck by the contemporary fabrics: vibrant vegetable patterns, whimsical planet and cat prints and designs inspired by Pantone colour charts. However, behind these avant-garde choices lies a profound understanding of the cheongsam as “a product of each era, reflecting the life and aesthetic sensibilities of the time”. She adds, “The patterns and colours we fancy today should be expressed through the cheongsam’s contemporary aesthetic.”

Stand Tall D customers can choose off-the-peg pieces or be measured up for a one-of-a-kind, bespoke design. Some of Tsang’s more memorable commissions have included being tasked with deconstructing a Japanese kimono and refashioning it into a cheongsam, as well as creating a piece for a drag queen. “That gave me a particular sense of purpose,” she says.

Personalised tailoring

If there’s a mantra that embodies Tsang’s creative ethic, it’s the desire to explore “the kind of cheongsam we would wear today”. Some of her designs incorporate pockets or feature modified mandarin collars, and she’s made cheongsam-inspired jumpsuits, all as a way of preserving the charm of vintage fashion while adapting it to meet the needs of modern women. “In bygone eras, both Eastern and Western clothing embodied patriarchal expectations of how women should dress to please men,” says Tsang. “I believe the modern cheongsam can be more comfortable, with pockets, trouser designs and even fitted-top or loose-bottom silhouettes that suit client preferences and lifestyle.”

Tsang emphasises the unique beauty of each individual: “Every body shape has its distinctive allure. Clothes should be designed for the body, not force the body to conform to the clothes.” Through this reimagination of what the cheongsam can be, Tsang’s able to help her clients realise and recognise their most confident selves. For her, the magic lies in creating garments that accommodate not only how we lookbut also how we feel.