Hong Kong: Hong Kong businessman and socialite David Tang, known as the founder of international fashion brand Shanghai Tang, has died at the age of 63, it was announced yesterday. “It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to our founder Sir David Tang,” Shanghai Tang said in a statement.
Tang had recently invited friends to the Dorchester Hotel in London, where he founded the China Tang restaurant, for a “farewell party” after doctors told him he had a month or two to live, The Times reported earlier in August.
Born in Hong Kong and educated in Britain from the age of 13, he was the grandson of well-known philanthropist Tang Shiu-kin. The Cambridge educated Tang founded the high end fashion chain Shanghai Tang in 1994, known for its modern designs inspired by the traditional Chinese cheongsam, and later sold it to luxury group Richemont.
He also set up the retro-styled China Clubs in Hong Kong, Beijing and Singapore fashioned after the Chinese city of Shanghai in the 1930s.
Tang was also outspoken against the Hong Kong government. In a speech last year he called 2014’s Umbrella Movement, where tens of thousands blocked major thoroughfares to call for democracy, the “single most significant political event” in the city since riots in the 1960s.
Described by media as one of Britain’s best-connected men, Tang was often seen partying with the likes of Kate Moss and calls Prince Charles a friend. He is survived by a daughter Victoria and son David Tang Jr. from both his marriages.
