The iconic qipao celebrates its distinct fashion culture

A new exhibition at the Shanghai Museum brings to the limelight the iconic Chinese qipao (cheongsam), featuring pop singer Jeff Chang's collection and donated garments from socialite Chiang Shih-yun (1912-2016), also known as Aileen Pei.

Glamour and Modernity Beyond Shanghai is the Shanghai Museum's first large-scale thematic exhibition on artistic fashion apparel. The exhibition runs from Tuesday to May 5, and showcases 306 artifacts and sets of artifacts.

The main exhibits have been selected from the nearly 300 pieces donated by Patricia Pei, the daughter of Chiang, and Jeff Chang's vast collection. They are on display alongside objects borrowed from other institutions, including the Shanghai History Museum, the Soong Ching Ling Memorial Residence in Shanghai, and the Shanghai Auto Museum.

From the mid-1800s, Shanghai gradually developed into an international metropolis where Chinese and Western aesthetics and creative ideas merged, cultivating a distinct urban outlook and fashion culture. The qipao, with its body-hugging silhouette, appeared widely in magazines, movies and posters, becoming the signature style of Shanghai.

"Qipao is not just a garment but a wearable piece of history," Chu Xiaobo, director of the Shanghai Museum, said at the exhibition's opening on Monday. He compares the Shanghai-style qipao to a prism traversing time and space, refracting the brilliant radiance of China's 20th-century aesthetic evolution and cultural self-awareness.