The Designer

Brigid Pang’s passion for designing began when she was in primary school. At a young age of 9 years, she started making clothes for her dolls, hand stitching and machining.

 

After A’ Levels, she decided to pursue her childhood passion further by enrolling for night classes in designing and tailoring, and subsequently taking up an apprenticeship with a tailor, and eventually coming out on her own to supply designs to various boutiques. Her passion for design continued and brought her to a regional role, designing for a regional fashion brand and entering into fashion management, including dealing with departmental stores in local and regional markets (incidentally, she met her husband then, and today, they both run The Cheongsam Shoppe business together).

 

An offer for her to take over a fashion boutique came when she was in her 20s. Since day one she is determined to dress every woman especially those with ‘tummy’, plus sizes, ample shapes to still look good. So throughout her life, while designing & retailing clothes for more than 20 years, a thought always lingered at the back of her mind: how can I design clothes that are flattering in cut, comfort & fit for women of all shapes & sizes? At the same time, she saw the potential beauty of a dress that most women in Asia are familiar with–the Cheongsam. As a traditional dress, the Cheongsam has a shape and form that accentuates the elegance of women’s curves. Brigid saw that this had further potential to be modernized as flattering & functional, formal or casual–yet staying timeless and always in season, just as traditions have stood the test of time.

 

In 2003, Brigid decided to specialize in cheongsams, envisioning women to be empowered to be confident in their clothes as she will strive to design flattering cheongsams to various shapes and sizes. Seeing an opportunity to provide Cheongsams for a growing group of women who are modern, yet grounded in tradition, Brigid and her husband then opened The Cheongsam Shoppe’s first store in Holland Village, providing elegant yet modern cheongsams to women of all ages, shapes and sizes–changing the perception that you need a “perfect” figure to look good in a Cheongsam.