(Yicai Global) Dec. 27 -- Shanghai Tang Group Ltd. announced the appointment of former Salvatore Ferragamo Italia SpA [MI: SFER] creative director Massimiliano Giornetti to be its new design director, and plans to transfer its production to Italy.

Originating in Hong Kong, the basic design concept of the luxury Shanghai Tang brand comes from the Chinese cheongsam of the 1920s and specializes in Chinese styling. Italian entrepreneur Alessandro Bastagli and Hong Kong-based private equity firm Cassia Investment Ltd. acquired the brand in July from Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA [SIX:CFR], one of the world's largest luxury goods concerns.

Production in Italy will impart a more Italian flavor to the brand's design, using Italian-made silk for the fabric, but the brand must preserve its Chinese roots, Bastagli said.

Bastagli hopes to open a new chapter for Shanghai Tang and plans to revamp the brand with reasonable prices and high-quality clothes and accessories with Chinese style, he said.