Coming soon: Just Cavalli Cheongsam-Inspired Zodiac Dress

Just Cavalli cheongsam-inspired dress.

The standing collar, fitted silhouette and decorative throat closures reference the cheongsam (長衫; chèuhngsāam in Cantonese), a form of Chinese dress with a complex history closely related to, but not linguistically identical with, the qipao (旗袍; qípáo in Mandarin).

The distinction between the two terms is worth preserving. Cheongsam entered English from the Cantonese chèuhngsāam, meaning “long gown,” a term historically used in Guangdong and Hong Kong for the long robe worn by Chinese men. During the 1920s, its meaning expanded to include the developing form of women’s long dress. Qipao, meanwhile, became the name used for the women’s garment in mainland China.

Today, qipao and cheongsam are often used interchangeably, particularly in Hong Kong, but the words have different linguistic and historical origins.

The modern women’s dress took shape during a period of significant change in Chinese fashion in the early 20th century. By the 1920s and 1930s, Shanghai was an important center of its development. Shanghai tailors increasingly incorporated Western tailoring techniques, producing the more fitted silhouette now strongly associated with the garment. The cheongsam subsequently developed a particularly important history in Hong Kong, where an influx of Shanghai tailors in the mid-20th century helped establish a local tradition that continued to evolve in its own right.

The reference is explicitly present in Roberto Cavalli’s work. Vogue described his Spring/Summer 2003 collection as incorporating chinoiserie and specifically identified “curvy cheongsams” among the collection’s kimono, Chinese dragon and other East Asian references.

Cavalli returned explicitly to Chinese visual references for Fall 2015. Vogue reported that the inclusion of his Fall 2005 Ming-vase dress in The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s China: Through the Looking Glass helped prompt the direction of the collection. Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love was another direct reference, with the windowpane-check cheongsam worn by Maggie Cheung specifically identified as an influence on Cavalli’s designs.

Roberto Cavalli has also used the term cheongsam in the house’s own descriptions of its clothing, describing another design as a reinterpretation of the “classic cheongsam silhouette.”

This Just Cavalli dress is a Western designer’s reinterpretation rather than a traditional cheongsam. Its design vocabulary, however, draws from a specific Chinese dress tradition with its own history and cultural significance. Pieces like this are better presented with those references identified and credited rather than stripped of their cultural context.

Summary: The Cultural Traits of the Hong Kong Cheongsam

The Transition Period of Hong Kong Cheongsam: The 1930s and 1940s

Vogue: Roberto Cavalli Spring 2003 Ready-To-Wear

Vogue: Roberto Cavalli Fall 2015 Ready-To-Wear

The History of Chinese Cheongsam and Kwan Ka