In celebration of its 20th year as an ambassador of the Chinese aesthetic to the modern west – luxury fashion brand Shanghai Tang has lined up a series of collaborations with talented creatives due to roll out in the months ahead. Kicking off the birthday festivities is a limited edition capsule collection based on a series of six original artworks commissioned from the Shanghai born, London based artist, Jacky Tsai.

Taking inspiration from traditional Chinese blue and white porcelain – “Lotus Porcelain” transfers the original hand painted porcelain artwork by Tsai onto a series of delicate tableware pieces.

The resultant line, which reflects the company’s modern twist on the traditional Chinese aesthetic, ranges from striking qipao’s and pop-art dragon-clad scarves to delicate tableware and signed skateboards.

Jacky Tsai’s “Petrol Rainbow” piece was made using traditional Su Xiu embroidery on silk. Shanghai Tang translated the imagery onto the limited edition signed skateboard above.

Best known for a flower laden skull made for late British fashion designer Alexander McQueen, artist Jacky Tsai was born in Shanghai in 1984 and moved to London to study at Central St. Martins. Today, based out of London, Tsai’s work is characterized by his combination of traditional Chinese craft techniques with western pop art influences.

The “Carved Dragon” imagery was brought to life via the dying technique of lacquer carving. Treated in a pop art style, Shanghai Tang incorporated the intricate floral image onto a series of brightly colored lacquer wooden boxes and cashmere shawls.

In a recent interview with The Reserve, Tsai offered a little insight into his approach to the creation of the six original artworks for Shanghai Tang, “I used traditional crafts including lacquer carving, silk embroidery, hand-painting porcelain and a traditional Chinese painting style known as ‘guóhuà’. These are dying techniques; only a few people can still do them well… With my pieces for Shanghai Tang, I wanted to make people aware of these crafts. It means a lot to me to bring them back.”

“A Garden of Vibrant Dreams” – a journey through Jacky Tsai’s six artworks created for the Shanghai Tang collaboration.

The Jacky Tsai x Shanghai Tang collection is now available in limited quantities through select stores and online. He has also partnered with the online art specialists at Eyestorm, making the six Shanghai Tang artworks available in limited edition prints. For our friends across the pond, Tsai is also currently exhibiting in his first solo show at London’s Scream gallery through June 20, 2014.

Imagery & video courtesy of Shanghai Tang.