Alfred Sung

In four years, designer Alfred Sung has soared from relative obscurity as the owner of a small Toronto boutique to the most important name in the Canadian industry. He is fast becoming successful and influential to enter the United States market.

Sung was been thirty-five years ago in Shanghai to one of China's wealthiest and most aristocratic families. The literal translation of his given Mandarin Chinese name Sung Wang Moon, is "a door in the clouds." It is a phrase which could easily be used to describe the distinct of focus in the designer's clean and sophisticated apparel and accessories.

After his family fled Communist controlled Mainland China and re-located in the British colony of Hong Kong, the Oxford-educated Alfred Sung was encouraged to pursue his talent for drawing and painting. Despite the fact that he wanted to become an artist, his family sent him to the prestigious Ecole de la Chambre Syndicate de la Couture Parisicone in Paris to learn fashion design. After graduating from the progra in 1968 with high honors, he enrolled in New York's Parsons school of Design.

The essence of Alfred Sung's design philosophy is a total wardrobing concept, based on a collection of cooly sophisticated sportswear coordinates and complimentary accessories--updated classics that constitute the foundation for a polished and easy way of dressing. These understated silhouettes and refined colors allow a certain flexibility to mix and match pieces from a current Sung collection with those previous seasons.

In addition to the collection of designer sportswear that was launched in the fall of 1983. Alfred Sung introduced a line of coats and accessories that include belts, legwear, gloves, scarves and sunglasses. There is also SUNGSPORT, a collection consistent with the Alfred Sung look and feel, but decidedly more relaxed, adventurous and accessible in terms of price.

Alfred Sung recently opened a boutique in the new Copley Place (# 43 at 100 Huntington Ave. Boston).