It takes a couple of months to craft a quality qipao at HanartQipao and every piece is handmade by the 40 tailors in the workshop. [Photo by Gao Erqiang/China Daily]

But for Zhou Zhuguang, the founder and art director of the company, making qipao is much more than a lucrative business.

"Qipao is the future and perhaps also the beginning of Chinese haute couture," said the 54-year-old Shanghai native who is also the vice director of the Shanghai Fashion Association and the chief consultant for the Shanghai Qipao Association.

"If there is one country that can make haute couture that is as good as France, it should be China. This country has for thousands of years been pursuing perfection in craftsmanship regardless of cost."