FAQs and Customer Support

What if I want to return a product?

We want you to be happy with your purchase. If you are dissatisfied with one of our products for any reason, just send it back to us, and we will either issue a credit or replace the item, whichever you choose. (If an item is out of stock we will issue a credit or substitute a similar product, your choice.) We will even repay you for your shipping costs, first class mail.

How do I ship a product back?

Please mail the product back, along with a note telling us why you are returning the product and your contact info.
Please include:

• Your name and address
• Your phone number
• Your email address
• The reason you are returning the product (so we can improve our products and service)

Send this to:
East West Classics by MeiLan, Inc.
44 Rutgers Road
Cranford, NJ 07016

If you want to talk, please call toll free,
1-800-503-9386

Is MeiLan your real name?

MeiLan was born Mila Tsang, in Middlesex, New Jersey. In 1985, after she had been studying Chinese painting and calligraphy in Nanjing, China for about 2 years, her painting teacher followed an old tradition and gave her the "painting name" MeiLan. Later, her calligraphy teacher gave her a chop, or seal, that he had carved with her new name. An image of this seal is in the black tipping on the back of each necktie, signed by MeiLan as she would sign a painting.

Where do your ideas come from?

MeiLan spent two years in Nanjing, where she studied Chinese calligraphy and Chinese ink painting. Later, she also lived in Osaka, Japan for two years and studied Japanese ink painting. (Her husband, our VP, taught English.) While living in China and Japan, visiting other countries of Asia, and on many trips back to visit family and friends, MeiLan has enjoyed visiting museums, galleries, gardens, temples, palaces and flea markets full of the many kinds of beautiful fine and folk arts that she has transformed into beautiful patterns on silk.

Also, a too-large portion of our family budget has gone to purchase books, prints and pieces of Chinese art in many forms, from which she gathers inspiration.

Some of the jackets mention "Hangzhou silk." What do you mean?

Several years ago, walking through the "Silk Street" of Hangzhou, one of China's famous silk-producing cities, we saw some very distinctive and unusual silk fabric. It is two-sided in an unusual way. One side generally is golden brown, perhaps with a jacquard pattern woven into the silk, but the other side is black or a dark, dark brown that is almost black, called a wax finish. It too shows the woven-in pattern.

All of these fabrics clearly were produced using old methods which made each piece unique, as the amount of die would vary between batches, and this variety is part of the beauty. The East Lake Kimono style jackets are made with this fabric, usually with the black side out for the body of the jacket and the golden brown side out for the trim, forming a "negative mirror" image to complement the body.

All of these fabrics are available in limited quantities (how much we can carry back), and generally, different patterns are available each time we visit, so that only about 5 or 6 jackets are sewn of each pattern. You will never "see yourself walking into a party" wearing the same jacket as someone else.

Where are your products made?

Our neckties and scarves are sewn in a factory in the city of Shengzhou, China, about an hour east of Hangzhou. All of our jackets and accessoriess are sewn by MeiLan, herself, in New Jersey.