Sarah Cheang is a regular speaker at national and international conferences, gallery debates, festivals and specialist study days, and she has published widely in scholarly books and journals. Her published work include ‘The Dogs of Fo: Gender, Identity and Collecting’ in Collectors: Expressions of Self and Other (Horniman Museum, 2001); ‘Women, Pets and Imperialism: The British Pekingese Dog and Nostalgia for Old China’ in Journal of British Studies (2006); ‘Selling China: Class, Gender and Orientalism at the Department Store’ in Journal of Design History (2007); ‘“Our Missionary Wembley”: China, Local Community and The British Missionary Empire, 1901–1924’ in East Asian History (2007); ‘What’s in a Chinese Room?: 20th Century Chinoiserie, Modernity and Femininity’ in Chinese Whispers: Chinoiserie in Britain 1650–1930 (Royal Pavilion Libraries & Museums, 2008); Hair: Styling, Culture and Fashion, co-edited with Geraldine Biddle-Perry (Berg, 2008); ‘Dragons in the Drawing Room: Chinese Embroideries in British Homes, 1860–1949’ in Textile History (39.2, 2008); ‘Chinese Robes in Western Interiors: Transitionality and Transformation’ in Fashion, Interior Design and the Contours of Modern Identity (Ashgate: 2010).

In 2009 she co-organised with Geraldine-Biddle Perry the conference ‘Hair Stories: Practice, Culture, Theory’ (Victoria and Albert Museum/London College of Fashion), a unique event that brought international scholars of hair into dialogue with artists, hair stylists, curators, and film and TV make-up professionals.

Sarah curated the twentieth-century section of the exhibition Chinese Whispers: Chinoiserie in Britain 1650–1930 (Brighton Museum and Royal Pavilion, 2008) and acted as consultant on Chinese embroideries for Japan-tastic: Japanese Inspired Patterns for the British Home, 1880–1930 (Museum of the Domestic Design and Architecture, Middlesex University, 2009–10).

Sarah received the Pasold Prize 2009 for the best article in Textile History and was subsequently invited to become a member of the Pasold Research Fund for textile history, where she advises on future strategy and referees applications. She reviews prospective articles and book proposals for Berg Publishers, Journal of Design History, The Design Journal, Fashion Theory, Textile History, East Asian History and Journal of Brand Management.