Luxury Brands Bet On Prosperous 2025 for the Year of the Snake
Ushering in the 2025 Year of the Snake with style — and substance — luxury brands have been releasing Chinese New Year capsule collections and campaigns as early as December, jostling for attention and offering their takes on traditional Chinese garment design, or widely popularized as “New Chinese Style.”
As the folklore goes, the snake is viewed as a “baby Dragon,” and the clear-eyed, shiny-skinned animal was worshiped throughout ancient history as a creature that signifies hope, prosperity and abundance.
More from WWD
As the most popular snake-related myth in Chinese history, “The Legend of White Snake,” a love story about a snake-turned-lady and a mere mortal, entered the pop culture lexicon due to various TV and film adaptations. The Hangzhou-based tale was only slightly alluded to during Chanel’s Hangzhou runway show in early December.
For the Shanghai-based fashion curator Pooky Lee, “borrowing familiar folktales about snakes may achieve resonance and communication, but it needs to support the brand’s positioning and merchandising strategy to make it work,” said Lee.
“Smart cases include Dolce & Gabbana transforming an illustrated snake cartoon into the train that the Chinese bound home for the festival, or Prada’s clever lining up of silhouettes of brand ambassadors and friends in the shape of the snake tail,” Lee added.
With accessibility top of mind for many luxury players, Louis Vuitton went to town with its Louis Vuitton x Murakami collection and staged a neighborhood takeover on Shanghai’s Julu Road. Three colorful retail stops — including a retail space, a screening space and a café — visually portrayed the celebratory mood.
For a full week, from Jan. 1 to 7, fans braved the long wait for a chance to experience the three-part pop-up. For those with little patience, the extreme cuteness, including the most popular smiley flower-covered exterior at the café, was just as mesmerizing from street view.
At Dior, the Chinese New Year capsule was spelled out across different collections. At Dior, Kim Jones enlisted brand ambassador Deng Wei and models to appear in a campaign that featured the playful Dior and Kaws collaboration. Kaws redesigned the Dior logo into cursive letters that connect to a playful “magic snake” for menswear.
Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri opted to celebrate the occasion with some celestial charm. The gold and white collection highlights the Serpens constellation and extends to ready-to-wear and fine jewelry. In addition, a limited-edition Dior Grand Soir Automate watch features a mother-of-pearl dial and an opalescent snake with gold details.
At Bulgari, the Year of the Snake and its Serpenti collection were a match made in heaven. For the occasion, the brand brought the “Serpenti Infinito Exhibition” to Shanghai. The traveling exhibition included interactive artworks that attracted long lines at the tourist-friendly Zhang Yuan retail complex.
Establishing new traditions by honoring old ones has become a notable feature of Loewe’s Chinese New Year campaign. Following last year’s collection that paid homage to monochrome ceramics and jade, Loewe’s snake-themed collection was inspired by the ancient art of Chinese cloisonné.
By partnering with master Xiong Songtao, a Chinese Arts and Crafts Master and the youngest of six living masters of Chinese cloisonné, Loewe designed a set of necklaces with cloisonné pendants featuring the auspicious snake, monkey and cloud motifs. “Unlike traditional depictions of the snake, these are relatively cute and lovely,” said Xiong in a behind-the-scenes documentary.
Burberry is also jumping on the Chinese traditional craft bandwagon for its Chinese New Year campaign.
In addition to dressing global brand ambassador Zhang Jingyi, models Zhang Lina and Alex Schlab in red and tweaking the B logo as a petite snake, the brand teamed with one of China’s most celebrated bamboo-weaving artists, Qian Lihuai, for nine bamboo art sculptures, as well as a series of screensavers. It has been positively received by online spectators in China.
The sculptures served as a key element in the campaign, affirming the brand’s appreciation for craft. They will also appear across key flagships in China to help lure customers back to the store to discover the holiday capsule, which is more reasonably priced under the direction of chief executive officer Joshua Schulman. The price adjustment is paying off: several of the wool scarves are already sold out online.
Drawing inspiration from the local creative community, Prada’s “We, the Snake” campaign documents a winding row of people from a variety of disciplines who interact and bring to life this sign of the Chinese zodiac.
A new version of the Prada logo as a sinuous rope that surrounds the lettering grows a head and tail and turns into a snake made its debut, as well as an exclusive selection of ready-to-wear and accessories, which includes a leather top-handle cubic bag with golden hardware; a pared-back, minimal tote, and a shoulder bag with removable tricks.
At Miu Miu, Chinese New Year was all about “The Encounter,” which was the theme of this year’s holiday editorial. Shot in a Yi Lau Yi Cantonese tea restaurant, the campaign features a nostalgic setting with Northern China charms and looks modeled by Miu Miu brand ambassadors Liu Haocun and Zhao Jinmai.
To match the celebratory moment offline, Miu Miu hosted a series of pop-up events at tourist hot spots across major Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing. A vinyl record featuring a Chinese New Year overtune created by Lexie Liu, the singer and brand ambassador, and a lunar calendar horoscope manual are among the gifts offered at the pop-up.
Celine, which has launched its first Chinese New Year campaign since Hedi Slimane’s departure, looked into the ties between Shanghai and Paris. In the campaign “An Afternoon in Shanghai,” brand ambassadors including Li Gengxi and Sun Qian are seen posing in front of monumental structures that made up the Shanghai Science Hall, one of the largest French Renaissance-style buildings in the city.
At Bottega Veneta, the joyful celebration was staged at Liuyang in Hunan Province, which was the historic birthplace of fireworks and harks back to the Tang Dynasty.
Featuring brand ambassadors Yo Yang and Shuqi, as well as the beloved Chinese actor Fan Wei, who added a comedic aspect to the film, the campaign was shot by Wing Shya, who is known for his collaborations with Wong Kar Wai, as photographer and graphic designer.
Tapping into Mandopop nostalgia, the film was also accompanied by a remix of Stefanie Sun’s 2001 hit single “Green Light” by Belgian artist Le Motel.
Headlined by Chinese actress Zhang Xiaofei, Chinese actress and singer Yang Chaoyue, and model Bingbing Liu, Balenciaga’s Chinese New Year social media campaign was filmed in a Parisian apartment and unveils intimate monologues of the characters as they prepare to head out for the Chinese New Year celebrations.
Balenciaga’s capsule collection, which features leather jackets, T-shirts, sweatpants and accessories, are all adorned with a patched monogram logo with a washed and frayed finish.
Doubling down on the star power, Valentino tapped Mandopop queen Jolin Tsai and Chinese actor Sun Li for Alessandro Michele’s first Chinese New Year campaign.
This will be the year of the wood snake, or the cyan-colored snake, which meant brands were at liberty to explore colors other than the auspicious red.
Kering’s China-inspired jeweler Qeelin teamed with influencer Tao Liang, professionally known as Mr. Bags, once again for a limited run of Wulu Petite New Year gift set. Sold out within a minute of release, the set, priced at 14,800 renminbi, or $2,018, features a diamond-encrusted Wulu pendant with an Akoya pearl at the center, and a mini Mahjong set.
“Pearls are a very popular element in recent years. My fans are also very much in love with full diamond jewelry. It marks the first time Qeelin uses pearls in its jewelry design and is very special,” said Liang.
Samuel Gui Yang, a Chinese designer known for popularizing New Chinese Style, has teamed with Mo&Co on a capsule collection for its elevated Edition line.
“Green is emblematic of jade and wooden stones in Chinese culture. This time we were able to play with what we do best, with greens, reds, purples and pinks — but red was definitely the bestseller,” said Samuel Yang, one half of the London-based Samuel Guì Yang label.
“We also played with the concept of wrapping in our design, imagine a snake moving around the body,” he added.
M Essential, another leader of the New Chinese Style movement, teamed with British luxury wallpaper maker de Gournay to create a range of hand-painted wallpapers featuring auspicious motifs often found in a Chinese garden on silver-coated silk.
The design of 18 non-repeating scenes framed as screens will be unveiled at M Essential’s store in Shanghai’s Taikoo Li Qiantan during the festive period.
Lululemon is taking a broader view of the Chinese New Year period as it tapped Chinese singer Chris Lee, table tennis player Xialian Ni, and actor Ken Wu to appear in the short film “Back to Spring,” a season of hope, passion and vitality, according to the brand.
Lee, who shot to fame 20 years ago by winning a singing contest, said collaborating with Lululemon has allowed her to reflect on her journey and draw deep inspiration.
“Movement rejuvenates me — both physically and mentally. With every movement, my senses come alive, my heart finds balance, and I feel my inner spring return,” she said.
Launch Gallery: Year Of The Snake Chinese New Year Campaigns
Best of WWD
Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Solve the daily Crossword
