is it lunar new year...or is it just red?
reviewing 8 noteworthy designer LNY collections—from miu miu's bootleg wong kar wai video to acne studios' fortune cookie bag.
Hi everyone!
Happy Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year to all those who celebrate. I’m wishing you all health, happiness and abundance.
This weekend my family celebrated with a classic Cantonese banquet dinner. I savored all my favorite dishes—ginger scallion lobster noodle, garlicky pea shoots, braised egg tofu (the only way I like to eat tofu). We also played a game that involved spinning the Lazy Susan to win a prize…I unfortunately spun it with a bit too much enthusiasm, sending the lobster head flying towards my relatives.
Today I’ll be rating some noteworthy Lunar New Year designer collections.
It is not an exhaustive list, there are too many to keep track of nowadays.
It’s fun to treat LNY collections like a Project Runway challenge where I get to play at being Nina Garcia. Engaging with fashion as an observer and critic, rather than a shopper. The prompt is Year of the Snake/Lunar New Year. Each designer must create a collection based on this theme while maintaining their brand identity.
Who will blow us away with their creativity? Who will give us a snoozefest of red sweatshirts?
Designers, begin!
*Tim Gunn clap*
Bottega
First of all, Bottega actually hired a Wong Kar Wai film alum (photographer Wing Shya) to create their campaign video. Points for artistic commitment. It starts with a vibey green-lit tunnel that looks straight out of Fallen Angels. Lots of young urban (rich) cool kids prancing around restaurants and narrow alleys. It’s kinda giving Gossip Girl, set in Hong Kong.
Blair Wong and Chuck Bai spotted leaving dinner in Victoria Peak.
Ok now onto the products.
I love the direction they went in. This bag riffs on the interlocking leather pattern they are known for, and infuses just enough serpentine references to be on theme.
And I was really drawn to this jade sphere bauble adornment. They picked the right color for it.
Verdict: A strong collection. It’s cohesive, and manages not to feel costume-y.
Sandy Liang
If there is one thing Sandy Liang understands, it’s how to speak to the Asian-American fashion princesses. But I don’t think SL should be boxed in as an “Asian American” brand—let BIPOC designers be defined by things beyond their identities, etc—but I do feel that the brand connects to its audience best when it references the designer’s nostalgia for a Chinatown-adjacent childhood. Like, the imagery and styling for the LNY campaign was perfect (read the comments).
The collection is a mix of accessories, and signature SL uniform pieces in red (as expected).
The accessories are more interesting. It feels like they wanted to stick to the butterfly motif and incorporated snakeskin print to make it Year of the Snake, as opposed to leaning into a literal snake motif. One popular comment on the IG post expressed disappointment that there wasn’t a snake jade necklace, but I actually respect SL for sticking with the less literal butterfly. I cannot be sure if this was the intended reference, but it reminds me of the popular sugar butterfly pastries at Cantonese bakeries.
My guess is this will be the breakout star of the collection, because the girls go wild for SL jade pieces (like the Miffy Terminator) despite shopper reviews over the years that the jewelry could be of higher quality and durability (I agree).
Verdict: Best visuals and marketing, accessories have strong POV, but red uniform pieces could be more exciting.
Miu Miu
The webpage copy reads “be wowed by special tricks blending tradition and style” but immediately I don’t know what is supposed to wow me…
This red fleece?
This red colorway of the bag I’ve already seen on the internet a million times?
This collection felt very last minute, in terms of the products.
Upon deeper digging, I found and watched their LNY short film which is quite good. But for some reason, they don’t lead with it on their website. They should!
It also feels like a bootleg Wong War Kai film with lots of green and red color grading.
Verdict: It’s just red. The campaign storytelling and models sell the clothes, but I still find it conceptually weak.
Acne Studios
I like the fortune cookie shaped bag. This is a bag I would wear with Tabis for humorous effect. Actually, I think they did a great job retaining the style DNA of Acne—I can picture the girl who has an Acne Musubi bag also wanting this fortune cookie bag.
The rest is snakeskin printed stuff and “distressed” vibes that read like Taylor’s Reputation Era in the late 2010s. I personally do not see snakeskin print taking off this year because not enough time has passed for this to feel properly nostalgic.
Verdict: An effort was made, and they pulled off one hero item with the fortune cookie bag.
Loewe
Loewe is one of the most talked-about brands right now, and their LNY collections are always among the best, year after year. So I had high expectations going in.
The collection homepage greets you with a sort of contemporary dance video of a woman and a snake prop. Avant-garde, maybe a bit campy, too?
Scrolling past the first few products, the copy reads “this year’s collection pays homage to the ancient art of Chinese cloisonné, with jewellery and charms by third-generation enameller Xiong Songtao.” I appreciate their collaboration with artisans and how they educate shoppers on what cloisonné is: “a decorative enamel technique in which precious metal wire enclosures are shaped into patterns and motifs, and then filled with coloured glass paste.”
The collection revolves around the auspicious cloud motif. Like the classic Puzzle bag here with little clouds stylized in the cloisonné effect.
A cloud clutch expands the brand universe of surrealist-absurdist fashion objects.
There are snake-themed pieces, but the clouds are the star of the show.
Verdict: Loewe is doing what they do best—sophisticated surrealism.
Ralph Lauren
RL was honestly not even on my radar at first, but this polo bear lai see sweatshirt ($168) made me look twice. The red is sold out, but beige still has some sizes left. The appeal here is all in the novelty of the design which makes a basic sweatshirt more fanciful. My entire family would wear this sweatshirt during CNY.
Verdict: In 10 years this is going to be a $500 “rare lunar new year polo bear sweatshirt” on ebay.
Coach
No fancy campaign rollout here—mostly Coach basics in red and gold colorways. However, the canvas tote bag with snake script is quite charming. Props to whoever did the script illustration, it has that children’s storybook quality that is all the rage (ex: internet frothing for the release of the USPS Goodnight Moon stamps).
I think this needed some color contrast though, the all-red ends up looking a bit muddied.
Verdict: Right idea, but need to push it further for maximum effect.
Tory Burch
With all the love for Tory 2.0 on fashion Substack, I had to keep tabs on their LNY collection.
I do love that they booked Xiao Wen Ju for the face of the campaign. The Cut once called her “Unknown Asian Model Lands Marc Jacobs Spring Campaign” when she became the first Chinese model to be the face of Marc Jacobs for SS12. I’m sure you’ve seen her on Vogue Runway photos if not several covers by now. She’s pretty iconic.
As for the bags in the collection, I think they were designed for the Chinese luxury market in terms of aesthetic (TB has been aggressively expanding in China for years now). The pastel colors are more understated, and the thematic LNY elements come through in dainty gem embellishments. It feels like it’s speaking to a different customer than say, the pierced mules kinda woman—and that’s probably intentional. I could see a Chinese Gen Z girl buying one of these for her first finance office job in Shanghai!
Verdict: Tailored to the intended market, choice casting.
Honorable Mentions:
I just know the LNY Lululemon Belt Bag is flying off the shelves across Irvine and San Gabriel Valley stores this weekend.
I tried the Tower28 Red Bean Mochi Lip Treatment and didn’t think it really tasted like red bean mochi, but the formula is moisturizing.
Did you know Simone Rocha is part Chinese? Well, she is! And she’s spoken on drawing inspiration from her Hong Kong background in her collections. This year, she did a snake necklace for LNY but it feels underwhelming compared to last year’s very special item—a blood red egg purse.
I may earn a small affiliate commission on purchases made through links.
Do you celebrate Lunar New Year?
Which designer do you think had the best LNY collection this year?
Are there any collections you love/hate, not mentioned here?
Drop your thoughts in the comments.
Cupid’s help hotline is open! The next few newsletters will be about solving your Valentine’s Day dilemmas (from a question box on my IG Stories)—what to wear on a first date, where to buy silver jewelry for mascs, and what to send in a care package for your long distance Valentine.
xoxo viv
I teach a parent tot class, and one of my students brought red envelopes today for his classmates with chocolate coins inside 🥹 Someone else also accidentally also thought it was their week for the snack rotation, so we unintentionally had some abundance! I work in a really diverse school district, and it really warmed my heart to see 2-year-olds whose families are from China, Palestine, India, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and the US learn and celebrate together. Happy Lunar New Year! 🧧
The Sheng Kee tray flat lay is everything