Prestige labels are ringing in the Lunar New Year with a series of campaigns, capsules and in-store activations.
Among the crop celebrating the Chinese cultural tradition are the British fashion label Burberry and Italian maisons Prada, Miu Miu and Gucci, with many brands abstaining from the Year of the Snake altogether. The decreased marketing activity follows a dip in financial performance within the APAC market in 2024.
“Every year with the Lunar New Year luxury fashion brands work to interpret that year’s signature animal into capsule collections and creative messaging themes,” said Daymon Bruck, chief creative officer at The O Group, New York.
“Sometimes the result is a clever concept that produces some beautiful designs and original creative content that also leverages larger topics of brand values,” Mr. Bruck said. “This year, the Year of the Snake, seems to have generated a very different approach for each of the brands who have participated.
“Some have been very successful and some seem like they are just going through the motions.”
Upholding Tradition
Prada was one of the first to unveil its holiday campaign, releasing “We, The Snake” in the final days of 2024.
In the marketing piece, the company takes the shape and concept of the slithering reptile and and transforms it into a symbol of Chinese community and culture. Creative director Ferdinando Verderi takes the animal’s coils and replaces them with lines of people, each of which hold a different role in society.
Prada’s launch lacks a corresponding capsule. Image credit: Prada/Oliver Hadlee Pearch
The film, shot by Chinese filmmaker Dorothy Sing Zhang, and stills, captured by British photographer Oliver Hadlee Pearch, showcase a multidisciplinary cast, displaying the breadth and variety of the country’s people in a nod to the meaning of the Year of the Snake in the Chinese Zodiac.
Among those pictured in the initiative are brand ambassadors, models, architects and historians. Regionally famous faces, such as actors Jia Ling, Li Xian and Ma Yili, appear alongside internationally accomplished athletes, such as Ma Long and Yang Shuyu.
With the campaign, Prada has reinvented its logo to incorporate the snake, which now replaces the iconography’s outer border.
Each maison activating for the special occasion is taking a vastly different approach to its promotional offerings, though they all have adopted the culturally significant aspects of the Lunar New Year celebration.
Miu Miu presents “The Encounter”
“This year, each fashion brand using the concept of the snake has done so in very different ways,” Mr. Bruck said.
“Traditionally the zodiac animal is used as a literal creative motif that shows up across the Lunar New Year capsule as customized designs which are applied to every item of the collection,” he said. “The shape and flexibility of the snake has been utilized this year by both Prada and Burberry as a way to reimagine their brand’s identity or monogram and has helped to make the snake theme even more ownable.”
Meanwhile, Miu Miu, owned by the Prada Group, is spotlighting traditional Chinese culture through a cinematic release and themed capsule.
The film, titled “The Encounter,” follows brand ambassadors Liu Haocun and Zhao Jinmai as they immerse and enjoy themselves at Yi Lau Yi, a classical, neon-lit Cantonese tea house. Directed by award-winning Chinese filmmaker Wei Shujun, the advertisement showcases an exclusive, limited-edition clothing drop as well.
The film was released on Jan. 8. Image credit: Miu Miu
Available online and in-store, the collection spans existing ready-to-wear, jewelry, footwear, eyewear and handbag designs, all reinterpreted with new colors, including several red shades.
Cultural Significance
Burberry similarly focused on cultural connections for its seasonal release.
The initiative is wide-ranging, including men’s and women’s capsules, promotional stills and regional retail activations. At the core of the campaign is a collaboration with Chinese artist Qian Lihuai, a master bamboo weaver.
The photography features actor and brand ambassador Zhang Jingyi. Image credit: Burberry/Walter Pfeiffer
Iconic design elements, such as the Burberry Check and B motifs, have received snake-inspired updates for the Lunar New Year drop, spanning outerwear, scarves, handbags, shoes and hats, among other apparel.
Mr. Lihuai crafted a series of nine bamboo sculptures for the maison, with several appearing in the campaign’s visuals. Dubbed the “‘Us” collection, the artist’s latest abstract work will adorn the window displays of the brand’s flagship stores throughout China in the coming months.
While luxury labels often use art to appeal to the industry’s core older demographic, the presence of prominent actors combined with the heightened connection to the nation’s cultural ideals could appeal to a more youthful segment of consumers.
“The mostly Asian audience who are the intended target for these Lunar New Year campaigns have skewed even younger than previous years, with Prada’s direction being the exception,” Mr. Bruck said.
“The most effective campaigns that are attempting to connect to this younger demographic by employing the ideas of romance, joy, bonding with friends, fantasy and even the traditional representation of family.”
French fashion label Kenzo is also releasing a themed capsule for the holiday. Image credit: Kenzo
This refocusing on younger crowds falls in line with Burberry’s recent push to overhaul its business strategy (see story) as the brand attempts to recover from the ongoing luxury slowdown, driven heavily by declining engagement within the APAC region, particularly in China. Many other industry titans are enacting comparable business plans in the new year.
Gucci is looking for a similar result from its Year of the Snake advertisements (see story), which feature Chinese actors Xiao Zhan and Ni Ni, two youthful and influential stars within the waning market.
Meanwhile, other luxury mainstays have pulled back from Lunar New Year marketing. Companies that have activated for the occasion in years past (see story), such as Spanish fashion brand Loewe, Italian fashion house Fendi, LVMH-owned Cognac brand Hennessy and Swiss watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen, among others, have either scaled back their investment in the cultural celebration or moved on from it altogether.
Original article published in Luxury Daily, January 13, 2025
