Illustration featuring two snakes on a red and yellow background.

Our favorite Lunar New Year 2025 brand collaborations

Ring in the Year of the Snake with these brand collaborations and collections

Whether you need some Lunar New Year presents for a loved one or something special for yourself, check out these special products.

Illustration by Ryan Quan

Words by Vandana Pawa

Countries across Asia, and throughout the globe, are preparing to ring in the Lunar New Year on Wednesday, with celebrations including a host of traditions—feasting with family, dragons and lions parading through the streets, and sharing gifts with loved ones, just to name a few. This coming year is the Year of the Snake, with this mascot for the year representing intelligence and creativity alongside cunningness and secrecy, and brands have definitely taken the serpentine aesthetic to heart. Whether you’re looking for a gift for a family member, or hoping to treat yourself this festive season, here are some of our favorite brand collaborations and collections for the Year of the Snake. 

Fashion

While many clothing brands have released capsule collections connected to Lunar New Year, few stand out in terms of uplifting AA+PI creators in the process. Aritzia’s 2025 collection is its fourth one collaborating with Asian artists to create limited edition designs that are relevant to the occasion. This year’s collection is designed by the Hong Kong-based illustrator Jessie Wong, and includes designs of tang yuan desserts, dumplings, tea pots, and fish, all inspired by her family’s holiday celebrations. “I really wanted to highlight how these traditions, even though they might seem routine to young people today, are actually so special,” Wong says in a press release. “Working on this project made me realize just how valuable and meaningful these customs really are, and I hope my art helps others reconnect too.”

Accessories are the name of the game this Lunar New Year, with popular eyewear brand Zenni offering an entire line of snake-themed spectacles. Whether you choose a pair of red glasses with snakes along the frame or a gold pair with slithering snakes as arms, you can score a special Year of the Snake-themed carrying case and lens cloth.

If you’re in the market for some festive watches, Swatch and Fossil have launched timely collections that celebrate this year’s mascot fashionably snaked around your wrist. Swatch launched two red and gold designs and subtle snakeskin prints for the festival, both of which are inspired by “embracing the power of flexibility.” Fossil’s collection is more forthright in its celebration, with bold snake motifs as the central theme for watches, necklaces, and brooches.

Lifestyle

Glasshouse Fragrances has launched a limited edition candle in a new fragrance in the wood family, The Wisdom Of The Snake, which has notes of orchid, citrus, as well as woody base notes of cedarwood and musk. The candle also comes in an exclusive ceramic vessel that features a bold and beautiful snake design inspired by the serpent spirit. Like the year’s mascot, Glasshouse Fragrances invites candle lovers to “shed old habits, embrace new beginnings, and absorb the harmonious wisdom, longevity, and energy the snake embodies.”

For the last three years, Marshall, a company that manufactures music and sound products like amplifiers, speakers, and headphones, has collaborated with an artist to create special celebratory red envelopes for Lunar New Year. This year, the brand took it to the next level. Beijing-based artist  野 DARK QUESTION—whose signature style includes bold, psychedelic visuals that reimagine retro Chinese label art—created a special edition of the brand’s classic Emberton speaker. This piece marks the first-ever official Marshall Lunar New Year memorabilia. The brand will also be taking Woodsnake 2025 on a global tour, with events taking place across China, in Paris, and New York, in hopes of connecting with local communities to celebrate Lunar New Year.

Artist collaborations are in abundance during this festive season, with luxury liquor brands Hennessy and Remy Martin also working with Asian creatives to design special packaging in celebration of the new year. Cognac brand Hennessy has partnered with Shanghai-based fashion designer Shuting Qiu to create a limited edition wooden giftbox and red bottle, along with a piece of original artwork that celebrates the transformative energy of the snake. As an homage to Qiu’s hometown of Hangzhou, China, which is known for its textile crafts, the designer utilized traditional weaving and embroidery styles to create a tapestry that showcases a serpent gliding through a fantastical landscape. Chinese contemporary artist Huang Yuxing collaborated with Remy Martin to create a kaleidoscopic painting featuring vibrant colors and a majestic snake that winds through mountains and rivers. The partnership comes complete with a limited edition gift box featuring the artwork. 

Beauty

Beloved bath and body brand Lush has launched a Year of the Snake collection, complete with a gold snake bath bomb, as well as gold and red snake-themed bubble baths, shower gels, and sugar scrubs. The brand also collaborated with China-based graphic designer and illustrator Cheng Peng to create a limited edition knot wrap, which the brand created to serve as a reusable wrapping alternative to disposable paper or plastic wrapping. “The inspiration for the illustration comes from Chinese paper-cutting art, which has a tradition of using paper cuts as decorations during the Chinese Lunar New Year,” the artist says in a press release. “I altered the proportions of the snake's head and body to give it a more modern and stylish appearance, while still retaining the decorative patterns and using continuous and repetitive forms to enhance the aesthetic beauty of traditional decoration.”

AA+PI-owned beauty brand ESW Beauty has named this upcoming year “The Year of the Glow,” and has released a skincare essentials set in celebration of Lunar New Year. The set includes a number of the brand’s signature sheet masks, as well as their matcha latte eye patches and guava mango lip treatment. The products are boxed up in special edition red and yellow packaging, and even includes a red envelope for prosperity as well as a zodiac fortune card. 

Published on January 27, 2025

Words by Vandana Pawa

Vandana Pawa is a Bangkok-born, Brooklyn-based culture and fashion writer. You can find her on Twitter or Instagram @vandanaiscool.

Art by Ryan Quan

Ryan Quan is the Social Media Editor for JoySauce. This queer, half-Chinese, half-Filipino writer and graphic designer loves everything related to music, creative nonfiction, and art. Based in Brooklyn, he spends most of his time dancing to hyperpop and accidentally falling asleep on the subway. Follow him on Instagram at @ryanquans.