The Year of the Snake Was Absurdly Stylish Before It Even Began
The Year of the Snake hasn't even begun and it's already off to the races. Lunar New Year 2025 technically begins on January 29 but the rollout began far in advance, as is often the case, with a vast spate of clothing and sneaker imprints angling to cash in.
Luxury labels and sportswear brands alike have created Lunar New Year capsules for as long as consumers who observe these festivities have remained a reliable driver of profits.
To be clear, that's not a bad thing. Nor are the collections bad, by any means.
It's just that these things, often created every year out of obligation to the bottom line, have a habit of getting a little formulaic.
So, what's especially interesting about the Year of the Snake capsules is how good they are.
This is perhaps due most of all to snakeskin's innate stylishness, which has made it a trendy touchstone for a couple years now, at least.
Thus, the 2025 Lunar New Year collections already have a stylish head start on prior propositions, like the Years of the Dragon and Rabbit.
Not that those themes are even all that much more challenging an angle, per se — last I heard, dragons are still pretty cool — but snakes and the related patterns are a cheat code for style.
And yet the year's participants are still innovating beyond the more obvious homages.
Yes, there are snake-patterned Jordan sneakers and Birkenstock sandals, but there's also the cleverly abstract "snakeskin" weave devised by Stone Island and Miu Miu's silver New Balance sneakers, affecting the glisten of snakeskin without making an overt reference.
They anchor a very sparkly and very red collection, as cool as anything Miu Miu gets up to these days (which is very cool, BTW).
Even more literal interpretations of the snake motif, like MM6 Maison Margiela's prints and Arc'teryx's embroidered serpent are objectively slick.
Snakes are such an obviously appealing design cue that it all just works.
Even the more casual interpretations from skate-leaning labels like Vans and Carhartt WIP are pretty darn cool.
Now, these are basically just daily drivers done up in the pattern of the day, which is hardly a novel concept what with all the brands constantly chasing the animalistic flavor of the day.
But the end result is cool enough — perhaps because the snakeskin print is itself still quite spicy — that you can't really argue with it.
I'm especially inclined towards the more adventurous stuff anyways, like Diesel's illustrative printed jeans, and especially Balenciaga's almost defiantly understated hoodies, which sidestep the snake theme and Lunar New Year's classic red hue.
Instead, they're merely distressed grey hoodies cut huge and accented with 3D Balenciaga branding.
I appreciate the desire to avoid following the herd because that's when the Lunar New Year offerings feel most authentic and, thus, more interesting.
And, though it looks like a rather conventional Balenciaga offering — and I mean that with praise, to be clear — it still upholds the motif with a campaign that "captures intimate moments reflected in mirrors as the talent prepare for New Year festivities."
If you're going to make a limited-edition line that's likely to sell out anyways, you may as well make it meaningful. At least in this case, even the most direct stuff looks nice, too.
