Long a symbol of motion, freedom and prestige, the horse has animated countless brand codes. For this year’s Chinese New Year of the Horse, a wave of luxury campaigns took the chance to embed new meaning into the galloping icon and use the occasion to honor traditions both local and universal.
Celine, among the first to roll out its activation, honored the occasion with a sweeping ritual — suspending more than 1,000 branded silk scarves from a hundred-year-old oak tree. Drawing on the ancient tradition of praying to venerable trees — seen as conduits between heaven and earth — the installation reframes the practice as a symbolic bridge between Eastern spirituality and Western luxury.
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The campaign, shot by Hong Kong photographer Kin Chan Coedel in the sprawling Lijiang alpines in Yunnan Province, also features a separate editorial with its Chinese New Year capsule collection, starring fresh-eyed models and Liu Shishi, the brand’s global ambassador.
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The iconic visual recently came to life in Shanghai, when Celine hosted a VIP dinner at Hotel Xing Guo, where a 140-year-old camphor tree stood in its manicured gardens, with thousands of Celine silk adorning its equally luxuriant branches.
Demna embedded his Chinese New Year wishes within a campaign dubbed The Gathering. The campaign is set in an atmospheric Chinese restaurant, with brand ambassadors Ni Ni, Song Weilong, Davika Hoorne and Hoorne’s husband Chantavit Dhanasevi vying for attention at a round table.
The unconventional family gathering mirrors that of “The Tiger,” the fashion film shot by Spike Jonze, starring Demi Moore, Kendall Jenner and more.
Loewe created an animated short film in collaboration with Shanghai Animation Film Studio. Paying homage to Peng Wenxi’s classic fable “Little Horse Crossing the River,” the story follows a young horse who sets off to fetch lanterns for the village and meets a deer, a platypus, and Wang Yibo, the brand’s global brand ambassador.
Special editions of the Puzzle and Amazona 31 cropped bags, adorned with hand-knotted fringes and tassels — inspired by a horse’s mane — animate the New Year collection, which also counts charms and dice in playful shapes of the endearing creature. Looks seen on Wang, including a leather overshirt, will be exclusively available in selected stores in China.
To activate the campaign, Loewe launched a lantern festival at Nanjing‘s historical Yuyuan Garden, featuring adorable mascots such as the whimsical platypus, a contemplative horse, and a slender deer.
In a similar vein, Dior tapped Danish animator Nina Gantz to create a tall tale about how a pony — with legs made of safety pins — sought to visit the moon with the help of clover leaves, a house symbol. The skit was dubbed by Dior ambassadors Deng Wei and Zhou Ye.
For Rimowa and Prada, inspiration stemmed from movement and the strong emotions associated with the energetic animal.
Rimowa’s storyline centers on Taiwanese actor Greg Hsu’s “unexpected urban journey,” which echoes the rhythmic gestures of traditional opera. Bridging cultural heritage and the spirit of travel, Hsu’s movement through the city is juxtaposed with that of Geng Qiaoyun, a distinguished Peking Opera master and Plum Blossom Award recipient, who is known for performing “Tang Ma,” a horse-riding technique in traditional Chinese opera, on stage.
British luxury brand Burberry began its Chinese New Year celebration way ahead of its peers — launching a series of campaigns in mid-December. Its star-studded campaign features brand ambassadors Chen Kun, Tang Wei, Wu Lei and Zhang Jingyi for the Burberry Year of the Horse collection, in a subtle nod to the cultural link between China and the U.K., Burberry also partnered with British hand-painted wallpaper brand de Gournay on window designs throughout stores in China and the Asia-Pacific for the holiday period.
At Prada, its triangle motif is Lego-ed into a horse-shaped sculpture that will take up residence at Prada’s restored mansion Rong Zhai in Shanghai, IFC Mall in Shanghai and IFS Mall in Chengdu. Dubbed “The Fire Horse,” the Prada character is placed at the center of the campaign visuals, which also feature Prada ambassadors Yang Mi and Ma Long.
To commemorate the launch, Rong Zhai will also play host to a series of physical experiences that make up “The Fire Horse Fair,” which will run around the time of the Lantern Festival, a festive day in early March that marks the end of Chinese New Year celebrations.
Miu Miu, Prada’s sister brand, will stage a similar offline takeover to celebrate the Chinese holiday, with a series of activations on Shanghai’s Donghu Road, transforming the entirety of the street with festive lighting. At Iapm, a shopping mall nearby, brand ambassador Lexie Liu will release a new Miu Miu Chinese New Year single, “Chun,” at the brand’s flagship and across multiplatforms online.
Liu was also cast in Miu Miu’s Chinese New Year campaign alongside Chinese actress Zhao Jinmai. The campaign, styled by Lotta Volkova and directed by acclaimed Chinese filmmaker Gu You, is set at the Gongwang Art Museum, a Brutalist landmark designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Wang Shu on the outskirts of Hangzhou.
Fendi, which produced a Chinese New Year campaign centered around its luxury toys collection dubbed BFF Charms, took to the streets of Wukang Road with a sequined pop-up.
With larger-than-life BFF Charms and its latest Peekaboo bag collection on display, the cozy scene also offers tarot card readings and seasonal coffee drinks for visitors.
Just as charm-obsessed, Polène reimagined its half-moon shaped Numéro Dix bag with a horse-shaped charm. The limited-edition style echoes the brand’s Mid-Autumn Festival Asia-exclusive, which came with a detachable leather rabbit.
Valentino, taking over another part of Shanghai downtown, celebrated the holiday with a lantern fair dubbed “Illuminate Your Dream.”
Held at the Shanghai Tianhou Palace, a historic Mazu temple along Suzhou Creek, the fair, curated by Rockbund Art Museum’s X Zhu-Nowell, took the form of an evocative exhibition of light installations designed by seven Chinese artists.
In a separate campaign, conceived by Alessandro Michele, shot by Julie Greve and directed by Marcus Tang, Valentino’s brand ambassador Lareina Song is seen alongside Chinese model Yi Fan in a vintage diner scene that evokes nostalgia and intimacy.
Bottega Veneta, in a just-as nostalgia-tinged campaign, brings together Chinese chef Qu Yuyu, Chinese actor Zhang Kang Le, Chinese swimmer and Olympic champion Pan Zhanle, Taiwanese actor Yo Yang, and Taiwanese cinema icon Sylvia Chang, as each of the featured talents shares a precious New Year’s ritual, singing along to the iconic Mandopop song “Sweet Honey,” or “Tian Mi Mi.”
First released in 1979, “Sweet Honey” was originally performed by legendary Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng. Its nostalgic tune became the inspiration for the 1996 Hong Kong romantic drama “Almost a Love Story,” starring Maggie Cheung and Leon Lai.
Balenciaga, depicting moments of shared tradition and excitement, tapped Taiwanese artist John Yuyi to create a Chinese New Year campaign featuring its youthful talents, including Chinese actors Ma Sichun, Yang Chaoyue and Chen Feiyu, and content creators JM and Tan Suan.
The Kering-owned Qeelin for the Year of the Horse reunited with the newly elevated global brand ambassador and table tennis world champion Wang Chuqin for an upbeat short film that celebrates the cultural resonance of drumming.
Shot in the mountainous region of Linfen, the birthplace of Jinnan Weifeng Luogu, a dynamic drumming style considered an intangible cultural heritage, the film featured Wang interacting with drum artisans and a powerful ensemble performance, in a bid to carry the cultural legacy onto the next generation.
Beyond spectacles, Chinese New Year is incomplete without subtle wordplay.
This year, the Shanghai- and Paris-based fashion brand Icicle’s Horse Collection draws on an ancient saying meaning “to rise swiftly to a higher position,” visually echoed through the motif of a bee and a monkey atop a horse.