On Friday, February 12 we celebrate the Chinese New Year 2021, or Lunar New Year, which has always been one of the most important and heartfelt anniversaries in China and the Chinese community worldwide. However, for some years now, it has attracted more and more attention.
It is no coincidence that more and more designers are creating dedicated capsule collections for the occasion. Starting with Gucci, which enriches the collection dedicated to the famous robot cat Doraemon with a particular version explicitly designed for the Chinese New Year. Without forgetting the fun Furla cow print handbag, the Louis Vuitton themed vital ring, and the Moschino clothes on which stands a winking ox and the words “In Love We Trust“.
Especially today, when we celebrate the arrival of the lunar new year and the end of the annus horribilis del Topo. The one in which the infection began, precisely in Wuhan. The year of the Ox starts under good auspices. First of all because the bovine represents strength, determination, and honesty according to oriental culture. And then because the value of spending on luxury goods in China has grown exponentially, going from 38-39% of the global market in 2019 to 80-85% in 2020, according to research by Jefferies. The brands have readily intercepted data with fashion collections for the Chinese New Year 2021 that point precisely to the country.
A few little curiosities:
• Although the Chinese New Year is in winter. It is also called the Spring Festival. In Chinese Chunjie, it means “beginning of spring”.
• The period of celebration and celebration for the Chinese New Year lasts 16 days, from the eve until the Lantern Festival. For each day, there is a unique activity or particular taboos. At the end of the Lantern Festival, people begin to remove the decorations. A bit like our Epiphany.
• Ancient China was a predominantly agricultural society. Chinese New Year was traditionally a time when people prayed to the gods to make sure the next year’s harvest was fruitful. Today, things have changed, but prayer and offerings to gods or ancestors in temples are still meaningful ceremonies.
• Since the Chinese believe that the beginning of the year affects the entire course of the year, there are many superstitions and taboos relating to the New Year period. For the first three days of the year, cleaning or washing your hair is believed to “wipe out good luck“. Sweeping and taking out the trash symbolizes the removal of fortune from the house, so people don’t.
• Every street, house, or building where the New Year is celebrated is decorated in red. Red is the holiday’s primary color because, according to Chinese tradition, it is a bright color.
• For the Chinese New Year, most workers in China have 7-12 days of vacation, while students and teachers have one month of winter vacation. In recent years, some families have also used to travel together during the holidays. The Chinese New Year is a period of travel, a real mass migration. According to data from 2019, it is the largest annual migration in the world!
• According to popular belief, at the stroke of midnight in the new year, firecrackers and fireworks must be exploded to scare monsters and chase away bad luck. The next morning, the firecrackers are used again to welcome the new year, and good luck. It is common to hear firecrackers and fireworks exploding throughout the Chinese New Year celebrations. Today, due to pollution and safety concerns, many of China’s large cities have banned the outbreak of fireworks and firecrackers in the courtyards of homes within the town. Governments are trying to encourage people to participate in official demonstrations with controlled fireworks displays and complete safety.
