While the holiday season may be winding down, the festivities are far from over, with the Lunar New Year just around the corner. From travelling for family reunions to hosting festive dinners and exchanging gifts, the Chinese New Year celebrations are about embracing cultural traditions and new beginnings with loved ones. If spoiling them with the choicest gifts on this auspicious occasion is on your checklist and you’re looking for some exquisite pieces, especially for the travellers in your circle, read on.
Also, check out the top Chinatown destinations to celebrate the Year of the Snake.
Lunar New Year 2025: Dates and significance
The Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival, falls on January 29 this year and culminates around February 16, 2026. This year marks the Year of the Snake, symbolising reflection, transformation, and wisdom. It’s a time for introspection and personal growth, paving the way for new beginnings and a fresh start. The Lunar New Year is deeply rooted in tradition, with gift-giving holding significant meaning. It’s a gesture of wishing the recipient prosperity, abundance, and good fortune.
Also, check out our 2025 guide to the best places to travel in Asia according to your Chinese zodiac sign.
Chinese New Year shopping and gifting
Many luxury brands embrace the festive spirit of the Chinese New Year with limited-edition collections, offering unique and thoughtful gifts for loved ones. Fashion houses collaborate with various artists, while big F&B and beauty giants elevate their packaging with themed art. Thus, many such limited-edition pieces make great gifting options.
If you’re seeking truly unique and meaningful Chinese New Year gifts for travellers, shop from our specially curated gifting guide for various Year of the Snake-themed collections from luxury brands and design houses. These limited-edition pieces offer a touch of cultural significance and will surely be cherished by the traveller in your life.
Explore fashion-forward capsule collections from brands like Dior x KAWS, Burberry, Loewe x Xiong Songtao (a renowned cloisonné master), and Chloé. Their travel-ready backpacks, accessories, and outerwear, adorned with unique Lunar New Year motifs, will elevate any vacation wardrobe. You could also consider pampering your loved ones with luxurious beauty products from brands like Bobbi Brown, Laura Mercier, and Estée Lauder, offering limited-edition packaging with Lunar New Year designs.
The best, limited-edition Chinese New Year gifts for travellers
Dior X KAWS Rider 2.0 Belt Bag
Conceived by Kim Jones in collaboration with the renowned artist KAWS (Brian Donnelly), Dior’s Lunar New Year capsule collection offers abundant options for the globe trotters in your life. The collection features sneakers, various apparel pieces, different styles of bags, and accessories, including jewels, caps, scarves, sunglasses, and card holders. Fashioned in distinctive hues and patterns, the collection exudes a joyous and effervescent charm, further accented by the Dior logo reimagined with an undulating snake and a crossed-out eye (a KAWS signature).
The Rider 2.0 belt bag, crafted in navy blue jacquard cotton canvas and grained calfskin, is ideal for someone who enjoys hands-free travel. With the bag slung across their shoulders or tied around their waist, they can easily navigate crowds with essentials like a passport, wallet, hotel key, and smartphone intact.
Image credit: Dior
LOEWE Snake Earrings
Lightweight, minimal jewels that can be styled in multiple ways with most outfits are a must for everyone’s vacation closet. They minimise the need to carry many pieces, thereby making for a great travel packing hack. These versatile snake earrings, therefore, make for a great Chinese New Year gifting option, especially for travellers.
Made from gold-finished sterling silver, the pair features a snake embellished with a baguette-cut jade stone in the centre and crystals for eyes. The black enamelling further adds a dramatic edge to the design. It is part of the brand’s New Year capsule collection alongside other Year of the Snake-themed offerings, such as charms, scarves, rings, neckpieces, bags, and fashion pieces.
Image credit: LOEWE
Maison Margiela Lunar New Year Foulard
Maison Margiela has launched its latest edit featuring ready-to-wear accessories, bags, shoes, clothes and other leather goods to begin the Year of the Snake in style. While some pieces are made in evergreen designs, others feature Lunar New Year-inspired artwork, perfect for occasion-based gifting. One such pick we’ve shortlisted for your travelling loved one is this silk foulard that brings the nostalgia of the Snakes and Ladders game to the fore. Its print is an emblematic and playful blend of the game board graphics and the moon’s phases at the border.
The scarf is a stunning accessory for their upcoming spring vacations, as it can be styled in many ways.
Image credit: Maison Margiela
Givenchy CNY T-Shirt
A classic white tee is an unmissable travel essential for its versatility in creating various looks. To celebrate Chinese New Year this time, this graphic piece by Givenchy featuring a snake print is an excellent choice. Made from soft cotton jersey fabric with a crew neckline and short sleeves, it offers a relaxed fit and is ideal for both summer styling and winter layering. Because its pattern is not too Lunar New Year-centric, its longevity and timelessness are the cherry on top.
Image credit: Neiman Marcus
Chloé Snake Earpods Case
If you or your loved one constantly misplaces the ear pods and needs to ensure their safety, especially when travelling, the Chloé case should be your go-to. Crafted in grained buffalo leather, it comes with a long strap that lets you tie it to bags and denim loops. It is accented by a vintage gold brass snake charm and features a snap button closure to hold the case securely. It differs from the usual basic cases, making it a fun gifting option.
Image credit: Chloé
Fendi Lunar New Year Card Case
Whether one is a traveller or not, card cases are essential for all. Owing to their compact size, they can be easily stowed in small sling bags, fanny bags, or even pockets, thereby making the carrying of cash and cards on the go hassle-free. Made from fabric featuring Fendi’s iconic FF motif print, the case is equipped with a zipped pocket for cash and coins, four card slots at the back, and a small pocket on the front. The yellow Fendi Eyes appliqués on the front add a quirky spin to the piece.
Image credit: Fendi
Creed Lunar New Year Discovery Set
Mini perfumes are a boon for travellers as they are easier to carry and take up less space in luggage. Hence, a set of travel-sized fragrances that one can take on their journeys will never fail as a gifting option. The limited edition Eau de Parfum gift set by Creed, launched to celebrate the Lunar New Year, will be the perfect travel companion. It contains the brand’s three signature scents (Aventus, Millésime Impérial, Silver Mountain Water) in a 10 ml vial each. The luxe thematic packaging further elevates the appeal of the box.
Image credit: Neiman Marcus
Marshall Emberton III
A portable bluetooth speaker will always make for a great present for travellers, especially when it’s from the renowned brand Marshall. For the Lunar New Year 2025, the brand collaborated with a Beijing-based artist 野Dark Question to redesign the popular Emberton III speaker in Year of the Snake theme. Called the Woodsnake, it’s equipped with the classic key features including the Marshall signature sound, built-in microphone, more than 32 hours of portable playtime, True Stereophonic (360 degrees sound) and IP67 dust and waterproof rating.
Image credit: Marshall
Adidas Originals New Year Sweatshirt
Chinese New Year-themed wearables can prove to be another great gifting option and not just for travellers but, everyone. The Year of the Snake-inspired multi-hued sweatshirt by Adidas Originals in an oversized cut is one such piece. Not only can one wear this during the New Year festive get-togethers but it also promises to be a valuable companion for their upcoming travels owing to its versatile aesthetic and comfy fit. It has a unisex style and is fashioned with 100 percent cotton.
Image credit: Adidas
Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum
Yet another popular skincare offering that’s been re-envisioned for the Lunar New Year 2025 is the Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum. Known for its anti-ageing and skin-enhancing abilities, this product is considerably adored by the beauty industry and makes for a great gifting choice for everyone. So, if you know a traveller who always prioritises their skin health, the limited edition version of this cult product should definitely be on your wishlist.
Image credit: Estée Lauder
Bobbi Brown Gilded Gleam Eye Shadow Duo
This compact makeup kit by Bobbi Brown, presented in luxe Chinese New Year-themed packaging, is for people who desire a quick, on-the-go change of look anytime, anywhere. The set contains an eyeshadow palette with two metallic shades, an eyeliner, and a smokey eye mascara that helps one create a dramatic, party-ready look easily. It also won’t take up much space in the cosmetic bag.
Image credit: Selfridges
(Feature image credit: Rdne/Pexels)
Related | Where To Get The Best Bak Kwa In Singapore This Lunar New Year 2025
The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.
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FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Some of the things to avoid giving as Chinese New Year gifts include a watch or a clock, anything with number four or in sets of four, sharp objects, shoes, umbrellas and pears.
The first few days of the new year makes for an ideal time to give gifts to your loved ones.
Giving cash is one of the major traditions during the Chinese New Year. Hongbao (bright red envelopes filled with cash) are typically given to friends and family during this time as a symbol of good luck and fortune. It's a way of bestowing the receiver with good wishes and abundance.
Written By
Divya Arora
With an academic background in Public Relations, Divya has a flair for writing about topics spanning ..Read More
