Qixi festival, more commonly and colloquially known as Chinese Valentine’s Day, is celebrated every year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. The origins of the festival can be traced back to the Han dynasty, and it has been observed for over 2,000 years.
While there are multiple and varying iterations of the tale, it generally recounts the love story between Zhinü, a celestial weaver and the daughter of the Jade Emperor, and Niulang, a humble cowherd.
Despite the fact that the festival is seldom, if not ever, celebrated outside of China, a rising number of fashion houses have been releasing dedicated capsule collections in celebration of Qixi festival. This year, Chinese Valentine’s Day falls on Saturday, 14 August 2021, and most of the luxury brands have chosen to focus on the universality of love and gift giving. And, the good news is, edited selections of these collections have been released in Singapore.
In anticipation of the festival and celebration of love—which really, the world could use so much more of—here is Vogue Singapore’s round-up of the cutest and kitschiest highlights from this year’s Chinese Valentine’s Day drops.
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Dior Dioramour micro Lady Dior bag, $5,200, available at Dior boutiques islandwide
Inspired by fairy tales, Dior’s Dioramour collection is characterised by the incorporation of the heart shape into classic Dior designs.
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Dior Dioramour square scarf, $550, available at Dior boutiques islandwide
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Gucci Les Pommes T-shirt, $780, available at Gucci Paragon
Gucci’s Les Pommes collection for Chinese Valentine’s Day 2021 is a capsule of ready-to-wear options and accessories featuring an apple-and-heart motif.
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Gucci Les Pommes cotton cardigan, $1,950, available at Gucci Paragon
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Prada Cleo satin bag with appliqués, $4,700, available online
For Chinese Valentine’s Day 2021, Prada has released a capsule collection entirely accentuated with crystals. Highlights include a new iteration of the Cleo bag (pictured here) and an entirely embellished rhinestone dress in light rose.
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Prada rhinestone embroidered mesh mini dress, $8,100, available online
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Fendi small ISeeU Peekaboo bag, $6,250, available in Fendi boutiques islandwide
Fendi’s Qixi collection has been curated for Singapore to feature an edit of ready-to-wear pieces and updates on classic accessory designs with a reworked Karligraphy logo with hearts and dots.
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Fendi Cardigan, $1,450, available in Fendi boutiques islandwide
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Balenciaga fluffy Hourglass top handle bag, $2,490, available in-store at Balenciaga at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
Inspired by stereotypical gifts and paraphernalia associated with Valentine’s day (i.e. stuffed animals and cards), Balenciaga has released a cheeky and kitschy collection of fluffy faux fur accessories and options emblazoned with ♥ Balenciaga.
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Balenciaga Love socks, $160, available in-store at Balenciaga at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
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Louis Vuitton Fall in Love Sac Coeur in monogram, $3,800, available in-store at Louis Vuitton Ngee Ann City, ION Orchard and Marina Bay Sands Island Maison
Louis Vuitton’s curated Qixi capsule collection, appropriately named Fall in Love, comprises 3 handbag options, all of which feature a lipstick Louis Vuitton signature, and an additional lipstick charm for the OnTheGo tote.
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Louis Vuitton Fall in Love OnTheGo MM tote bag, $4,050, available in-store at Louis Vuitton Ngee Ann City, ION Orchard and Marina Bay Sands Island Maison
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Kenzo hat, $235, available online
To mark the brand’s first-ever Chinese Valentine’s Day capsule collection, Kenzo has released a line of wardrobe staples and essentials such as T-shirts, sweatshirts and hats in red, white and black. The collection features artwork in the form of handwritten translations of the word ‘Love’ in English, Arabic, Chinese and French.
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