To celebrate the Year of the Pig, assorted brands have launched capsule collections, from Louis Vuitton to, today, Gucci with a “Three Little Pigs”-themed campaign. As you might imagine when brands try on for size a specific cultural event, there is also room for some misappropriation, which Jing Daily pointed out in the case of Burberry’s capsule collection released last week. Which brands did it right and which missed the mark? COOLS investigates.
Gucci Gets Disney-Inspired
Gucci took a more playful approach to the Year of the Pig, with a collection using the original Walt Disney characters from “Three Little Pigs” that first appeared in the 1933 United Artists’ short film. Featuring an extremely adorable lookbook with piglets (not Gucci’s first foray into cute pig territory!), the 35-piece collection, with a lot of cartoon reds and bright blues, uses both the Disney pigs and an original Gucci pig motif. One standout piece is a cuff bracelet adorned with crystals and metal pigs with wings.
Louis Vuitton Kept It Classic
Louis Vuitton’s Lunar New Year capsule felt solidly Louis Vuitton—a classic, mildly edgy lineup of heart-shaped purses accessorized with hearts and lock-and-key hardware. I’m particularly enamored with the ballet-pink bag embossed with a rainbow-hued “Vuitton” written in brushscript. The pink rhinestone-bedazzled pig necklace is very cute!
Burberry’s 'modern' Chinese New Year ad campaign draws criticism in China https://t.co/S5OJYVvFsj pic.twitter.com/2ygrYlEDcU
— Channel NewsAsia (@ChannelNewsAsia) January 6, 2019
Burberry Creeped People Out
Burberry’s first Chinese New Year campaign did not have the intended effect of, as the label’s site stated, “family traditions and togetherness during the festive period.” The family-portrait style images instead incited social media comments like “Unhappy family, unhappy Burberry. No one is looking normal.” and “This is a group of people who plan to kill this ultra-rich grandma and keenly fight over her inheritance,” as one person wrote.
The portraits of a very serious-looking family, starring actresses Vicky Zhao and Zhou Dongyu, were reportedly “quietly removed” from Burberry’s WeChat campaign.
Moncler Told a (Short) Color Story in Black and Red
Moncler debuted a very streamlined and simple limited-edition capsule, with four pieces in fire-red and black. For women, there’s a red-knit bomber jacket and a sumptuous red-velvet Cercette jacket, both embellished with a jeweled red brooch. For men, there’s a black shirt with a somewhat unsettling pig design on the pocket and a black-and-white varsity jacket. It’s a relatively low-key assemblage, but also I didn’t realize how much I was missing a red-velvet bomber in my life until now.
