All around town, bright red lanterns adorn shopping malls, each complete with its own oriental set-ups, while festive music blasts throughout to add to the vibe. Even restaurants and hotels have gone full force in sharing their delightful yee sang platters and exquisite reunion menus. The highly anticipated Lunar New Year is indeed finally drawing near. If you haven’t found your CNY fits to welcome the Year of the Horse, look no further than these Malaysian designers’ exclusive collections, where traditional Chinese heritage is infused with modern luxury and style.
Fiziwoo
Fiziwoo and its sub-line, WooBrothers, present MUI and LAU, a Lunar New Year fashion collection inspired by Anita Mui and Andy Lau, two influential Hong Kong stars from the 1980s. Hong Kong’s golden era of pop culture shaped an entire generation, from a wide variety of cinema classics to popular TVB dramas showing on many household televisions to a domineering Cantopop scene. In many of these media, a recurring image of Hong Kong’s streets and surroundings is portrayed through vibrant neon signboards, contrasting amber-lit restaurants and warm tones that really set the mood.
Fiziwoo reinterprets that atmosphere into a palette reflecting the region’s tropical climate, which includes magenta, lemon yellow, and baby blue. MUI contemporarily tells the tale of Hong Kong’s golden age with architectural silhouettes and expressive colours. The draped waist reflects Fiziwoo’s signature form, while the pleats add texture and movement for the free-spirited modern woman. Meanwhile, brocade emerges as a defining motif throughout the LAU collection, paired with modern Hawaiian collars and colours like fuchsia pink as a modern reimagination of the traditional CNY attire.
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Yuleza
Threading traditional Chinese heritage through a fresh and elegant lens, Yuleza presents 风绣千祥, which means “a thousand blessings embroidered by the wind” – a collection featuring countless auspicious symbols stitched into the fabric and steeped in auspicious hues. Ancient architecture and nature’s harmony serve as the main inspiration, influencing visuals and design motifs. Meanwhile, auspicious symbols such as lilies, shi shi lions, pomegranates, peaches, and Buddha’s hand fruit are delicately woven to manifest fortune, protection, abundance, longevity, and renewal.
Balancing structure and fluidity, Yuleza’s Lunar New Year collection ranges from architectural tailoring to fluid, lakeside-inspired silhouettes, brought to life through advanced jacquards, hand embroidery, and sculptural detailing.
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Khoon Hooi
Khoon Hooi’s Bloom of Blessings collection dazzles with floral sequins cascading across qipao silhouettes. Each pastel-toned piece is a vessel of joy and prosperity, drifting between youthful playfulness and refined sophistication.
Brocades and satin jacquards dominate the collection, complemented by crystals, pearls, and hand-appliquéd lace adornments. Together, they shimmer as a wardrobe for women to step gracefully into a season of confidence, celebration, and spring.
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Rizman Ruzaini
Rizman Ruzaini introduces Scion of Saigon, a lineup of designs inspired by Ho Chi Minh City. The designers, Rizman Nordin and Ruzaini Jamil, expressed their enchantment with Northern Vietnam, a harmonised city where old streets and modern skylines meet. “Saigon has a soul unlike anywhere else in Southeast Asia,” they said during the preview.
The garments are heavily embellished with beads tracing around cinched waistlines and necklines. Meanwhile, the city’s landscape is embroidered on the fabric with gold threads. The silhouettes follow the body’s natural curves, fashioned from materials such as velvet and brocade.
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Behati
To honour Lunar New Year and Raya occurring only a month apart, Behati unveiled its joint collection called Cham Lunar Raya. The campaign was shot in Vietnam, a location fitting of the pieces, which are filled with lotus motifs, a symbol of rebirth as the flower blooms between yesterday and tomorrow – a concept synonymous with the Lunar New Year.
The collection also draws inspiration from across Southeast Asia. Batik Jawa from Indonesia is tailored into a qipao silhouette, while Sarawak’s Pua Kumbu is crafted into a Nyonya kebaya form. The result is a range of designs with a distinctive identity that is unmistakably Behati.
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Inisaya
Passionate about batik heritage, Inisaya’s Heirloom collection includes authentic and locally designed batik. Made for everyday wear, it’s a beautiful collection of wearable silhouettes and comfortable materials that could sustain beyond the Lunar New Year season.
Their Heirloom collection consists of three chapters where each references a different culture: porcelain prints, free-spirited phoenix motifs, and Peranakan heritage designs. Meanwhile, the colour palette borrows from the traditional Baba Nyonya aesthetics of soft pastels and vibrant hues.
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Melinda Looi
Kung Fu Hustle? We don’t think so. It’s Looi Fu Hustle. Melinda Looi draws inspiration from the action comedy that her late father watched every Chinese New Year. The bold collection celebrates laughter and chaos, with silhouettes and culottes mirroring the cult classic’s martial artistry and eccentric flair.
Cheongsams are reimagined in various ways. Some have a cowl neckline, while others are flared or raw-hemmed. Fabrics vary from light and flowy like satin to heavy and structured like brocade. The designer leans fully into her maximalist side for this collection, evident from the puffy sleeves, bold prints, and unique cuts.
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Maarimaia
Maarimaia injects its Aurelia collection with playful elements, from structured hips to statement bows. Unique embellishments adorn the fabrics, such as ostrich feathers, while skin-toned mesh is used between the neck and bustier area for a modest yet seductive illusion.
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