Lunar New Year

What the Southeast Asian creative community is wearing to usher in the Year of the Dragon

Lunar New Year is a traditional festival that many Southeast Asian countries have in common. In this edition of Occasional Obsessions, we look to creative communities within Myanmar, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia for a regional style round-up.

All Images courtesy of the contributors.

Cyii Cheng (@cyiicheng), Co-Founder of Ghostboy
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Yến-Nhi Lê (@yennhifromtheblock), ⅓ of Amsterdam-based collective Saigon Kiss
Saigon - Paris - Amsterdam

I'm at the showroom of At Kollektive x Peter Do here, conducting visual research for my upcoming Saigon Kiss (my Vietnamese collective) tết event that we're organising for the Dutch-Vietnamese community in Amsterdam.

Nhi wears a traditional Vietnamese áo dài.  Photos from Saigon Kiss tết event.

Try Sutrisno (@shinosjournal), Fashion Stylist and Editor-in-Chief of PEARS Magazine
Jakarta, Indonesia

I actually don’t celebrate Chinese New Year, but since many of my loved ones do, I know that the dress code is quite a thing for the celebration, especially when it comes to the colour. I opted for this gold look from Simone Rocha, which I’m obsessed with, but haven’t had the perfect occasion to wear it yet. Since gold is the colour of prosperity, I feel that going in as a gold ingot/sycee will amplify my fortune and everyone’s around me. 🤞

Nathanael Ng (@wolfboynat), Dancer, Organiser at Baby Boy Party and ⅓ of Whatamashup
Singapore 

Swannie Dean (@swanniedean), Fashion Stylist
Yangon, Myanmar

I was getting ready to go to a New Year’s party with my queer friends and wore this top from nri (@nri.ygn) because it reminded me of dragon scales.

Zicky Le (@zickyf.le), Photographer
Yangon, Myanmar

Saima (@saimalmao), Model (Misc. Management) 
Singapore 

Lunar New Year celebrations with my friends at school! 

Supported by Misc. Creative Support Program (@miscmanagement).

Alley (@alleytt), Model (Misc. Management) 
Singapore 

Fun fact: I made these earrings I'm wearing.  They are made of kunzite for emotional balance, which is the vibe for me this dragon year. 

Supported by Misc. Creative Support Program (@miscmanagement).

Ekene (@ken.chukwu), Model (Persona Management) 
Jakarta, Indonesia

Hello! My name is Ekene and my mom’s family is half Chinese and half Indonesian. Basically, when it comes to this season, red is ong which means bringing fortune and joy. Of course I had to bring a handbag to store all my ang pao (red packets).

Pika (@pikakumara), Model (Persona Management) 
Jakarta, Indonesia

I’m wearing a top borrowed from my mom as I only have black clothes. Even though our family is small, we still hold fast to the motto of “yang penting kumpul”, or the important thing is to gather. 

Deborah (@deborahwangsaputri), Photographer and Co-founder of Rubber Time Journal
Jakarta, Indonesia

Yasmin (@yasmiin.ng), DJ and Co-founder of Maycaighe Space
Saigon, Vietnam

This is the outfit I wore on the first day of Lunar New Year, while visiting the Nguyen Hue Walking Street. I only wear casual clothes with neutral colours most of the time but on this special occasion, I love to wear something different so I chose the bright lime green top which was stolen from my mom, and a zebra pattern vintage bag.

Till next time!
Best,
MFYG