On 5 February, Italian luxury fashion house Valentino announced its co-branded WeChat Red Packet cover with blind box toymaker POP MART. Titled “红来运转，有龙则灵” (lit. the red turns luck, the dragon makes it magical), the collaboration combines the traditional red envelopes and dragon imageries for this Chinese New Year. The Red Packet covers come in Valentino’s signature Rosso red with the iconic Vlogo pattern in the background.
Each cover features one of 12 3D models of POP MART IP characters in Year of the Dragon outfits, including MOLLY, DIMOO, ZIMOMO and SKULL PANDA. In true POP MART fashion, the 12 models come randomly when you draw the Red Packet. As always, one secret MOLLY model is included on top of the 12 regular ones. To draw one of the covers, you’ll need to go to Valentino’s official WeChat account and type in “有龙则灵” (dragon makes it magical) at noon between 5 and 8 February.
Red Packets is a digital version of the traditional red envelope using WeChat to transfer pocket money between family and friends. Last year, users sent Red Packets over 4 billion times during CNY. Since the end of 2020, WeChat has been opening its Red Packet cover for customisation. That is why brands such as Samsung, Hey Tea and Guming are using red packet covers for their CNY IP collaborations.
POP MART has been upping its game with luxury and fashion crossovers with a limited edition co-branded figurine with Balmain and sending LABUBU to Milan Fashion Week. On the other hand, Valentino has been experimenting with different partners from luxury department store Harrods’ Tearooms in Shanghai to fashionable bakery Butterful & Creamorous and now expanding to the popular blind box maker. However, it is a balancing act between popularity and luxury status when choosing partners. The fact that POP MART has launched a 2D illustration version of the same models for smartphone wallpapers will likely cast doubt on the exclusivity of the Italian luxury brand collab.
