bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Mabel Lui

From snake-themed events to whether your luck is in: discover all you need to know about the coming Lunar New Year in our Year of the Snake 2025 series.
For decades, fashion brands have embraced the snake as a motif. Luxury houses – from Cartier to Bulgari – have released jewellery collections dedicated to the reptile, while snakeskin prints have long been used in coats, boots, bags and other accessories.
As the Year of the Snake draws closer – it begins on January 29, 2025 – many brands are releasing snake-themed pieces.
From necklaces and watches to shoes and dresses, here are some snake-inspired designs that have caught our eye lately.

1. Adidas
Every Lunar New Year, Adidas releases limited-edition trainers. Among the designs that will go on sale in January is the red and black Superstar Year of the Snake, which features a snakeskin print that mimics the zodiac animal in look and texture.
The shoe features additional nods to Chinese culture – the embossing on the tongue and heel is coloured gold, while the laces are accented with an ornamental tag that looks like jade. Each pair will come with a Chinese knot, regarded as a good-luck charm that can ward off evil spirits.
Adidas has also launched the Samba Year of the Snake and a second version of the Superstar, both white shoes with red and black accents.
The former has a grey suede toecap and faux snakeskin stripes, while the latter features the snakeskin finish in its white leather upper. Both shoes are embroidered on the heel with fa, the Chinese character for fortune.

2. Chantel Shafie Jewellery
Hong Kong-based fine jewellery designer Chantel Shafie has incorporated the snake and distinctive Hong Kong elements into her 2025 Hong Kong snake medallion necklace, made with 18K yellow gold and encrusted with a ring of ethically sourced diamonds.
Inspired by a Hong Kong coin, it features a snake whose coil reveals the number eight, considered the luckiest number in Chinese culture. The reptile is surrounded by four flowers – cotton tree, lotus flower, hibiscus and Hong Kong camellia – that represent the four seasons.
On the back of the medallion is a depiction of the Hong Kong skyline, complete with the Star Ferry and the city’s floral emblem, the bauhinia. Each coin used for the necklace is minted by the British Royal Mint.

3. Swatch
The watch brand has released two Lunar New Year designs, the first of which is called the Golden Red Bamboo.
The ultra-thin watch has a 38mm gold-coloured dial, with a print that resembles a snake. Its hour and minute hands glow in the dark, while the leather and textile strap is embroidered with orange bamboo stalks.
The second, the Blue and Golden Lithe Dancer, is a dark blue oversized watch with a 47mm dial. The multicoloured print on the dial features the snake and its scales, as well as bamboo stalks and leaves, this time in navy and white.
The hour and minute hands – glow-in-the-dark, of course – and the bezel are accented in gold, while the second hand and pusher are orange. This watch also has a day-date window, so that you’ll never lose track of the time or day.

4. René Caovilla
Though not designed specifically for the Year of the Snake, René Caovilla’s heels will certainly fit the bill for any special occasions or galas this year.
The luxury Italian brand’s most famous shoe design, called the Cleo, features a snake strap design that coils around the ankle, and features a small snake head at the end. It was conceived in 1968 by Caovilla, who was inspired by a Roman snake bracelet he saw at the Naples Archaeological Museum.
The shoe, hailed at the time for its innovation, was exhibited at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1975, and variations of the heel have since been worn by numerous celebrities, including Rihanna, Kim Kardashian and Bella Hadid.
Almost all of Caovilla’s jewelled sandals feature the snake strap design, so it’s hard to go wrong with any of them, but for Lunar New Year, perhaps the gold or red Cleo heels would be the most celebratory.

5. Silk Laundry
Australian-born brand Silk Laundry will be launching a Lunar New Year capsule collection that pays homage to the snake’s wisdom and elegance on January 13.
One of the pieces in the collection is the brand’s 1996 dress, which has been reimagined in red – an auspicious colour that symbolises joy, luck and happiness – with a print of a pink snake amid white orchids.
There is also the red boyfriend short-sleeve shirt, a more relaxed unisex piece that features the same snake print.
Meanwhile, the 1996 dress in rose highlights snake species from around the world, including the rough green snake, which is native to North America, and the Tenasserim pit viper, which can be found in the Indo-Burma region.

6. Bulgari
This round-up would not be complete without mentioning Bulgari, the luxury fashion house that celebrated the 75th anniversary of its famous Serpenti collection last year. When it debuted in 1948, the line consisted of high jewellery watches; today, the collection encompasses a wide variety of accessories, all inspired by the snake.
First, there’s the watches: the Serpenti Seduttori, for example, features a bracelet that emulates serpent scales. The Serpenti Spiga takes the snake inspiration a step further, and has a longer bracelet that coils around the wrist.
Other pieces in the collection include the rings, necklaces, bracelets and earrings from the Viper line, which offers a more geometric interpretation of the snake. Bulgari also has a variety of snake-inspired bags, including the Serpenti Forever, which features a snakehead clasp.


The best snake-inspired fashion and jewellery for the coming Year of the Snake

Year of the Snake fitness retreat in Hong Kong features snake-themed exercises and motifs

Hong Kong public may get to see panda cubs in February, Ocean Park boss says

China sees surge in travel demand for extended Lunar New Year holiday

Lunar New Year

René Caovilla’s Cleo shoes feature a snake strap design that coils around the ankle. Photo: Instagram/@renecaovilla

The Year of the Snake-inspired 2025 Hong Kong snake medallion necklace from Chantel Shafie Jewellery. Photo: Chantel Shafie Jewellery

Adidas Superstar Year of the Snake trainers have a red and black snakeskin print. Photo: Adidas

Hong Kong-based fine jewellery designer Chantel Shafie’s snake medallion necklace, made with 18K yellow gold and encrusted with ethically sourced diamonds. Photo: Chantel Shafie Jewellery

The Golden Red Bamboo watch from Swatch is adorned with a print that resembles the body of a snake. Photo: Instagram/@swatch

One of the pieces in Silk Laundry’s Lunar New Year capsule collection is this red slip dress, with a print of a pink snake amid white orchids. Photo: Silk Laundry

The Serpenti Viper bracelet is among the many snake-inspired jewellery designs from Bulgari. Photo: Instagram/@bvlgari

8 celebrities born in the Year of the Snake, from Taylor Swift to J.K. Rowling to Psy

Taylor Swift during a concert in Singapore as part of The Eras Tour. The singer is among a number of celebrities born in the Year of the Snake. Photo: Getty Images

Oprah Winfrey at a campaign rally for US Vice-President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia in 2024. Photo: AP

Chris Martin of British rock band Coldplay on stage at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, Austria in 2024. Photo: AFP

Author J.K. Rowling at an HBO series premiere in New York in 2019. Photo: AFP

Donald Trump at a bilateral meeting with Xi Jinping during the G20 leaders summit in Japan in 2019. Photo: Reuters

Year of the Snake stamps unveiled by Hongkong Post, to go on sale from January 5, 2025

The Hongkong Post’s set of four stamps for the Year of the Snake features snakes wrapped around auspicious plants and flowers that carry significance in Chinese culture. Photo: Hongkong Post

The stamp sheetlets each offer two depictions of the snake. On the left is the actual stamp, which features the snake in a paper-cut design, and on the right a snake, embellished with auspicious clouds and ruyi locks. Photo: Hongkong Post

An example of a serviced first day cover affixed with one of the Year of the Snake stamp sheetlets. Photo: Hongkong Post

Why the Year of the Wood Snake starting in 2025 could bring major change, and more luck

A snake at a farm in Bangkok, Thailand. The next lunar new year will be a Year of the Wood Snake, which comes around every 60 years. The previous one, in 1965, saw dynamic change and upheaval. Are we in for more of the same? Photo: Getty Images

Snakes made of palm leaves are displayed in Shanghai to celebrate the previous Year of the Snake in 2013. Photo: Getty Images

Following the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, people line up to vote, most for the first time, in Alabama in the US in 1966. Photo: Getty Images

Angry depositors protest and clash with police outside the office of the chairman of the Canton Trust and Commercial Bank in 1965, the previous Year of the Wood Snake in the Chinese lunisolar calendar. Photo: Chan Kiu

Lifestyle

Fashion & Beauty

Lists

Year of the Snake 2025: predictions, facts, myths and feng shui

Why do people born in the Year of the Snake make good lovers, friends and colleagues?

People born in the Year of the Snake are caring friends – once you break the ice. They are also romantic lovers and also one of the best colleagues to have in a crisis. Illustration: Victor Sanjinez Garcia

Feng shui master Tong Pik-ha at her office in San Po Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The independent Snake is very good at networking, Tong says. Photo: Jonathan Wong

People who are born in the Year of the Snake are very enterprising. Illustration: Adolfo Arranz

10 snake-themed Chinese-language movies that charm us, from erotica to horror to animation

A still from Anaconda (2024), one of our picks of the best Chinese snake movies.

A still from White Snake (2019), one of 10 Chinese-language films featuring snakes that we think make perfect viewing with the Year of the Snake coming.

A promotional poster for The Snake Girl (1974).

A promotional poster for Snake Beauty (1994).

7 snake idioms to ring in the Year of the Snake, including one about being two-faced

Why would legs drawn on a snake mean something is ruined? What does a bow’s shadow have to do with reptiles? Seven snake idioms and their meanings. Photo: Shutterstock

One idiom refers to drawing legs on a snake – in other words, making unnecessary changes to something. Snakes do not have legs. Those are called lizards (pictured: an iguana). Photo: Shutterstock

A snake and dragon statuette with Chinese coins and a pyramid. One idiom referring to snakes and dragons is used in association with spaces where both good and bad people can be found. Photo: Shutterstock

A golden Buddha statue in Thailand. A Chinese idiom refers to a person who has the words of the Buddha but the intention of a snake. Photo: Getty Images

An illustration of a giant snake killing an elephant, similar to a Chinese idiom that describes a snake trying to swallow an elephant – meaning a person who is never content. Photo: YouTube

An idiom that refer to being scared of rope after being bitten by a snake is like the English proverb “once bitten, twice shy”. Photo: Shutterstock

Why ‘growing snakes’ – shingles – is so painful and how to prevent it

That snake-like shingles rash can appear anywhere - not just on the trunk, but also the face where it can affect the eyes and vision.
Photo: Shutterstock


The shingles virus generally only appears on one side of the body, not both. Photo: Shutterstock

The shingles rash can appear anywhere, including the face, where it can affect the eyes and vision. Photo: Shutterstock

Dr Wong Sze-man says there is a lack of awareness of the complications that can arise from shingles. Photo: Marina Medical Clinic

Photo: Shutterstock 

The CDC recommends that everybody over 50 should get Shingrix, which comes in two separate doses separated by two to six months. Photo: Shutterstock

Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus – or chickenpox – which most of us were exposed to as children. Photo: Shutterstock 

Mark Chern is a TCM practitioner in Singapore whose approach to treating shingles includes acupuncture and herbal remedies. Photo: LinkedIn 

From evil to good snake: how the zodiac animal became a righteous figure in Chinese mythology

Nüwa, the creator deity in Chinese folklore, is often depicted with a human head and serpent-like body. Photo: Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

An image from the Summer Palace, Beijing, China, depicting the Legend of the White Snake. Photo: Summer Palace

The cover of Liang Luo’s book.

Snakes are depicted as evil spirits in the Chinese classic tale Journey to the West. Photo: Imagin8 Press

The Legend of the White Snake has evolved over the centuries. 

The coming Year of the Snake celebrates an animal that has been transformed from evil spirit to righteous demon in Chinese mythology. Photo: Shutterstock

What the mythical snake Naga represents, both good and evil, in Hinduism and Buddhism

The seven-headed Naga Mucalinda (seen here in Thailand) is King of the Serpents in Buddhist mythology. The snake figure is also worshipped by Hindus. Photo: Shutterstock

A late 12th–early 13th century Cambodian statue depicting Mucalinda protecting Buddha from a storm. Photo: The Met

Naga statues in Lop Buri, Thailand. Sculptures of the serpents are more colourful and vivid in Thailand than those in Cambodia. Photo: Shutterstock

Stone carvings of Naga serpents and Khmer deities at Banteay Srey Temple, Angkor Wat, Cambodia. Photo: Shutterstock

Pet snakes trending in Hong Kong as Gen Z opts for ‘chill’ animals over cats and dogs

A ball python at Slave World pet shop in Hong Kong. Photo: Austin Zhang 

A ball python at Fishman Shop reptile specialist in Hong Kong. More youngsters in the city are keeping snakes as pets. Photo: Austin Zhang

A snake at Fishman Shop, a reptile specialist in Mong Kok, Hong Kong. Photo: Austin Zhang

A red bull snake at Slave World in Mong Kok. Photo: Austin Zhang

A Stuart’s milk snake at Fishman Shop. Photo: Austin Zhang

A ball python at Slave World. Photo: Austin Zhang

New understanding about how snakes regrow their guts could help treat human diseases

The mechanisms pythons use to regrow their intestines may provide insight on treatments for human gastrointestinal diseases, a new study shows. Photo: Dreamstime/TNS

Dr Stephen Badylak, deputy director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. Photo: University of Pittsburgh

Todd Castoe, the biology professor at the University of Texas at Arlington who led the python gut study. Photo: University of Texas at Arlington

A Burmese python on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island. When digesting their first meal in a long time, the Burmese pythons used in the new study increase their metabolic rate to 22 to 44 times that when fasting as they regenerate their intestines. Photo: Peter Parks

The new study’s findings about the gene BEST5+ could unlock new ways of healing and repairing Crohn’s disease, coeliac disease, and colorectal cancer in humans. Illustration: Shutterstock

An African ball python at Kadoorie Farm and Botanical Gardens in Hong Kong. Castoe says humans share with pythons a “back door secret” to remodelling their gut and reprogramming their metabolism. Photo: Jonathan Wong

How the snake is loved, hated or feared in cultures and religions around the world

A depiction of the Egyptian sun god Ra fighting the snake god Apep. Snakes are either hated in mythology as evil, sneaky, dangerous, or revered as saviours and friends of the gods. Photo: Getty Images

In the Biblical story of Adam and Eve, a serpent persuaded Eve to eat fruit from the forbidden tree.

Asclepius, the ancient Greek god of healing, is depicted with a snake coiled around his staff. Photo: Getty Images

Ancient Egyptian god Apep was a giant snake with human legs, and was at war with the sun god Ra. Photo: Getty Images

Jörmungandr is the giant snake monster in Norse mythology that declared war on the gods. 

Hindu god Shiva is often depicted with Vasuki the snake coiled around his neck. Photo: Shutterstock

Hong Kong ‘snake bible’ author on why they rarely bite and are ‘really quite special’

A  Burmese python, the apex snake species in Hong Kong. Photo: Adam Francis

A bamboo pit viper, the species responsible for most venomous snake bites in Hong Kong. They only bite as a last resort, says “snake bible” author Adam Francis. Photo: Adam Francis

Wildlife photographer Adam Francis on The Peak, in Hong Kong. Francis is also a snake enthusiast and researcher. Photo: Edmond So

The cover of Francis’ book. Photo: The Lion Rock Press

A bamboo pit viper’s bite is “quite painful”, but Hong Kong hospitals are “amazingly good at treating them”, says Francis. Photo: Adam Francis

Francis says the Burmese python is “a big snake with a slow metabolism that eats big meals and then goes away and sits in a quiet, dark place to digest that meal”. Photo: Adam Francis

Two Sweet Feet’s Muay Thai coach Natalie Sin will put retreat participants through the paces of her martial art. Photo: Two Sweet Feet HK

Two Sweet Feet trainer Harry Taylor holds a strength-building class. Photo: Two Sweet Feet HK

Two Sweet Feet yoga teacher Kalam Chu holds a yoga class. Photo: Two Sweet Feet HK

From shoes to dresses and watches, some of the best fashion and jewellery items to wear for the coming Year of the Snake


From shoes to dresses and watches, some of the best fashion and jewellery items to wear for the coming Year of the Snake.


Fashion

High Jewellery