Hennessy’s Sold Out Lunar New Year Collab Has a Toronto Tattoo Connection
Lunar New Year luxury goods collaborations are no doubt flooding your newsfeeds by now, as February 1st marks the start of the year’s Lunar New Year celebrations around the world. It’s the year of the Tiger this year, and to mark the occasion, Hennessy has opted to partner with Toronto-based tattooer David Hoang of Chronic Ink, having produced a limited run of hoodies and hats sold with bottles of VSOP and XO cognac in Ontario and British Columbia. The design of the associated hoodie mimics the 1,000-year old technique of blue and white porcelain painting, and features a tiger stepping through a bamboo forest.
These types of artist collaborations are really old hat for Hennessy, as the brand consistently works with visual artists of all sorts on limited edition releases — often a few times a year. That said, there are two key ways in which this collaborative effort differs from others. First and foremost, this is a very region-specific capsule, which is quite rare in the Canadian market for Hennessy. David Hoang and Chronic Ink have established quite the reputation for themselves across the country. Though known as being the best and most authentic Asian tattoo shop in Toronto, the team’s expertise stretches well beyond the scope of traditional Asian tattoo styles.
The other noteworthy element of this capsule is the charitable organization it supports. Proceeds of sales have been earmarked for the Asian Gold Ribbon Campaign — a platform developed to initiate widespread visibility against anti-Asian racism in North America and around the globe. Since the beginning of the pandemic there has been a tangible increase in acts of violence and racial discrimination targeting Asian communities in North America and abroad, and throwing some weight, visibility, and cash behind Gold Ribbon is a welcome choice on the part of Hennessy’s Canadian arm.
See more of the Hennessy Chronic Ink capsule collection here.
