Dior reunites with Shawn Stüssy for a Chinese New Year collection

Dior is collaborating with Shawn Stüssy for the second year in a row, this time taking a more topical approach by celebrating Chinese New Year. The streetwear-centric capsule makes prominent use of the ox, whose year it is, with hand-drawn graphics from the Stüssy founder. Almost all of these graphics are embroidered, bringing a degree of luxury to streetwear staples including hoodies, T-shirts, and the Converse-inspired B23 Oblique sneaker.

Stüssy sold his stake in his namesake brand and left in 1996 and has been critical of the direction it's taken in recent years. He took to Instagram in 2015 to voice his displeasure about Stüssy reissuing some of his early designs. "These tee designs were done so quickly and organically that it is a shame that my old company tries to milk them so many years later with no connection with the original players in the mix," he wrote.

By partnering with the man himself instead of the brand that lives on, Dior gets the hand-drawn illustrations that simply can't be matched. Stüssy's Instagram account remains a must-follow to see his consistently analog approach to the craft.

A whole lot of Ox — Stüssy's text-filled ox is embroidered onto a range of goods that alternate between a deep red and dark, as is his handwritten Dior logo that first appeared on the runway at the end of 2019. If there's a grail amongst the assortment, it's gotta be the varsity jacket. No piece has been more seminal to Stüssy than the repurposed jock attire, which was personalized for members of the exclusive International Stüssy Tribe throughout the '80s and '90s.

Beyond the T-shirts and hoodies, Dior and Stüssy have included more buttoned-up attire consisting of a collared jacket, long-sleeve shirt, 5-gauge wool sweater, and silk tie. The embroidered graphics also appear on a small range of leather goods and the stunt-worthy B23 Oblique high-top canvas sneaker.

If the ox ain't your thing, the Dior logo is also screened onto the retro-inspired B27 low top sneaker and done up in crystals for a silver-finish necklace. Homegoods are represented, too, with a blue and red jacquard wool blanket.

Don't wait for the holiday — Chinese New Year isn't until February 12, but many of the collaborative pieces are available already through Dior's site. I shouldn't need to tell you that they won't come cheap, as the cheapest way to buy in is through the $230 tie. And while you don't need to be invited to an exclusive club to rock the satin-lined varsity jacket, few will be able to shell out the $3,600 asking price.

On the bright side, we can expect Stüssy the brand to drop its own Chinese New Year goods soon — as is tradition throughout streetwear.