Here Are 2023’s Most Luxurious Mid-Autumn Festival Mooncakes
From Audemars Piguet’s adventure-ready lantern kit, and Louis Vuitton’s zen-filled set to Loewe’s take on traditional board games.
In celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, both local and global brands have been unveiling their own interpretation of mooncakes in the past weeks. The beloved pastry has a rich history that dates back more than 3,000 years in China, with its Cantonese edition being the most famous and commonly consumed. Traditional Cantonese mooncakes are identified for their round shape and glazed crusts, while the inside features a salted egg yolk enveloped in a rich lotus seed paste as filling. In today’s world, mooncakes aren’t limited to the traditional kind and can come in all sorts of varieties, accompanied by innovative packaging that adds to the festive spirit.
For this year, a number of luxury brands have opted for a more traditional and simple approach. As usual, Saint Laurent’s mooncakes are enclosed inside minimalist, all-black packaging featuring the Maison’s logo. The former years all featured a square shape, whereas this year’s version comes in a round box. On the outside, Rimowa’s mooncakes boast a plain rectangular box that opens to reveal an illustration depicting two rabbits eating mooncakes.
Versace’s set arrives in a black box, emblazoned with only a singular golden logo. It houses four bite-sized mooncakes inside, with each fitting perfectly on the accompanying Medusa-adorned plate. Meanwhile, Alexander McQueen’s festive treats are presented inside a bright red octagonal box, which echoes the engraved patterns on its mooncakes.
A hot cup of tea has always been a go-to pairing with mooncakes, a practice that helps to alleviate some of the sweetness. Boucheron, Dior, Gucci, and Marc Jacobs all integrate the element of beverages into their sets. Dior’s mooncakes are complemented with tea strainers, and Marc Jacobs’ ones come with polka-dotted teacups. Gucci prepares a mini teapot with two cups, boasting a plain white aesthetic that’s reminiscent of the ones used in Dim Sum houses. While Boucheron presents a large mooncake that’s escorted by a glass sake bottle and eight mini glasses.
Continuing its thematic wooden boxes this year, Loewe also incorporates a Go board where you can enjoy a round of games while munching on its donut-shaped cookies. Also offering games-incorporated packaging, Tiffany & Co.’s mooncakes are accompanied by a setup for Connect 4, where the cut-outs appear as various moon phases.
Elsewhere, brands like Audemars Piguet, Fendi, and Cartier opt for spectacle and display. Revisiting its lantern concept from 2021, AP presents a seemingly more toned-down, but much more interactive piece. The lantern comes with exchangeable caps, each featuring a different scenery, complete with a matching monocular for observing the full moon tonight. Meanwhile, Fendi’s lantern emulates traditional paper ones, making it a classy piece to adorn living spaces with. Other decor-centric Mid-Autumn Festival gift sets include Panerai’s mooncakes that are concealed within a boat model and Maison Margiela’s mirror-finished jewelry box.
On the other hand, some brands have chosen to celebrate the festival with tranquility, and solitude in mind. Drawing inspiration from book boxes from the Qing dynasty, Louis Vuitton’s set comes with incense cones, a candle, a silk mat, a rabbit paperweight, and a collection of moon poems. Likewise, Ferragamo’s quartet of custom mooncakes is complemented with incense sticks and a chic holder.
In case you missed it, the Rochambeau Club is serving its house Racquet Rosé outside club grounds for the first time.
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