More Lunar New Year releases may come out during the calendar year – 2022’s multicolour Jordan 36 Year of The Tiger sneaker only came out in June, several months after the Lunar New Year fireworks had fizzled out – but that is no reason to sleep on Year of the Rabbit sneakers.

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Nike’s limited-edition releases for the previous Year of the Rabbit, an Air Force 1 and the Space Jam “Hare Jordan” AJ7, are still going for well above retail prices on reseller sites such as Goat and StockX.

Here are some of this year’s more notable collections.

1. Reebok x Looney Tunes

Reebok is partnering with the cartoon giants for a capsule collection featuring perhaps the most famous rabbit of them all: Bugs Bunny.

Both the Turbo Restyle and Classic Leather Legacy AZ models come in for full-scale rabbit treatment, with notable design features including grey suede uppers, Bugs and the Looney Tunes logo on the tongue, and carrots on the heel tab.

The collection sees Bugs Bunny play a supporting role to other beloved Warner Brothers characters on models such as the Kamikaze, Instapump Fury and Club C.

2. New Balance

The Boston behemoth is not letting the grass grow under its current popularity and the model of the moment – the 550 – leads the Lunar New Year celebrations.

The nude and off-white pairs both feature red accents, while the 2002R comes in three choices: grey, deep brown and a deconstructed light grey/lilac.

The eight-shoe collection is rounded out with nude and red editions of the classic 574 runner and a grey 9060. The shoes were initially only available at Atmos Japan before a US launch.

3. Adidas x Melting Sadness

Chinese artist Zhang Quan has been tasked with putting a Lunar New Year spin on the classic Superstar and the Adimatic skate shoe.

Two Adimatics have “Dragon and Lion Dance” detailing rather than rabbits, but the animal is well represented in two Superstars, which feature fluffy details of Melting Sadness’ own “Karoro” rabbit – a mainstay of his ongoing collaboration with Adidas Originals – alongside a print of Chinese totem patterning.

4. Air Jordan

It was to be expected that Jordan would go all out for a year that matches Michael Jordan’s iconic No 23 jersey, but the celebrations are even bigger as the Jumpman logo is also celebrating 25 years since entering China.

That means plenty of limited-edition Lunar New Year releases, several of which are exclusive to the flagship Jordan store in Shanghai.

Limited to just 5,000 pairs worldwide, the OG Nike Air Jordan 1 Lows amp up the rabbit feel with fluffy laces and a colourway of brown, sail, white and grey.

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The heel liner is made of terry cloth and there are soft suede uppers too, but the most blatant acknowledgement of the rabbit is the image under the tongue, which also features the edition number of the shoe.

It is a similar story for the women’s AJ1 Elevate, also limited to 5,000 pairs.

Elsewhere in the collection, the AJ XX3 gets an airing for 2023, 15 years after making its debut, with Lunar New Year detailing including fleece lining and traditional design motifs.

There are also Year of the Rabbit editions for the Air Jordan 37, the new Luka 1 (NBA superstar Luka Doncic’s debut signature shoe with the Jordan brand), the Air Jordan Legacy 312, and the new Air Jordan 1 Zoom CMFT.

5. Nike Dunk

Perhaps the most on-trend of the Year of the Rabbit releases is the China-exclusive Dunk Low collection from Nike.

The model has been the biggest of the last couple of years thanks to the “Panda” design, but these four rabbit-inspired sneakers may find favour among sneakerheads.

The “Shanghai Rabbit” Dunks feature a paper-cut rabbit detail to the heel and contrasting blue and red terry cloth swooshes.

The “Jing Rabbit” pays tribute to Beijing and takes inspiration from the Rabbit Lord with a jade heel liner and gold detailing, while the “Chuan Rabbit” riff on Chengdu cuisine is in a deep brown and red inspired by hotpot soup.

The last of the quartet, the “Spike Rabbit”, is for South China and plays up the plush feel of the indigenous rabbit breed in a neutral palette.

All four feature the Chinese character for rabbit and come in shoeboxes sporting a rabbit hair print.

6. Gucci

The Italian design house has been at the forefront of the high-fashion festive feel in recent years and they have gone all in for the rabbit.

The pick of its sneaker selection is the Graffiti Print Platform Sneaker, which it describes as “ivory and multicolour Gucci bunny graffiti print leather”, but that does not quite capture the stand-out design.

Elsewhere, the Gucci Run and Screener sneakers get more muted Year of the Rabbit treatments, if Gucci’s GG logo can be described as muted.

7. Givenchy

“As The Walt Disney Company commemorates its 100th anniversary in 2023, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit has emerged from the Disney vault to re-enter the pop culture zeitgeist ahead of the Year of the Rabbit,” the French fashion brand says.

For those that do not know, Oswald was a famed Disney character before a certain mouse and he is celebrated in a collection that includes three designs of the Oswald City Sport sneakers in leather.

They come in black, red and white, with the once world-famous rabbit rendered as an oversized lace tag.

8. Ferragamo

“Welcome an exciting Lunar New Year through the Eye of the Auspicious Rabbit,” says Ferragamo of creative director Maximilian Davis’ first collection for the Chinese zodiac.

The collection features the ’90s-inspired low top Gancini sneaker, which has seen its calf leather and chunky sole worked in a bold, all-flame-red design.

9. Vans

The skate shoe stalwart offers perhaps the most creative Year of the Rabbit range in the form of a DIY Hi VLT LX, launched with Billy’s Tokyo.

The hare-brained high-tops, which come with a variety of rabbit-themed embellishments for you to style as you wish, are joined by three low-key, low-top slip-ons that feature a stylised rabbit yin-yang design.