The Lucky Tassle: A Reflection On Heritage, Cultural Memory and Contemporary Design

February 26, 2026

In today’s fast-moving product cycles, it’s easy for design to become purely aesthetic.

But at MUKA we don’t design from fast fading trends. We design from timeless human stories. It's an integral part of who we are as creatives. So today let's take a deep dive into one of our most iconic pin designs: the Lucky Tassle.

It began as a reflection in the days leading up to the Chinese New Year season of 2023. Over 3 years has passed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a particularly painful time for the Chinese community in North America. We collectively witnessed an unprecedented wave of anti-Asian and anti-Chinese hate and a sharper rise in the already insidious sinophobia present in everyday life. As the end of that era drew near, it seemed unjust to let it pass without processing all that had transpired. So as the Year of the Rabbit approached, it felt more important than ever to create a beautiful and positive representation of our heritage, one that's different than how it's often portrayed in the media. This is how the collection "Rooted" came to be, with this Lucky Tassle pin as it's heart.

The Lucky Tassle pin design was inspired by the traditional Chinese Knots called Zhong Guo Jie (中国结). It is a millennias-old craft and one of the most enduring symbols in Chinese history and culture. But at MUKA, we don’t simply replicate tradition, we live it, interpret it and redefine it through our own lens. After all, a cultural symbol can only continue to thrive if those of us who are connected by it continues to keep it alive through constant reinvention.

Now, let dive into the juicy bits!

Historically, Chinese knots were part of everyday life in clothing, architecture, ceremonial objects, and home decoration as far back 1700s BC. They were hung in homes, worn on garments, and used in ceremonial settings. Our design started by drawing inspirations from a specific knot design, the Oxalis Knot, called Zuo Jiang Cao Jie(酢漿草結), also known as the Cloverleaf Knot (三叶草结).

The Oxalis Knot is a traditional decorative Chinese Knot resembling a three-lobed clover. It represents good luck, prosperity, and joy. It is characterized by its three distinct, symmetrical “petals” or “ears”. In our design, we've chosen to turn the three "ears" into two like rabbit ears as a fun and subtle nod to the Year of the Rabbit, when this pin was born. Aside from that, there’s also a personal layer here.

For those of us who grew up in China, the rite of learning how to tie one's shoelace was not complete without being taught the method known as the "rabbit ear method". Someone in your family would've taught you to loop and cross the laces until it holds, like a rabbit racing around the tree, forming two ears. It was a memory so inconspicuously embedded into my psyche that I had no idea that it would pop up as one of my first associations with the zodiac of Rabbit.

At the bottom of the design, the tassel draws inspiration from the shape of the ginseng root. In traditional Chinese medicine, ginseng has long symbolized vitality, endurance, and life force. It is a root that grows slowly and deeply beneath the surface, extending far beyond what is visible above ground. We thought it was a fitting symbol to represent the Chinese diaspora.

Those of us living across oceans and across generations from "the motherland" understand all too well that heritage can sometimes feel distant yet remains deeply embedded. The ginseng root becomes a metaphor for that connection. Even when we migrate, even when languages shift and identities evolve, the roots does not break. It stretches, adapts and continues to grow with our body, mind and soul.

As people who live at the intersection of different cultures, designing intangible feelings and stories into a tangible physical thing you can hold is what we think about all the time. We're blessed to be able to express ourselves this way and continue contribute to the legacy. It’s about memory, culture, and respect but also about creating something that feels alive today, something that feels unmistakably us, and unmistakably MUKA.