If my Instagram inbox is anything to go by, I’m a little late to the Labubu party. Before I posted on Instagram saying “Who owns a Labubu, DM me please”, I had little idea how many of my industry peers have been collecting the small, toothy toys for months, clipping them to their luxury handbags or stacking them on their windowsills.
Labubu has actually been booming since mid-2024. The small, bunny-like toys with a doll’s face — manufactured and sold primarily by Hong Kong toy company Pop Mart — retail from £13.50, and are sold via “blind boxes”, so you don’t know which style you’ve secured. Worn by Lisa from Blackpink, Rihanna and Dua Lipa over the last year, they’ve become a street style staple as bag charms surged in 2024. There are currently 1.2 million posts with the #Labubu hashtag on TikTok. And the latest Labubu Blind Box release from Pop Mart — the Labubu the Monsters Big into Energy Series, released last week — completely sold out worldwide. It is now the #1 collectibles release ever on resale platform StockX, with an average resale price of $208, a 24 per cent premium compared with its original retail price ($168).
“I have gone crazy over [Labubu] in the last couple of months. I’m late to the party, technically, but now it’s just exploding,” says fashion podcaster and journalist Angel Nemov, speaking from Seoul, where he just queued for hours at Pop Mart for a new Labubu. Nemov originally had lots of Jellycat squishy toys in his home before he began collecting Labubu. For him, toys provide comfort. “It’s very deeply psychological,” he says. “I think for some people like me, it’s almost that healing of the inner child, you feel like you never really grew up, and you carry these little bits of your childhood that can be quite nostalgic, fun and playful.”
This isn’t the first time a childlike obsession has captured the adult consumer. From the Beanie Baby obsession of the ’90s, to the 2016 Pokémon Go craze (which saw us all momentarily preoccupied with capturing virtual Pokémon in our offices, in parks, or on trains) or the rise of Barbiecore in 2023, throughout history, adults periodically revert to their youth and go crazy over toy characters.
Labubu isn’t the only trending toy item right now, either. At Selfridges, soft toy manufacturer Jellycat is the fastest-selling toy brand — the retailer sold a Jellycat every 15 seconds during the 2024 festive period. Meanwhile, other Pop Mart ‘blind box’ toys, from the Crybaby to the fantasy-inspired Hirono, are gaining traction in the West, too. Just last week, £150,000 worth of Hirono stock was stolen in a truck robbery in the UK, according to Pop Mart managing director and head of Europe Peter Shipman, “which speaks to its demand”.
As more and more adults queue up at the latest Labubu drop, buy them on resale for hundreds of pounds on Ebay or Depop, and even affix them to their Hermès Birkins, it begs the question: WTF is going on?
Speaking to fans and experts, it turns out that while esoteric, the Labubu and the toy craze in general has a lot to teach us about today’s luxury consumer.
Comfort in dark times
“With everything going on in the world right now and so much uncertainty, people are seeking out experiences and items that bring comfort, happiness and a sense of playfulness,” says Shipman. “Labubu and the whole Pop Mart range offers a little pocket of escapism, something charming and reassuring to carry with you.”
Harrods launched Labubu in November 2024, and in March this year launched a Labubu pop-up with an appearance from Labubu designer Kasing Lung. Due to demand, they’ve extended the pop-up for a further four months. Audiences are grappling with a bleak economy, climate chaos and diminishing purchasing power as they mature. In this context, the Labubus and the collectibles mindset offers a form of escapism, says Harrods head of toys buying Kate Woodhead. “There has been an undeniable increase in “kidult” customers in recent years, with what seems like a real appetite for nostalgia, joy and perhaps a simpler time,” she notes. “Consider the effect of movies like Barbie or Minecraft — all born from toy trends that are appealing to a much broader adult market.” The rise of the Jellycat also really speaks to this trend, she adds.
“In times of uncertainty, nostalgia becomes a powerful form of escapism,” agrees Alison Bringé, CMO of Launchmetrics. “When the world feels unpredictable, consumers naturally seek comfort in the familiar. More than ever, brands are leaning into nostalgia-driven marketing, and when they tap into cult classics, they’re not just sparking memories — they’re speaking directly to the very audiences who grew up with them, taking one step further in strengthening those emotional bonds.”
Photographer Sarah Treacher began collecting Labubus around a year ago, and like Nemov, she likes them because they evoke childhood nostalgia. “I collected football cards and Pokémon cards in their mystery packs when I was a kid and it’s low-key exciting to see what you’re getting to add to your collection,” she says. “Life at the moment is scary and uncertain in a way, it does take me back to my younger self again and give me a sense of comfort and just distracts me from the normal day to day.”
The fuzzy creatures also speak to a growing wholesomeness trend, where audiences are gravitating towards wholesome fictional characters like Paddington, says Parisa Parmar, creative strategist at entertainment marketing agency Attachment. “From the Chicken Run characters debut on Amelia Dimoldenberg’s Chicken Shop Date to Elmo becoming the face of On, brands and entities are realising the importance of facilitating audience connections with fictional entities within non-fictional contexts,” she explains.
The ugly-cute aesthetic
In terms of styling, Labubu and toy bag charms chime with the chaotic customisation trend we’re seeing take hold. For fans of the toys, styling them with luxury handbags helps the former show off their personality and change up their style, without having to invest in further luxury goods. Blind boxes like Labubu are affordable (a single model can be found for around £13.50, while a blind box of six may cost £105), which is appealing in today’s challenging economic climate, says cultural strategist and researcher Nina Maria, who is also a Labubu collector.
Creator Mia Wells adds that Labubu is in some ways a modern day example of the lipstick effect. As luxury goods have gotten increasingly pricey, the market has given way to small luxuries, which feel like an affordable, accessible treat in today’s financial climate. “For me personally, I enjoy the idea of also showing that I’m not afraid to enjoy silly things,” Wells says. “Part of my expression is not taking myself too seriously and accessorising with these kinds of things externalises that belief.”
Labubus, with their exposed teeth and sometimes jarring colours, help consumers ascribe to the popular ‘ugly-cute’ aesthetic, Parmar adds. “In a cultural landscape where we are targeted with ideals of unrealistic perfection, people are seeking alternative aesthetics that embrace unconventional beauty. Consider the rise of the dad trainer, the grandad blazer, or the enduring appeal of Crocs — items that have a perceived ‘grossness’ are actually symbols of individuality and a strong counter to predictable, cyclical fashion.”
The blind box appeal
Labubus and other Pop Mart toys owe some of their success to the blind box format. “We definitely live in uncute times, so the cuteness of blind box items feels like a welcome contrast,” says Maria. “The nature of the blind box itself is addictive. It’s super rare that you get the one that you actually want. So you keep buying more. You get doubles. You buy more. It’s like a race. I personally only buy two items per [Labubu] series, then I feel too scared to get a [repeat].”
Journalist and consultant Tora Northman owns several Labubus, as well as Sonny Angels, Smiskis and other Pop Mart blind box toys. Having held previous roles at Hypebeast and Highsnobiety, Northman was reporting on fashion hype culture in its heyday pre-pandemic. “Toys are basically the new sneakers, and people are buying up pieces to resell,” she says. “Smiski, Sonny Angel, Pop Mart have all gotten massive, and I think the blind box concept is the reason that they’re all so exciting — it’s not just buying a toy, it is taking part in the unboxing experience, and those videos also perform amazingly on TikTok.”
In March 2025, StockX hit a new record for sales of blind box products, seeing nearly 25,000 trades last month. The platform is on track to beat that record again in April. Looking at year-on-year growth, sales of blind box products are up more than 7,000 per cent (March 2025 vs March 2024); looking at the last two complete months, sales are up 77 per cent (March 2025 vs February 2025).
“There certainly is a larger social commentary on the psychology of adults buying plush toys to reconnect with their childhood and embrace light-hearted fun as an antidote to adult life. However, regardless of the demographic, the product or the economic landscape, shoppers love being involved in a craze and the thrill of getting their hands on something sought after,” says Gregory Krum, buying manager at Selfridges, which opened a Pop Mart ‘Robo Shop’ on its toy floor in April, featuring two bespoke vending machines for toys like Labubu and Crybaby.
What’s next?
If the Labubu drop last week is anything to go by, demand is still sky high. But since its virality in recent months is partly linked to posts on TikTok, some are sceptical of its longevity. “When a product gains traction on TikTok it becomes a whole new beast, and Labubu is the latest in a long line of products including Adidas Sambas, Stanley Cups etc — most people will most likely be over it in just a few weeks,” Northman says. “Pop Mart will continue to reign supreme for quite some time I think. They’re such a big brand and are able to produce the quantities needed to create hype — keep an eye out for Hacipupu and Crybabies.”
Of course, the more viral and hyped an item becomes, the earlier adopters move on. “In my honest opinion, I feel that the Labubu trend has devolved into some kind of hypebeast-adjacent game of who can get it first, who can get the most exclusive colourway etc, which has taken some joy out of the concept for me,” says creator Mia Wells, a long-time collector of Pop Mart toys and other “trinkets”. It seems that in the age of TikTok — and shortened trend cycles — the average consumer tends to be driven by FOMO more than anything, she adds, so once something hits the mainstream they move on.
Fashion designer Alice Brightmore began collecting Labubus late last year and is now in double digits, but since they’ve gone so viral in recent months, she doesn’t really wear them as bag charms anymore. “I am still buying the little boxes for my windowsill, but I’m over the keyrings, just because now everyone’s got them, so I’m kind of a bit sick of seeing them,” she says. “I’ll keep collecting, but I won’t wear them outside of the house.”
New businesses are also springing up to capitalise on the toy x bag charm trend, creating competition in the market. Childlike, toy-inspired phone case and bag charm company DRMLND opened a London store at the start of the year and is already seeing strong sales and conversion for its squishy bag charms, including Hello Kitty-style stars, a pink dachshund dog and the yellow kiyo, which have “exploded” in popularity, says DRMLND CEO Mikael Söderlindh. “Our audience is cross-generational — Gen Alpha are as excited as millennials, with both groups seeking small ways to signal their personality and find moments of shared connection,” Söderlindh says.
However, Pop Mart itself is primed for more viral toys looking ahead. “While Labubu remains our most popular IP at the moment, we’ve also seen significant growth across our other collections as consumers look for alternatives,” says Shipman. “You may have noticed on social media that IPs like Skull Panda, Hirono and Peach Riot are quickly gaining traction, and we expect these to be the next big breakout stars.”
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