You’ve probably seen the Labubu doll, a grinning gremlin plush toy hanging from the Birkins of your favourite influencers lately. Whether you think they’re cute, creepy or just plain weird is besides the point, because the Labubu doll has become a viral sensation, and it’s just a matter of time before you also fall under the spell of its googly eyes. Olivia Attwood, Dua Lipa and Rihanna certainly have.
Plush toys have been taking over the runways as we’ve seen on nearly every catwalk from Coach in New York City to Simone Rocha in London to Bottega Veneta in Milan. Clearly all this ‘90s fashion nostalgia has also stirred up a fondness for our childhood toys, which are being turned into slippers and furry stoles. But by far its most popular reincarnated form is the bag charm.
Francesca Babbi/Launchmetrics.com/spotlight
All over Copenhagen Fashion Week last summer, the bag charm has become the go-to way for the style set to “Jane Birkinify” or personalise their handbags, and the trend has shown no signs of slowing, only it’s come to include a particular furry friend.
First designed a decade ago by Hong Kong-born artist Kasing Lung and distributed by Chinese toy company Pop Mart as collectable toys, the elf-inspired creatures soon found fame as fans queued to get their hands on these snaggly-toothed toys. But here’s the catch—their blind-box format means you never know what you can get.
One Labubu could be wearing cute little corduroy overalls with rainbow pins, another in a strawberry beanie or swaddled in a duck costume. Like the Jellycat craze before it, there is seemingly no end to the number of styles they come in.
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Francesca Babbi/Launchmetrics.com/spotlight
This could explain some of the extensive collections you may have seen on TikTok and why, even though each doll retails for £25, collectors might spend hundreds if not thousands on boxes to get the versions that they want. And if you’re about to look for a Labubu online, let me stop you right there. Currently sold out on Pop Mart, the next best options are on eBay where most are available on the resale platform starting at £100. Once you get your hands on one, you might want to resist the urge to open the box. If Pokemon cards (another blind-box phenomenon making a come back) are anything to go by, the Labubu dolls will likely keep going up in value. A rare, “Labubu Best of Luck Vinyl Plush Doll” is currently selling for £1057 on StockX.
For those of you just looking to start your collection, you’re in luck. The next “The Pop Mart: The Monsters Big Into Energy” collection will release online and in-store on April 25. Race you to the checkout line.