On Labubu and the Hyperreal

Summary

Sometime last year I saw a man in his young to mid-twenties with a fluffy toy grinning cheekily out at the world from a clip on his belt. The contrast between his masculine-expressing clothing and the plushie jarred. It was some sort of statement, but I didn't know how to interpret it and I couldn’t forget it. That was my introduction to Labubu. Meeting Labubu and Pop Mart Labubu is a small fluffy toy with stubby arms, rabbit eats, a round body and large head filled with huge doe-eyes and a wide "snaggletoothed" grin. Created in 2015 by artist-designer Kasing Lung for a picture book series, Labubu and her magical elven companions - each imbued with unique characteristics - are inspired by Nordic mythology and dubbed “The Monsters”. These whimsical and curious (female) elves have lived out their carefree lives in the forest for millenia; at least, until 2019 when POP MART acquired exclusive rights to the Labubu IP. POP MART is, in their own words, “a rising global force in pop culture and entertainment”, with “over 500 stores in 30+ countries and regions, more than 2,300 ROBOSHOPS and e-commerce." (A ROBOSHOP, for the uninitiated, is a vending machine for toys.) Labubu may be POP MART’s biggest draw, but the brand sells numerous other characters made by different “artists”. There's Molly, Dimoo, Pucky, skullpanda, crybaby and others, each designed by different artists. Each character has pages of plushies, figures, charms, phone cases and bags. There are crossovers between characters and other brands, like coca-cola, Disney, even UEFA. Labubu is cute. But why is it so successful, so suddenly? Why are adults wearing them on their belts? Escaping adulthood and loneliness Labubu has to be viewed with reference to the Coronavirus pandemic that coincides with her POP MART launch in 2019 and rise to fame in 2024 after promotion by K-pop idol Lisa (which was not an official endorsement). While experiences during the pandemic were not homogeneous, many younger people experie...