Punk-cute Labubu builds global emotional bridges, one grin at a time

When the same toothy little monster appears dangling on Rihanna's purse and in David Beckham's social media post, and its hashtag racks up over 1 billion views on TikTok, it's clear this designer toy's global takeover is complete.

A woman takes selfie with art toys in a new Pop Mart offline store in Bangkok, Thailand, July 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Sun Weitong)

Labubu, a spiky-toothed, mischievous imp manufactured in factories in south China's Dongguan and marketed by Beijing-based toy giant Pop Mart, is telling a Chinese IP globalization story in an unexpected way.

Originally priced at 99 yuan (about 14 U.S. dollars), Labubu's 3.0 blind boxes have vanished from shelves at home, while resale markets see common variants triple in value and rare editions surge 30-fold to 3,000 yuan.

This nine-toothed creature has also sparked a global frenzy, from Los Angeles to London, Milan to Tokyo, snaking queues form outside Pop Mart stores worldwide -- some stores even witnessing frenzied scrambles for the coveted figurines. JPMorgan has even described Labubu as "the next Hello Kitty."

Under Labubu's spell, Pop Mart's "The Monsters" franchise saw revenues soar past 3 billion yuan in 2024, a staggering 726.6 percent leap, crowning it as Pop Mart's top-performing IP. Investor enthusiasm surged in tandem: Pop Mart's share price has surged, lifting its market capitalization to over 300 billion Hong Kong dollars (approximately 38 billion U.S. dollars). The boom also catapulted founder Wang Ning into the ranks of China's wealthiest.

This surge is no mere accident. Beneath the playful craze lies a deeper shift in youthful consumption: a shift from utility to emotional resonance, from price tags to personal identity.