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Labubu, the flagship character of Chinese toy company “Pop Mart,” has sparked a global craze as elements such as “ugly-cute,” which deviates from conventional cuteness, “ditto consumption,” in which consumers imitate celebrities as proxies, and the “topping economy,” which emphasizes customizing and combining items in one’s own way, intersect with the identity of Generation Z. At the same time, Pop Mart’s meticulous sales and marketing strategies have also been a key factor in amplifying the Labubu phenomenon. Pop Mart heightened scarcity through blind boxes with unknown contents and limited or guerrilla releases and generated organic virality on social media through fandom marketing that leveraged unboxing and collection verification culture.

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In June 2025, a doll was sold at auction in Beijing for as much as 230 million won. The protagonist was Labubu. Labubu is the flagship character of Chinese toy company “Pop Mart,” and is known to have been designed by Hong Kong-based illustrator Kasing Lung with a Nordic forest fairy as its motif. The doll sold at auction was an early Labubu model, and its rarity as the only one of its kind in the world gave it high value.

Recently, the appeal of Labubu has been spreading rapidly around the world. This “eccentric fairy,” with its stubby and fluffy body, sharp teeth, and large mischievous eyes, is far removed from the existing formula of standardized cuteness. However, its distinctive appearance has instead sparked global enthusiasm and driven Pop Mart’s stock price to soar. As global celebrities such as Lisa of BLACKPINK and Rihanna shared photos on their social media accounts showing Labubu dolls hanging from their handbags, the Labubu craze accelerated even further.

However, it is difficult to view the Labubu craze as a simple, one-time fad. As noted earlier, it has already entered the ranks of “art toys,” with rare items selling for hundreds of millions of won in the auction market. Purchasing one at the list price itself is so difficult that it has even earned the nickname plastic Maotai1 1The Labubu doll has come to carry strong scarcity and investment value, comparable to China’s premium liquor Maotai. 닫기 . So how should we understand the Labubu phenomenon, which goes beyond a passing trend?

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