The viral Labubu craze goes global and Beijing hopes to remind the world of ‘cool China’

THERE’S A NEW craze in town and it’s already captured celebrities from Cher to David Beckham.

Rihanna, Dua Lipa and Kim Kardashian are also among the big names to have been seen with Labubu dolls dangling from their handbags and luggage in recent weeks.

The doll are made in China and the country’s official state news agency has even expressed hope that Labubu dolls will allow the western world to see “Cool China”.

But what exactly is a Labubu?

Part-toy, part-fashion accessory, Labubu dolls are having a viral moment even though they’re not exactly an overnight sensation.

Labubu started out as a storybook character created by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung.

While born in Hong Kong, Lung moved to the Netherlands when he was 7 and the Labubu characters are inspired by the Nordic fairy tales he was then introduced to.

In 2015, Lung released an illustrated book series called The Monsters and the book’s star was Labubu –  a small monster with high, pointed ears and serrated teeth.

Labubu toys in a store in Shanghai. Alamy Stock Photo


Alamy Stock Photo

Labubu is described as being “very kind-hearted and always wants to help others while accidentally doing bad things”.

How did it turn into a toy?

Lung went on to release a toy line of the Monsters featured in his book with a Hong Kong toy company called How2Work.

The toys however are more accurately described as “art toys”, which are collectibles created by designers and artists and usually come in limited editions.

In 2019, Lung entered into an exclusive partnership with Chinese toy company Pop Mart in 2019.

What happened after Pop Mart got involved?

According to Pop Mart, the revenue generated from the first Monsters toy series broke the sales record in the art toy category.

Pop Mart has over 400 stores globally, including 30 US branches and 16 UK branches.

The toys received a further boost in 2024 when Lisa, a Thai singer and actress with over 106 million followers on Instagram, began posting about her Labubu dolls.

Lisa made her acting debut this year in the HBO television series The White Lotus.

Lisa posing with her Labubu dolls lalalalisa_m’s Instagram


lalalalisa_m’s Instagram

From there, Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, David Beckham, Dua Lipa and Cher have been among the famous faces pictured with the dolls.

Labubu mania has taken over social media, after Lisa from BLACKPINK first posted her love for the adorable toys. Now other celebrities are joining the craze! https://t.co/TgaduOdQDe pic.twitter.com/ZRjw6R7K6k

— E! News (@enews) June 13, 2025

The global craze caused a London branch of Pop Mart to suspend in-store sales of the toys last month, fearing violence from would-be buyers who failed to get their hands on the limited-edition Labubus.

Following this incident, Pop Mart said it is reviewing the way its toys are distributed to help create a fair and safe environment for its customers.

And in China, the toys have been promised as freebies for new bank customers – an incentive quickly shut down by local regulators, according to Chinese media reports.

How does China feel about Labubumania?

State news agency Xinhua said Labubu “shows the appeal of Chinese creativity, quality and culture in a language the world can understand”.

It also said the toys are giving the world a chance to see “cool China” and that Labubu is part of ‘rebranding the “Made in China” label from manufacturing to imagination”.

“In a time of rising geopolitical tensions, the charm of Labubu reminds the world that Chinese creativity, too, can be intimate, idiosyncratic, and incontrovertibly cool,” said an article which appeared today on Xinhua.

Meanwhile, Allison Malmsten, an analyst at China-based Daxue Consulting, said vital exports such as Labubu shows that China is “undergoing a soft-power shift where its products and image are increasingly cool among young Westerners”.

Malmsten said she believed social media could boost China’s global image “similar to that of Japan in the 80s to 2010s with Pokemon and Nintendo”.

Labubu products at a Pop Mart store in Beijing, China. Alamy Stock Photo


Alamy Stock Photo

Elsewhere, Joshua Kurlantzick from the Council on Foreign Relations, an American think tank focused on US foreign policy and international relations, said that exports such as Labubu could “improve the image of China as a place that has companies that can produce globally attractive goods or services”.

There have been few success stories of Chinese companies selling upmarket goods under their own brands, faced with stereotypes of cheap and low-quality products.

Currently, the country’s best-known exporter is fast-fashion website Shein.

However, Kurlantzick  said he is uncertain if exports such as Labubu “impacts images of China’s state or government”, pointing to how South Korea’s soft power has not translated into similar levels of political might.

How much do they cost?

Labubus, which typically sell for around €20, are released in limited quantities and sold in “blind boxes”, meaning buyers don’t know the exact model they will receive.

However, some items from the Monsters series on the Pop Mart website can be priced as high as €1,300 and the toys face a steep markup on the re-sale market.

Resellers are also said to cause tension in physical stores.

Large queue formed at Pop Mart in central Manchester as it launched version three of the art toy ‘Big Into Energy’ Labubu series Alamy Stock Photo


Alamy Stock Photo

“People wait for hours queuing up in front of the store and it’s so sad to see them be disappointed, because the resellers create a really difficult environment for them, or they get violent,” said Engie, a supervisor at Pop Mart in London.

UK collector Rayy Raphael said prices had reached £500 (€585) for rare dolls and claimed that it’s “just not safe to take it outside at the moment”.

“There’s so many TikTok trends at the moment of how people are getting punched,” he added.

David Beckham posted a Labubu to his Instagram Instagram / DavidBeckham


Instagram / DavidBeckham / DavidBeckham

Meanwhile, knockoffs have flooded online platforms, with the fakes dubbed “Lafufus” by social media users.

Real Labubus can be verified with a QR code on the bottom of each box, but some re-sellers may disguise a fake toy inside authentic boxes.

Lafufus can be identified by twisted limbs, misshapen heads, or the incorrect number of teeth whereas real Labubus have nine.

Chinese customs officials said this week that they had seized more than 70,000 fake dolls in recent days.

-With additional reporting from © AFP 2025