What Labubus, Rhode Phone Cases And Louis Bear Have In Common: The Kidulting Phenomenon
The Labubu craze is a prime example of the kidulting phenonmenon, and a capitalist spin on what’s ‘cool’
I have a confession: I am not a fan of the fangs-on-display cuddly doll charm that the whole world seems to be hooked onto at the moment. I’m talking about the Labubu, of course, which just made Wang Ning of Pop Mart China’s youngest billionaire, and the 10th richest one at that, with a net worth of $22.1 billion.
Labubus entered a world marked with depression, job loss and international trade dances, and brought a moment of peace to all those who felt their world was spiralling out of control. It is a cutesy toy, slightly horrific, but overall a cute handy size to take along everywhere. It’s the statement piece alright – but what is the statement here?
A return to childhood nostalgia
Says Karishma Sakhrani, Mumbai-based creator, “It is no longer just a toy. It’s like owning one means you’re part of this ‘in-the-know’ crowd. Some of the rarer Labubus go for crazy prices now. I saw the madness first-hand in Dubai recently. In one of the malls, people were lining up to get their hands on labubu figures, just how a new hyped phone or sneaker is launched.”
Is there a connection between this doll that evokes childhood nostalgia and the global economic and political uncertainties? Absolutely. Activities that let adult rediscover ‘childhood joy’ are booming, from interactive museums that let you unleash your inner child, to dopamine decor trends, to the proliferation of toys originally meant for children. Lego, for instance, has seen a surge of worldwide sales, with a 13 percent increase in worldwide sales in 2024, as opposed to 2 per cent in 2023. Plushies have seen an upsurge, and luxury brands have taken note. LVMH has several brands which have brought out plushies and soft toys, brands such as legos release luxury toy collectibles from popular franchises such as Star Wars and Harry Potter. This isn’t new. It is on record that the Steiff teddy bear, overcame the Great Depression and helped in the recovery of the toy industry, inspiring Ralph Lauren’s teddy bear as well.
This is reflective even in the return of retro trends such as maximalism in styling, both in decor and fashion, the rising rates of purchase in the beauty industry, where consumers gravitate to traditionally accepted codes of stability and luxury, in times of uncertainty.
Lipstick effect and cultural appropriation
As per the State of Luxury Report authored by McKinsey and the Voice of Fashion, while from 2019-2023 luxury brands achieved a compound growth rate of 5 per cent, outperforming global markets, 2024 saw the growth curve stalling, with shifting consumer preferences to experiences over products. Moreover, price increase is how most of this growth was achieved globally by luxury megabrands, with a minor increase in volume of sales. With economic uncertainties of 2024, carried over in 2025, even those investors who traditionally bought luxury goods have slowed down the scale of purchase, and in markets such as US, accessible luxury is getting a headwind, according to this report by Bain and Company.
Called the ‘lipstick effect’, post-war economics parlance from the World War, whenever there is an economic downturn, entry level luxury goods, such as lipsticks and perfumes, and labubus in this case, a Rs 3,000 doll gets a sales rush. This happens as consumers want to still feel the dopamine rush of a retail indulgence even as they are cutting back on expensive luxury goods.
In the same direction, the proliferation of fancy ice struck our feeds – from fruit-infused highballs, to fridges stocked with all manners of ice, in all imaginable shapes and infusions. Ice costs nothing, and if its getting you cultural capital at a relatively low cost, its a win-win.
Status-signalling is not new as a concept, it is possibly as old as human civilisation. What has however seen a shift is the nature of status signalling. While earlier, it was all about luxury goods such as cars, watches or an exclusive vacation spot, cultural capital has taken significance.
Where product is the personality
Who needs to read Das Kapital or Dostoevsky, colour your own hair or make original music, when you can buy a labubu and attach it to your Birkin to appear edgy? Even better, if you don’t own a Birkin, you could still buy the labubu and attract the same amount of envy as the fellow Birkin carrier. Adding to the phenonmenon are influencers catching on to the doll craze, customising them, spending on accessories for them, cultural capital that seems achievable for all their viewers, fuelling desires, a capitalist dream of nurturing street cred.
Just how in the ‘80s and ‘90s your taste in music mattered, now it is about the ‘clean girl aesthetic’, the sneakerheads, the vintage circular economy snob and labubu bag charms. Is this cultural appropriation of anti-capitalist ethic of yesteryears by marketing experts? Probably, yes. While in earlier decades, to stand out in society and gain cultural capital, you had to have your own opinions and give up the comforts of capitalism to appear ‘cool’. As marketing communication appropriates the language of the creatives, this cultural ‘cool’ is achieved by purchasing items, as opposed to cultivating a certain personality.
Yesterday it was the Rhode phone case, a phone cover that had people gag over their two loves – lip balm and a cutesy phone cover. Then the Stanley cup covers which held the whole world, from makeup to car keys to even snacks could be found all over the internet. Now we have 2025’s most coveted item, a doll bag charm, inspired by a character from The Monsters series by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung, which has men, women and children alike swooning all over it. Before you say, it’s part of the whole nostalgia-driven digital culture, the proliferation of labubus seems to be particularly limited to luxury bag owners, the bags serving as a canvas for the seemingly unforeseen background. This seems to be a perfect transition from quiet luxury to nostalgia core – from obscure labels to cultural signalling to establish taste dominance. The luxury bag is in the background, sure, but its very much present.
A clearer example of how luxury brands are taking note: Louis Vuitton has launched its own labubu-coded bag charm. The Vivienne Fashionista, and Louis Bear bag charms are close enough to Labubus but stamped with Louis Vuitton’s logo for those who need that extra validation.
Or even their campaign covering Haruki Murakami’s special collaboration with Louis Vuitton was launched with the help of a playful animation featuring Zendaya.
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Unboxing and the blind box craze
According to the Bain and Company luxury report, market divergence in the luxury sector is a result of diverse consumer behaviour across generations. While Gen Z is divided between a desire for ‘self-expression’ and ‘desire for conformity’, this generation’s consumers are driven by creativity, excitement and emotional engagement. As far as millenials are concerned, they’re responding to fresh brand engagement, while older generations choose experiences over products. “In turn, brands have begun to pursue efforts to nurture consumers’ desire through new, experiential formats, category diversification, “beyond product” experiences, and increasingly through a new wave of creative change.”
Labubus fit right into this format, and is a crossroad between ‘experiential luxury’ and ‘accessible luxury.’ A big factor that has added to the Labubu effect is the fact that it comes in a blind box, so you never know which Labubu is hidden inside. Similar to WWE flash cards, or chewing gum stickers, or freebies inside Lays packets that Gen Z and millenials are trained to respond to, the Labubu gift box gives you the impression that you’ve earned something – you’ve validated your luck or the lack of it, simply by the act of purchase. It’s one of the oldest marketing hacks in the world, gamifying a purchase, but everyone’s fallen for it.
The other fallout of the blind boxes are that labubus are often limited-edition, and just like limited edition sneakers, luxury bags and whiskies, it triggers FOMO (fear of missing out) amongst the public, who seek out the rare collectibles. Predictably, a labubu sold for $150,000 in a recent auction. Stars such as David Beckham, Korean pop star Lisa and Rihanna have publicly shown-off and praised this collectible, adding to the craze.
So will the labubu craze end soon? Only time will tell. The bigger story here is how the luxury industry diversifies across verticals to appeal to its loyalists, while attracting a new generation of luxury buyers out there. It also remains to be seen whether the luxury industry, known to be exclusive and aspirational in nature for the longest time, adapts to the democratisation of the idea of luxury, to appeal to a whole new set of consumers, who aren’t necessary loyalists to labels, but do want a piece of the pie.