Dover Street Market, The Perfect Magazine, Harrods: Labubu’s UK takeover

What happened A made-in-China, rabbit-eared plush gremlin has become a cover girl, and the draw behind winding queues of fans around London. Celebrities like Rihanna, Dua Lipa, and Blackpink’s Lisa have all donned the Pop Mart character on their designer handbags, and now Labubu is conquering London’s luxury fashion scene. Labubu arrives at Harrods with an exclusive pop-up The household Chinese brand, known for designer toys and bag charms, is capitalizing on the Labubu boom, a trending character from The Monsters collection, designed by Hong Kong-based artist Kasing Lung. She is the star of an eight-week pop-up on the toy floor of Harrods, Pop Mart’s first ever UK limited-time retail space. As with previous activations in cities like Los Angeles, Bangkok, Manila, and Jakarta, now long queues of Labubu fans reached London over the weekend — consumers were buzzing with excitement to purchase the rare limited editions, and meet Lung himself. Dover Street Market releases exclusive Labubu figurine In addition to the Harrods pop-up, Lung designed the front cover of the British style publication The Perfect Magazine’s February issue and hosted a signing event at Dover Street Market London on Saturday last week. To mark the occasion, Dover Street Market even introduced its own exclusive Labubu Zimomo “Zent” figurine in black and hot pink, which is limited to 100 pieces. Harrods’ luxury setting aligns with Pop Mart’s growing presence in high-end retail. Following the London event, Lung will meet fans in Paris and Amsterdam. The Jing Take London’s embrace of the Labubu craze reflects the power of toys on a global scale. Won by lucky consumers in a dedicated raffle, Pop Mart’s Labubu DSM exclusive figurine has already reached resale sites like eBay, with some priced over $1,000. Why luxury fashion is embracing the toy industry The intersection between toy culture and fashion will likely be a lucrative one this year. Pop Mart could have introduced the Labubu pop-ups at the city’s toy stores, but selecting luxury fashion retailers, as well as being on the cover of a style magazine, aligns with the company’s target audience of fashion-forward consumers, rather than toy collectors. Some Labubu keychains are priced under $30, with only a few plush dolls of Labubu being over $100, or $200. In short, Pop Mart is not considered a high-end brand price-wise, but its meteoric cultural capital is a luxury opportunity. There have already been fashion collaborations, including Chinese label Pronounce designing two collections with Labubu. And as leading retailers such as Harrods and Dover Street Market are now capitalizing on the hype, it is likely that other fashion designers will want to collaborate with the IP in the near future Collectible figures are evidently gaining traction in the luxury accessories market. The Labubu keychains were only launched in October 2023, and with stars wearing them throughout 2024 and into 2025, their popularity as a style choice has soared. Pop Mart’s international revenue surged 259.6% YoY to $189 million in H1 2024, with Southeast Asia contributing $78.4 million. Yet, the potential in the West is certainly coming into view now, too. As people pivot to predominantly purchase items that stir joy and are collectible, and with long-term investment being a key driver of luxury consumption, Labubu’s heyday is just getting started. Maybe she’ll grace a Vogue cover next. The Jing Take reports on a piece of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to heated debate sprouting on Chinese social media.

Dover Street Market Labubus are reselling for $1k

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Dover Street Market Labubus are reselling for $1k