People look at the collectable designer art toy Labubu at a Pop Mart pop-up store in Siam Centre shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand.
| Photo Credit: LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA
From news about Rohit Sharma’s Labubu collection to the Korean popstar Lisa flaunting a certain small little doll, the Labubu dolls have taken the internet by storm. What is the Labubu doll, and more importantly, who is Labubu?
Who is Labubu?
It all started when Hong Kong–born artist, raised in the Netherlands, Kasing Lung created a story series called The Monsters, inspired by Nordic folklore and mythology that he enjoyed during his childhood. It included characters like Labubu, Mokoko, Pato, Spooky, Tycoco and Zimomo.
With a playful yet fierce facial expression, Labubus have round, furry bodies, with wide eyes, pointed ears, and nine sharp teeth that form a mischievous smile. A fictional elvish creature, Labubu is known for her mischievous but kind-hearted nature, often trying to help others but accidentally causing unintended consequences. She is often described as having a crocodile smile, oversized eyes, and an ambiguous gender, with fans often clarifying that she is female.
A collectable designer art toy, Labubu, attached to a shopper’s handbag at the Pop Mart store in Siam Square in Bangkok.
| Photo Credit:
LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA
10 years ago, in 2015, the Hong Kong-based company How2Work, known for their art-inspired collectables and toys, created figurines for the Monsters’ characters. However, it received much more traction post-collaboration with Pop Mart in 2019. Now, in 2025, the little dolls with a mischievous expression are winning hearts all over the world.
Booming popularity
Pop Mart employs a marketing mechanism called the blind box sales model in which Labubu figures are sold in blind boxes, collected into themed lines, which contain a toy chosen at random from that series. Series often contain a rare “secret” figure in addition to the design advertised. This increased its popularity among the buyers, leading to a surge in its demand. With the same being associated with celebrities and influencers, owning the doll became a trend.
The company has also collaborated with various brands to create special themed series. In late 2024, they released a winter blind box series featuring eleven Labubus inspired by Coca-Cola. In early 2025, they launched a collection of thirteen figurines that reimagine characters from the manga and anime One Piece as The Monsters.
A not-for-sale Labubu figure (left) and Labubu stickers are seen at a Pop Mart shop. A Beijing auction house has sold a four-foot-tall sculpture of a viral plush toy character for more than $150,000, as global demand for the Chinese-designed Labubu dolls reaches fever pitch.
| Photo Credit:
ADEK BERRY
Additionally, some figures have even been released exclusively at different museums, such as the “Labubu’s Artistic Quest” series sold at Pop Mart’s store in the Louvre in Paris. The popularity grew so big that a fake alternative copy called ‘Lufafa’ has also entered the market at a lower price.
Years after its debut, with millions suddenly running behind these tiny dolls, the million-dollar question remains whether it’s a genuine likeness or rather an obsessive trend that the social media culture has brought out yet again.
Published – June 16, 2025 09:00 am IST