🐰 How Labubu became a high-fashion icon via Pop Mart’s collaboration strategy.

The exciting business and culture of Labubu collectibles

At PWR House, we look at successful brand collaborations as drivers for true business growth and Labubu is one of them.

Today, everyone is talking about the collectible doll Labubu from the Chinese toy company Pop Mart. I've walked by Pop Mart stores in London to see massive crowds and queues going around the block. It's a similar story at Pop Mart stores everywhere from Los Angeles to Bangkok.

Pop Mart was founded in 2010, opened their first stores in America and Europe in 2023, but their popularity within the Western consciousness really took off last year.

In April 2024, Lisa from Kpop group BlackPink posted about her love for Labubu on Instagram and then Pop Mart started seeing a massive increase in sales and popularity.

Then several things happened simultaneously:
1. Lisa's authentic "endorsement" of Labubu started making the doll more popular amongst celebrity artist circles and soon after, everyone from Rihanna to Dua Lipa to Central Cee started posting about Labubu.

2. While Pop Mart has done several brand collaborations over the last decade, they started getting deeper into luxury fashion over the last year. They've recently done collabs with designer Chinese brand Pronounce, French luxury brand Balmain, and started appearing at Fashion Week activations.

3. Lisa's popularity in the West kept increasing with her starring role on the White Lotus and her first solo performance at Coachella last month. As Lisa's clout has grown, her Labubu love has influenced her global fanbase and even the Thai Royal Family.

Subsequently, publications like Vogue, The New York Times, and Bloomberg have all written articles over the last couple of weeks examining the recent rise of Labubu.

Pop Mart is now anchoring themselves to desirability and exclusivity, through both their luxury fashion collaborations and their growing group of celebrity fans.

This helps drive bottoms-up and top-down growth at once. If you explore TikTok, you'll see all types of genuine Labubu fans showcasing unboxing videos, telling stories of how they style their Labubu, or describing their quests to get special dolls.

This is how influence flows and how strategic collaborations can drive a product's global popularity.

When done right, cultural collaborations become a key part of your business strategy.