China cracks down on fake "Lafufu" Labubus
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7 hours ago
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What's Really Behind the Cult of Labubu
The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. A furry fiend with rabbit ears and a maniacal grin has recently been spotted twerking next to the singer Lizzo, baring its teeth on the former soccer star David Beckham's Instagram, and flopping against a woman's Chanel bag while wearing its own Tic Tac–size Chanel bag. The creature in question is Labubu—a soft-bellied plushie that the Chinese company Pop Mart began distributing in 2019, and that has, in the past year, gained hordes of admirers. In 2024, Pop Mart reported a more than 700 percent increase in the stuffie's sales. People have been doling out anywhere from about $30 to $150,000 a toy. At Brooklyn raves, adults hop around under neon lights with Labubus clipped to their belt loops. The devotion, at times, has turned almost ferocious; Pop Mart decided to suspend in-person sales of Labubu in the United Kingdom after reports of chaos at stores. Commentators have offered all sorts of theories as to why Labubu has become a sensation. One factor might be scarcity: Each new Labubu release on Pop Mart's online store tends to sell out in minutes. Another might be surprise: The plushie arrives in a blind box. (It could be pink or gray; wear overalls or hold a Coke.) Some people have suggested that the Labubu hype is a product of a trickle-down celebrity effect, or that the toy has become a gay icon. But the way I see it, the cult of Labubu is simply an extension of the phenomenon known as 'kidulthood,' in which the boundary between childhood and adulthood keeps growing fuzzier and fuzzier. In the past few years, more American adults have been buying stuffed animals—some, researchers have told me, in an effort to reject staid versions of adulthood and inject more play into grown-up life. These adults have usually kept their plushies at home, relegating them to bookshelves and beds. Labubus, though, are 'public displays of cuteness,' Erica Kanesaka, an Emory University professor and cute-studies scholar, told me in an email. Devotees carry Labubu into subway cars, office cubicles, and dental schools. They clock into shifts at KFC with the toy literally attached to their hip, and take it along for their workdays as football players or airline pilots. [Read: Welcome to kidulthood] Adults in other countries—Japan, perhaps most notably—have long worn objects featuring cute characters, such as Hello Kitty, out and about, hooked to bags and key chains. In the 1990s, it wasn't uncommon to see white-collar Japanese salarymen with Hello Kitty accessories dangling from their phones. The trend, Simon May, a philosopher and the author of The Power of Cute, told me, might have been born of a postwar rejection of overt aggression: After World War II, cute aesthetics were one way that Japan revamped its public-facing image. The country, May said, changed its self-presentation '180 degrees from militarism to pacifism.' But in the United States, loving cute objects has historically been written off as escapism at best and a worrying swing toward infancy at worst. Adults who embraced childlike things were 'seen to be irresponsibly regressive, morally immature, and refusing to play their full part in society,' May said in an email after we spoke. As recently as 2020, in an article about plushies, one writer self-consciously described her stuffed hound as her 'deep dark secret.' Yet, as I've previously reported, this defensiveness about loving cute objects has been gradually dissipating, part of a century-long evolution in which childhood has come to be seen as a protected life stage. Nowadays, May said, 'to be childlike also has an increasingly positive connotation in terms of openness to ideas and freedom from dogmatism.' At the same time, attitudes about what it means to be an adult are shifting. Many have assumed that children are supposed to 'grow out of vulnerability' when they become adults, Sandra Chang-Kredl, a professor at Concordia University, in Montreal, who has studied adults' attachments to stuffed animals, told me. But more and more, people are pushing back on that idea. Years ago, 'it would have been hard to admit that, let's say, Oh, I have anxiety,' Chang-Kredl said. 'Today, there's no shame involved in it.' Pop Mart has capitalized on this transformation, marketing Labubus—and its other collectibles—specifically to young adults. The company's social-media posts seem to be aimed at Monday-hating, coffee-drinking workers who might log in to Zoom meetings from disastrously messy rooms or prefer to be outside, playing with buddies (or toys), rather than reporting to an office. Evidence suggests that this approach has been successful; one analysis of Pop Mart's web traffic found that 39 percent of visitors to the online store in April ranged in age from 25 to 34. Shame dies hard, though, which might be another reason Labubu has gained traction. Within the realm of cute things, a demonic-looking stuffie is more 'ugly-cute'—adorable, monstrous, deliberately weird. (Ugly-cuteness is also by no means a new phenomenon; think of the pygmy-hippo sensation Moo Deng, toys such as UglyDolls and Cabbage Patch Kids, or the eternal appeal of the pug.) People 'feel that they themselves are a little bit edgy,' Joshua Dale, a cute-studies professor at Chuo University, in Tokyo, told me, 'for liking something that some people don't like.' [Read: The 'Espresso' theory of gender relations] As with any popular trend, Labubu does have its haters—or at least some tongue-in-cheek provocateurs. People have suggested (semi-jokingly) that the toy is possessed, possibly by a demon called Pazuzu. The singer Katy Perry, at a recent concert in Australia, used her mic to smack a Labubu out of a fan's hand. 'No Labubus!' she commanded sternly. Still, Labubu's creepy-cute duality does feel very of this moment, in line with a certain strain of the culture that seeks to undercut anything that feels too buttoned-up. Consider the popularity of 'brat'—an irony-tinged aesthetic that embraces the messy and ugly-cute over the prepped and polished. Last year, my colleague Spencer Kornhaber described the 'brat' mood as 'a little immature, a little selfish, a little nasty.' He also noted that the singer Charli XCX, whose songs affirm that the party-girl life has no age limit, and pop artists such as Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan seem to be making music offering 'the assurance that growing up, in the conventional sense, is just optional.' Wearing Labubu, especially on a designer purse or a backpack meant for grown-ups, is a choice that speaks in a similar register. It signals a 'playful attitude to life,' May told me, 'a winking at the world.' Monday will come around again, with its dreaded wake-up alarms and emails. But according to the logic of kidulthood, you might feel a tiny bit better if you bring a devilish tchotchke to that 9 a.m. meeting. Article originally published at The Atlantic Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
12 hours ago
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Sophie Cunningham on Caitlin Clark's immense popularity: "The whole world is watching her. It is a cult following"
Sophie Cunningham on Caitlin Clark's immense popularity: "The whole world is watching her. It is a cult following" originally appeared on Basketball Network. The WNBA has been dealing with a massive boom in popularity over the past few years, and among all the stars fueling this surge, one name stands tallest: Caitlin Clark. Ever since the former Iowa Hawkeye captivated audiences at the NCAA level, her fame has only grown exponentially. Even though there have been murmurs about some players feeling envious of the unprecedented attention she's received, Sophie Cunningham, the recent addition to the Indiana Fever, has made it clear that within the locker room, there's nothing but admiration for what Clark brings to the game. And coming from a seven-year veteran who has seen the evolution of the league firsthand, that endorsement carries a lot of weight. Sophie is both the enforcer and the admirer If there's been one thing Cunningham has made clear since arriving in Indiana, it's that she has Clark's back. The fiery guard-forward has quickly stepped into the role of protector, standing up for the superstar in various on-court scuffles and letting it be known that the Fever's franchise player isn't going to be pushed around all that easily, not without a proper fight back at least. But beyond the elbows and hard screens, there's also deep respect for what Clark represents. Cunningham understands that being alongside such a phenomenon isn't just about sharing the spotlight; it's about embracing this one-of-a-kind moment, leaning into the chaos and helping her teammate navigate the levels of attention, from both the media and the fellow players, that come with being the face of the whole sport. "Not even just the league (WNBA), but women's basketball as a whole around the world," Cunningham said about her teammate's impact on the game. "I think it's awesome, I think it's so funny that she is 22, 23 years old, and the whole world is watching her. It is a cult following… Anywhere you go. It is a home game wherever we play. She's got security with her 24/7, people are outrageous. Think about the most famous person that you've ever met, times it by 10 or 20," she added. That kind of following, in Cunningham's eyes, doesn't just elevate Clark, but it elevates everyone in the is dealing with a nagging groin injury Clark's unprecedented stardom comes at a pivotal moment for the WNBA. The league just wrapped up an All-Star Weekend that showcased not only its talent but also the growing demands for better pay, improved conditions and wider recognition. The league and the players are now in full-steam-ahead mode for their place in sports. As for Clark, her absence has been felt. Currently dealing with a groin injury that has kept her out for a big chunk of the season, the 23-year-old phenom has played in just 13 games and missed 15. The Fever are 15–12, sitting in the middle of the pack as they wait for their superstar to get back on the floor. The team will be extra careful in pushing for her return, considering the long-term importance of Clark's. But make no mistake, the moment CC returns, the buzz will be louder than ever. Because, as Cunningham said, this isn't just about one player. It's about an entire sport riding the wave of a once-in-a-generation story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 1, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
Lady Gaga Declares That She Is a ‘Labubu' in Silly Pre-Mayhem Ball Show Video
Ra-ra-ah-ah-ah, roma-roma-ma, Gaga, ooh Labubu … Lady Gaga is getting in on a certain plushie craze. In a whimsical TikTok posted Friday (July 25), the pop superstar filmed herself seemingly getting ready backstage for a concert, all dressed up in one of her Mayhem Ball tour outfits. With her hair teased into the shape of two bunny ears — similar to those sported by the fuzzy little monster keychains you keep seeing attached to everyone's bags and purses — Gaga says in a silly, high-pitched voice, 'I'm a Labubu!' More from Billboard Forget Labubus: EXO's Chanyeol Just Shared an All-New Pop Mart Plushie Worth Splurging On Pantera Cancel Tour Dates to Mourn Ozzy Osbourne Ed Sheeran Expands 2026 Australia and New Zealand Tour 'Labubu!' she repeats before sticking her tongue out slightly at the camera. For those not yet in on the trend, Labubus are collectible dolls sold by Chinese brand Pop Mart. With sharp teeth and goblin-like faces peeking out of their variously colored fur suits, the toys are basically just portable little monsters — an especially fitting product for Gaga, considering the name of her fanbase. Mother Monster's funny video comes shortly after she finished the second of three Mayhem shows at San Francisco's Chase Center, at which she'll play one more concert on July 26. The Grammy winner's trek kicked off earlier in July with three performances in Las Vegas, and Gaga will continue touring through North America, Europe and Australia throughout the rest of 2025. The trek comes in support of Gaga's Mayhem album, which dropped this past May. Debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the project found the A Star Is Born actress returning to her dark dance-pop roots. 'Part of my personal mayhem is that it's fun, and that's why I keep doing it,' she told Billboard of the LP in a March interview. 'That's what makes it complicated — it is dark, and it pulls me away from myself, but it's also the best time. It's that point where you're at the party, and you're totally numbing out, and you've fully accepted that by the morning you are not going to feel well, but you're fully in it.' Watch Gaga's TikTok below. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart Solve the daily Crossword
