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The Labubu Obsession: From BLACKPINK’s Lisa To Twinkle Khanna, Everyone Has (Or Wants) One
From Ananya Panday and Karan Johar to Masaba Gupta, the Labubu fever has hit India also, thanks to blind‑box suspense and celebrity fashion trends worldwide.
From Tokyo claw machines to sold-out shelves in Paris, the Labubu has wandered far from its obscure 2015 art book origins. Created by illustrator Kasing Lung as a mischievous elf with a slightly sinister smile, the Labubu began its life in collector circles—until Chinese toy giant Pop Mart turned it into a full-blown phenomenon. Today, that odd little face is everywhere: dangling off designer handbags, featured in unboxing TikToks, and flaunted by the likes of BLACKPINK’s Lisa, Rihanna, and even Cher. Yes, Cher. It’s official—the Labubu is no longer just a blind-box toy. It’s a celebrity-endorsed symbol of niche cool.
What Even Is a Labubu?
You’ve seen the face—wide-eyed, devilish, slightly deranged and maybe even wondered what corner of the internet (or toy shelf) it came from. That’s Labubu, a creature born from the offbeat imagination of artist Kasing Lung. Originally sketched as part of a fantastical universe in Lung’s art books, Labubu wasn’t designed to be mass-market cute. But when Chinese toy behemoth Pop Mart, known for turning designer art into viral collectables, gave it the blind-box treatment, everything changed.
Each Labubu comes hidden inside a blind box, which means you never know exactly which version you’re getting until you rip it open. Some come dressed as devils, others as fruit, skeletons, vampires, or cyberpunk hybrids. The rarer they are, the more fans lose their minds trying to hunt them down. It’s like Pokémon meets streetwear drops, except with spiky teeth and wide eyes that somehow toe the line between terrifying and adorable.
The Labubu isn’t conventionally cute. But that’s the whole point. It’s “ugly-cute” at its finest, and for a generation raised on TikTok, Sanrio nostalgia, and niche-core aesthetics, it’s the perfect accessory: weird, ironic, collectable.
Understanding the Obsession
Over the past year, the Labubu has gone from niche collectable to one of Pop Mart’s top-performing IPs, contributing to the brand’s $680 million revenue in 2023. On resale platforms, certain rare Labubu figures now command prices 10 to 20 times their original value, with some editions crossing the ₹1 lakh mark.
Meanwhile, bag charms have been trending for some time now. From Y2K trinkets to designer keychains, charms have re-emerged as a playful yet personal way to style a handbag. But where most charms are purely decorative, the Labubu sits in a different ballpark altogether. Carrying one is as much about signalling cultural fluency as it is about collecting a rare item. In that sense, it’s more than an accessory- it’s a character, a conversation starter, and a micro status symbol all in one.
The It-Girl Stamp of Approval
The Labubu’s rise to fame had a lot of help from celebrity culture. After BLACKPINK's Lisa carried a giant plush and charm in her April 2024 selfie, the toy became a social media obsession. Hollywood stans soon spotted Rihanna, Dua Lipa, even Cher styling their bags with fashion’s newest conversation starter.
Bollywood has since taken note. Twinkle Khanna wrote about her fondness for Labubu, calling it the newest object of her “platonic love,” while Karan Johar admitted to being bitten by the “Labubu Bug" with an Instagram story flaunting his limited edition Hermès Birkin 40 with a brown Labubu on the side. Gen-Z divas like Sharvari and Ananya Panday have been papped with the charm hanging off their bags.
The Labubu might just be a small, strange toy, but it’s managed to do what few accessories can: cut through the noise. Whether it’s just another micro-trend or the start of something bigger doesn’t matter. For now, the Labubu has won—and your Explore page on Instagram proves it.