A very brief recap of the summer: Labubus are everywhere, I’m not a fan. I nearly got myself in trouble at work the other day when I scurried to a friend’s office to exclaim that another colleague had a Labubu on her bag. The only hitch was, my friend’s office is opposite the ladies room, and the Labubu-bearing coworker happened to be using the facilities. I somehow managed to save it, though! I’d only said the woman’s name + Labubu, at which point my friend furiously began signaling to me that this coworker was in the bathroom, at which point she came out of the bathroom and I excitedly said, “Hey, can we see your Labubu?!” feigning enthusiasm. Some will say the moral of this story is don’t gossip; I say the lesson is don’t fall prey to the Labubu takeover!!!
But as usual, I’m woefully behind in my attempts to steer pop culture. Not content to have wormed their way onto adorning expensive designer handbags, now Labubus have spawned a sub-fad: miniature designer clothing for the creatures to wear. Yahoo has a Vogue-worthy deep dive on the booming business:
Human clothing out, Labubu duds in: At PopMoco, which is based in Jiangmen City, China, and sells couture-inspired outfits for Labubu dolls, designer Jasmine Zhu estimates that almost 10,000 handmade Labubu outfits sell each month, with the most popular styles being “dupes” of Louis Vuitton and Chanel runway looks. “I hear all the time that my customers’ Labubu has a bigger wardrobe than they do!” she tells Yahoo, noting that one repeat buyer in Dubai “bought six custom yoga outfits” for his doll.
Demand is so great sewing grannies were called in! Jennie Lo hears similar stories from her customers at Lizzie & Friends. … After hand-making tiny plaid skirts and blazers in the first month, Lo tells Yahoo, “the demand was too much. I couldn’t make them all. So I hired some grannies I know in Hong Kong who like to sew. Now they get together and make them while they hang out.”
YouTuber Sydney Morgan garnered 100M views for Labubu fashion content: “I’ve already spent over $700 on my Labubus’ wardrobes,” said Morgan, who owns bitty Birkin-like leather bags, Dr. Martens-inspired boots and even tiny acrylic nails for the creatures, which she keeps displayed on a large bookshelf in her California film studio. “For someone not to put [Labubus] on a runway during Fashion Week would be a serious missed opportunity. We’d all want real designer Labubu clothes.”
A boon amid uncertain times: [Marko Monroe] began creating Labubu couture in January as creative work dried up due to tariff fears, and later, the L.A. wildfires. “The industry got really slow for all of us,” the L.A.-based artist tells Yahoo. “At the same time, my partner, Hunter, came home with a Labubu. I said, ‘What is that?’ And I got inspired.” Word spread via Instagram, and soon Monroe’s celebrity clientele and their fans began placing custom orders. “They want owl and deer costumes. They want tiny Marc Jacobs handbags. Everyone’s just looking for a little bit more joy in their lives. And it’s given me back some joy too. They’re actually really fun to make!” he says.
Even Netflix tapped Monroe for custom Labubu designs: This month, Monroe created custom Labubus for Jenna Ortega and Catherine Zeta-Jones; they were commissioned by Netflix as premiere gifts for Wednesday Season 2 and dressed in mini-versions of Colleen Atwood’s Emmy-winning costumes, including an itty Cousin Itt made with a 3D printer. “I know this trend won’t last forever,” says Monroe. “But right now, it’s definitely helped my business pick back up. It’s also a little like pop art — people can’t own a Chanel bag. But they can own a Labubu bag. To me, that’s very cool.”
Is itty-bitty doll clothing cute? I had too many Barbie outfits as a child to deny the veracity of that statement. Elsewhere in Yahoo’s article, they touched more on the wish fulfillment angle of this craze; the idea that it’s a way for people to enjoy luxury items they can’t afford for themselves. But it’s still a lot of money for doll clothing! It was touching, though, to hear from all the many artists about how this work is saving them creatively and financially. I just hope they’re all as aware as Marko Monroe is that the bubble will burst someday, and are putting some of that money away into savings. Marko, by the way, is the artist who was commissioned (though by whom remains unknown) to create the custom Labubu for Lady Gaga, which I’m henceforth referring to as the LaGagu
photos via Instagram and screenshot from YouTube/Sydney Morgan