07-02-2026SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

How Labubu’s monster summer gave it a shot at Minions-like success

‘It was like taking a rocket and putting nitrous in the rocket’: A Pop Mart executive, a collector, and the mind behind ‘Billie Jean Bling’ talk about the summer of Labubu in this brief oral history.

With big eyes, sharp teeth, and a furry body with rabbitlike ears, Labubu—a character in the Chinese retailer Pop Mart’s The Monsters collection, based on Nordic folklore—ruled the summer of 2025. It adorned millions of belts and bags and created an entire mini-economy of customization around it.

The toy’s popularity helped Pop Mart’s 2025 revenue hit $5.1 billion,........

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