It’s supposedly the summer of bag charms, with people queuing for hours to get their hands on the sought-after Labubu dolls and Sylvanian Families bag charms. With more and more childhood trinkets becoming popular bag charms, are people embracing their inner child or just following another TikTok trend?
Trending bag charms
Dominating social media is the rise of bag charms. These cute little accessories, which you clip onto your bag, are the current trend on TikTok. Creators, influencers and regular TikTok users are sharing their favourite accessories to pair with their shoulder bag. From Labubu dolls, Monchhichi dolls, to Sylvanian Family figures, people are experimenting with what cute charm goes with their summer bag of choice.
Labubu dolls
Unless you’ve been living under a rock or havent been on social media for a while. You would have seen a Labubu Doll. Almost impossible to escape, is the online obsession and buzz surrounding Labubu Dolls. These collectable plush toys are exclusive to Chinese retailer Pop-Mart, which has 10 shops across the UK in major cities such as Manchester and London.These unique toys are loved for their cute fluffy exterior and toothy grin, and the wide variety of pastel colours you can be surprised with upon opening.
Part of the appeal with Labubu dolls, is the surprise of which colour you will receive, as each doll comes in a blind box. TikTok has been taken over by the Labubu trend. With users sharing their labubu collections, unboxing, and the challenges of trying to purchase one. Pop-mart recently had to pause in-store selling of Labubu dolls to “prevent any potential safety issues“.
Influencer and celebrity impact
Labubu dolls seem to be more than just a TikTok trend, with the dolls now becoming a celebrity-endorsed product. Your favourite celebrities from Rihanna to Dua Lipa and Olivia Attwood proudly endorse their Labubu dolls and attach it to their favourite bags.
Influencers like Sofia Petrillo document the process of sourcing and unboxing Labubu Dolls. Sofia vlogs her experiences of finding Labubu dolls and showcases her vast collection.
Where to buy Labubus
Unfortunately, getting your hands on a Labubu doll is not as easy as you may think. The main retailer to purchase Labubu Dolls is Pop Mart. Although Pop Mart has 10 stores across the UK, they have recently banned the in-store purchasing of Labubu Dolls due to extreme competitiveness and chaotic behaviour from customers. Every Thursday however, Pop Mart releases a limited Labubu drop around 9pm on their website.
Monchhichi bag charms
Popping up as a close alternative to Labubu dolls are the Japanese toys Monchhichi’s. Originating as a children’s toy in Japan, the small monkey toys have slowly transitioned from an iconic children’s toy to a trending accessory online.
Retailing at Urban Outfitters, you can purchase a small Monchhichi’s key chain to attach to your bag. The price ranges between £14 and £16. If you can’t get your hands on a Labubu, a Monchhichi doll is proving to be a popular second choice.
Childhood nostalgia
Behind all of these trending bag charms, is the theme of childhood and nostalgia. All the trending figurines from Labubus to Monchhichi dolls are founded from childhood toys, and are now profitable as fashion accessories for young people and adults alike.
Lifestyle writer Cecilia Adamou described the drive behind collecting these childhood trinkets
“I firmly believe that our love of all things fluffy, cute and mindless is a way for us to reconnect with the innocence of our childhood pre-internet. A way for us to escape the stress of everyday working life.”
Maybe these collectables help bring out people’s inner child, or they offer an alternative to the ‘clean-girl’ office aesthetic that seems to dominate social media. Just like the ongoing jellycat hype, people are looking for anything unique and nostalgic to spice up their wardrobe and go against the current trend of ‘quiet luxury’. Fashion Writer for Vogue Arabia described
“At a time when quiet luxury has dominated mainstream trends, Labubu charms have shocked the system; waking up fashion enthusiasts with a bold, playful punch.”
Sylvanian Families
A staple in many people’s childhoods was Sylvanian Families. The mini animal figures remain a classic childhood toy, with collectable figures that both children and adults can collect. Just as Jellycats and Labubu dolls remain highly sought after, Sylvanian family figurines have now become a collectable item, as opposed to a standard childhood possession.
The current popularity of Sylvanian family trinkets shows a demand for the integration of childhood trinkets with contemporary fashion. Adding these cute little toy chains to your bag or keys may mean you are longing for that sense of childhood nostalgia.
Overconsumption
We all long for these senses of nostalgia, and the ability to change up our fashion wherever we can. With the continual bag charm trends that keep occuring, and the repeated rise and fall of these childhood trinkets.
At what point does it become overconsumption? TikTok seems to play a part in promoting these trends. By encouraging users to purchase the latest trinket through a targeted algorithm, leading to products selling out. We often cannot escape these trends, which leads to everybody copying and repeating the cycle.
“The Labubu craze is the perfect example of how quickly quirky items can become commodified by the fashion industry. Now with the power of TikTok, it catapults brands and their products right to the forefront of our explore pages.”
Even if Labubu Dolls and other popular bag charms are just another social media trend, there seems to be no slowing down for them yet. With people reselling these toy charms at extortionate prices, it is clear most are longing for a reminder of their childhood to attach to their everyday bag.
