Labubus — the paragon of the “performative” aesthetic. Once a niche collectible, Labubu have had a meteoric success, with prices ranging from forty dollars to an astonishing 30,000. Their fame nowadays, however, has undermined their origin and meaning. 

Labubu’s rapid rise to fame started in early 2024, when many influencers, celebrities, and pop culture figures began parading Labubu on their social medias. Lisa from BLACKPINK and Dua Lipa are only two of the innumerable celebrities that endorsed Labubu, bringing them into the spotlight. Labubu was toted as an aesthetic accessory, showing quirkiness and taste. Labubu sales from Pop Mart soared after its appearance on influencers’ social medias, fans crazed by the appeal of owning a Labubu just like their favorite pop star. Within months, Labubu became not a collectible but rather a performance of identity. People no longer bought it simply because they enjoyed its artistry, rather, they bought it just to be seen liking it.

This graph visualizes the continuously rising consumption of Labubus, reflecting the craze for the collectible as a material rather than an admiration of the creator and their artistic vision, has undermined 

This transformation has produced a divide between authentic Labubu collectors and the performative ones. The former will tend to value early editions, especially the 2015-2018 series under The Monsters series, which embodies Kaising Lung’s artistic intent and vision. These original Labubus are handpainted, limited, and rooted in mythological symbolism and Nordic folklore that inspired them. The latter, by contrast, chase limited-edition collaborations or what is known as “hype drops” such as the rainbow or neon-themed Labubus released after celebrity endorsement. These newer versions tend to emphasize spectacle over meaning, which ultimately reduces Labubus into a prop rather than a vessel through which to appreciate art. What once was a symbol of imagination and creativity of the creator has now been reduced to a symbol of status and popularity. Such appropriation clearly demonstrates how pop culture can easily mutate creativity and art into performance. 

The fame of Labubu has also raised questions and concerns about Kaising Lung’s ownership of his work Countless fake and unlicensed versions, popularly known as Lafufus, have been successfully sold, undermining the originality and value of Lung’s design. 

Ultimately, Labubu’s story is more than a simple toy gone viral. It’s a reflection of ourselves. What once stood for individuality and imagination now stands for image and imitation. While Lung remains relatively obscure, his creation has been copied, reproduced, and profited from by others. In a sense, the very same culture that birthed the worldwide craze for Labubu has also taken it away from its creator.