TikTok trends are driving a craze of toy keychains – so can sentimental memorabilia become the new micro trend of the season?
It’s a grey weekday afternoon and the PopMart store in Soho is packed with customers, narrowly bumping into displays as they make their way around the small shop.
There are seasoned collectors weighing each box in search of their desired character, while onlookers are entranced by the window’s displays, inching closer to the shop’s entrance.
One of its most sought-after products, the Labubu keychain blind boxes, are nowhere to be seen – save for the giant version hanging on display, clearly not for sale.
“Ever since Lisa bought the keychain and posted it on social media, Labubu has been sold out,” the cashier tells me.
K-Pop girl group member Lisa from Blackpink has been seen with the furry doll on her bag and doing unboxing videos on Instagram, and since then people have flocked to Pop Mart stores in search of the furry monster blind boxes, which consist of a character keychain in various colours and outfits.
They have been extremely popular in Asia, achieving sales records in Thailand. Their popularity has also reached London’s Pop Mart shops while also selling out in America – and while PopMart has its origins in China, its demographic of buyers has begun to vary, even in the small store in London.
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“Most people who buy Labubus are Southeast Asians. It’s super popular, I would say among Singaporeans, Malaysians and Filipinos, but recently we’ve been getting a lot of other customers like British or European. They’ve fallen into the hype recently,” the cashier says, recounting her time working at the shop from July this year.
But will the hype die down? “Probably, eventually. I mean, everything does,” she tells me. “I think it’s popular now because of anyone who follows Lisa and it’s blown up on TikTok.”
These are common sights nowadays at PopMart. As the collectible toy shop grew in popularity, the Labubu keychain has entered the multiverse of bag accessories, with people flaunting their impressive collection on crossbody bags or hanging from belt loops. They have also taken the spotlight in mainstream fashion, recently appearing in London Fashion Week.
But keychains have never quite gone out of trend. Badges, pins and keychains of your favourite collectible dolls, fictional characters or singers are especially prevalent in punk and otaku subcultures.
This phenomenon of Labubu keychains may just be another product that’s all the rage, only to die down before we turn to the next best, somewhat affordable trinket.
TikTok trends, keychains and little trinkets
Accessorising your bags have made its rounds on TikTok earlier this year, with users paying homage to British-French actress and singer Jane Birkin. A muse for Hermes, she was known for adorning her bag with keepsakes and personal mementos, which users took to TikTok, ‘Jane Birkinifying’ their own bags with their personal items.
With endless ways to decorate and a plethora of keychains to hang on your bag, this trend promotes individuality and gives accessibility to what would otherwise be luxury fashion.
As Nia Davis, Designer at Fiorelli, says in Hello magazine, “there’s no wrong way to approach [the trend]. You don’t need a real designer bag to participate”.
While this trend is budget-friendly and promotes using what you already own to decorate and bedazzle your bags, items like Labubu keychains oppose it.
Costing upwards of £15 on the official website, its special designs and editions are priced at over £50, its inaccessibility further prompted as they are often sold out online and in store.
Commodification of the anik-anik girlie
There has been plenty of discussion on social media about these highly-coveted keychains, specifically among Filipino users who point out that these accessories come at a steep price.
With more people collecting them in bulk, they question whether collectibles are slowly losing individualistic and sentimental value.
A video by ABS-CBN News has been a point of discussion as Labubu fans showcase their newest additions to their collection. “WATCH: Anik-anik lovers Rhea, Sofia, and Denise believe that accessories, like collectibles from Pop Mart such as Labubu and Crybaby, serve as both fashion statements and a means to express their creativity and individuality,” the caption of the post reads.
Among the groaning in the comments section, one user says, “Ok the rich discovered anik-anik culture and made it their whole personality,” a comment which attracted more than three thousand likes in agreement.
Anik-anik is an umbrella term in Tagalog referring to collectibles and miniatures you accumulate over time. As Bao, a student and freelance artist from the Philippines, explains it: “Anik-anik doesn’t refer to a singular object, rather encompassing anything and everything. It’s often associated with inexpensive trinkets that we attach certain emotions and memories to. They are paraphernalia we can’t seem to dispose of, no matter how impractical they may seem.”
In an essay written by Bao, she explains how these collectibles and anik-anik have been associated more with consumerism. This is especially true in the age of social media and influencers, whose pages rely on promoting the next best thing to buy, or the cutest trinket to purchase for your satchel.
“Self-concept and self-expression both require a deep introspection into the self, but the superficiality of trends and micro trends hinders this.” Bao says.
Given the fast-paced nature of social media and the prevalent use of it from younger people, “we barely have time to sit with our own thoughts and identify what we resonate with. We feel like we need to own every single trendy thing, which leads to overconsumption.”
Nowadays, anik-anik has been characterised with “highly curated collections, artfully organised in photographs or short-form content. These collections are a projection of their personality, which may be perceived, to some extent, as perfect.” a passage from her essay reads.
Bao highlights the prominence of social media especially during the pandemic lockdowns, going hand-in-hand with self expression. Being cooped up at home with minimal human contact, it was common to get lost in chat rooms with other equally bored users or find time to curate your personal page, highlighting only the best moments to post.
It is no secret we all want to curate our personal pages, setting aside the worst parts of ourselves away from the digital spotlight. It counters individuality, as people search through hashtags and short-form content for the best way to decorate their bags or personal spaces to post about online.
But finding meaning to each and every accessory you own isn’t necessarily the point. “On one side of the spectrum, you can choose to display whatever you want on your bag – your trinkets don’t need to possess some profound, spiritual meaning,” Bao says.
“At the same time, I think it’s important for us to be cognisant of our purchases – are we buying something because of FOMO or because we genuinely like how it looks?”
Pre-made decorated bags, pre-packaged personalities
Jordinna, a self-proclaimed Sonic the Hedgehog fan, has spent their time building up a collection of merchandise from official sites and from illustrators or small brands.
Their crossbody bag, with its many compartments, pockets and zippers, are decorated with character keychains and illustrated badges. Whether it’s from their favourite video game or anime series, Jordinna acknowledges how these items are a commodity, further saturated by the endless algorithms of social media.
“It’s comparable to how people can highly curate their social media feeds in a way that ensures they are perceived in a specific manner. I think no matter how you put it, it’s still consumerist, which I don’t think is the problem, because collecting is inherently consumerist – you’re spending the money on things that you like.”
In the same vein, there has been online discussion of people selling pre-made decorated bags armed with their own badges, articulately placed across the fabric of a simple black shoulder bag.
The post reads: “The commodification of punk signals that gen z is, unfortunately, more interested in aesthetics rather than truly engaging with the world around them. you’re supposed to thrift your bag and gather pins by supporting local bands, art collectives, or making them yourself”.
Pre-made decorated bags, to be mass produced with identical badge and keychain designs, has existed in alternative and Japanese otaku subcultures – something both Jordinna and Bao had referenced in conversation.
Originally known as the ita bag, it started in the early 2010s and involved fans to accumulate pins and badges of their favourite idols or characters. While pre-decorated ita bags are also sold and produced, these rows of sometimes rare or limited badges lining the bag can often showcase someone’s dedication to other fans.
In the context of the current Labubu craze, the focus is entirely on aesthetics rather than meaningful statements or symbols to stand by.
“Gen. Z sees something and they just take it without any meaning,” Jordinna says. “They don’t approach it with any sort of symbolism, it’s just something that looks nice and they don’t bother to really understand it.”
But as Bao mentioned, everything we wear or purchase don’t always have to have profound meaning towards our identities, and there is no need to scrutinise how anybody accessorises their belongings.
“Personally I love charms as they reflect my interests over the years, just like little pieces of myself at different points in time.” Bao says. “I’m not philosophising and psychoanalysing every keychain I buy, but I am for treating the objects we choose to surround ourselves with, with care and consideration.”
Featured image by Anggi Pande