Chinese toy giant Pop Mart (泡泡玛特) has taken a gold-medal leap into Europe. Last week, the brand’s breakout IP, LABUBU, staged a three-day Milan debut, positioning itself at the intersection of winter sport, street culture and fashion. The headline moment? An appearance at the inauguration of the International Skating Union’s Skating House, where ISU president Jae Youl Kim presented LABUBU with a Winter Olympics skating ‘first gold’ in recognition of its support for ice sports.
During the event, a life-sized LABUBU posed for pics and interacted with attendees. They even managed to get athletes involved. And best of all, LABUBU joined in the ribbon-cutting.
However, the activation goes deeper than ceremony. LABUBU also went beyond the Milan Winter Olympics to tour the city on a custom bus, stopping at landmarks like the Duomo di Milano to distribute Italy-exclusive collectable pins and lanyards. The strategy was simple: turn spectators into participants, and public space into social media fuel.
On its final day in Italy LABUBU pivoted into fashion, partnering with Milan-based street-culture magazine NSS. The character fronted a fashion editorial, completing a shift from collectable figurine to something more like a style icon.
It all signals that Pop Mart are pushing beyond fan circles. Rather than relying on retail alone, they’re pushing LABUBU beyond the Milan Winter Olympics into new spheres.
It’s a fair move. The Olympics is a high-profile event. Milan has a lot of cultural clout as a fashion hub. And Pop Mart can only benefit from framing LABUBU as a cultural asset. As location goes, Milan is well placed right now to expand the IP from toy to, well, whatever they want it to be.
