Key takeaways:
- Chinese toymaker POP MART has been shifting its image from a “blind box” maker to an IP-centric brand, while aggressively expanding overseas.
- It has launched several fashion collaborations since March, as well as its latest campaign with fellow IP-licensor Disney.
- It is also using offline events at Harrods and Dover Street Mark, with limited collaboration figurines/bag charms to enter the luxury fashion world.
Chinese toymaker POP MART has been taking the world by storm with its hit IP, LABUBU. Commentators have long discussed how POP MART is moving beyond its image as just a “blind box” toymaker and positioning itself as an IP-centric brand through frequent collaborations. These collaborations include licensing its IPs and using others’ IPs for its products, but it remains primarily focused on its “blind box” figurines.
POP MART is moving beyond its image as just a “blind box” toymaker and positioning itself as an IP-centric brand
They’re in fashion
It’s not the first time that POP MART has done fashion collaborations. From the Valentino MOLLY figurine collab to LABUBU’s stint at Milan Fashion Week, the brand’s past collabs are mostly publicity-centric and limited in number. Since the beginning of March, POP MART has already announced two more accessible co-branded collections with two of its popular IPs.
On 3 March, POP MART launched its collab collection with Shanghai-based fashion brand D’zzit. As part of both brands’ campaigns ahead of International Women’s Day (IWD), the collection features Nyota, one of POP MART’s IPs and actress Ai Mi as the model to show a “slower” lifestyle for women in the form of “slow fashion” provided by D’zzit. The launch also includes a “literary prize” on Rednote, which calls for writing on the theme of “slow emotions”.
On 8 March, POP MART and British fashion brand BOY London announced that they are partnering up for a collection featuring POP MART’s PINO JELLY. It aims to break down the barrier “between dimensions” (as cartoon characters are often called “2-dimensional” or “二次元erciyuan”) and combines the “soft and cutesy” PINO JELLY with the rebellious punk spirit of BOY LONDON, and its iconic yet somewhat controversial eagle insignia. BOY London also brought in its frequent partner, Chinese singer and actor Adam Fan Chengcheng as the face of the collection.
First we take London
Apart from co-branding with fashion brands, POP MART is also conquering the luxury fashion world on the ground. On 10 March, a three-way collaboration was announced between Perfect Magazine, Dover Street Market (DSM) and the Zimomo IP, fellow MONSTER of LABUBU, for an exclusive and limited-to-100-piece figurine, leveraging the recent bag charm boom.
The launch is followed by the 14 March opening of an eight-week pop-up space at London’s prestigious Harrods department store. People queued outside Harrods for a chance to meet Kasing Lung (龍家昇), the creator of the MONSTERS, including LABUBU and ZIMOMO. Lung hosted a signing at the DSM the next day for the ZIMOMO figurine as well.
S-DIMOO-boat Willie
Earlier this year, the founder and CEO of POP MART, Wang Ning, announced that the company no longer aims to be the “Disney of China”. In fact, POP MART has been licensing Disney IPs quite regularly for its blind box products, and Disney can be seen as a regular part of the IP-centric toymaker’s roster. Late last year, POP MART officially opened its Disney Village shop in France.
In mid-March, POP MART announced its latest collab, this time between Disney and its DIMOO IP. The collection features DIMOO dressed up as Disney characters, most notably Mickey Mouse, including the Steamboat Willie characterisation mentioned in the subheading above. The promotional campaign is equally eye-catching with two pop-ups, one in Shenzhen and the other at Disneytown in Shanghai. There will also be a new “DIMOO World Disney” theme for the “ROBO SHOP” vending machines across China.
With other bold moves such as a Hirono concept store in Shanghai and a Hirono collab with Hong Kong-based street fashion brand CLOT, as well as a The Little Prince-themed exhibition at the Louvre, also with the Hirono IP, POP MART is quickly expanding the influence of its IPs.
The frequent licensing and collaboration reminds one of another IP leviathan: Sanrio
Many pundits feel that POP MART IPs lack the stories behind them as Disney characters do. But the frequent licensing and collaboration reminds one of another IP leviathan: Sanrio. Although Hello Kitty and Kuromi appear in a variety of animated shorts and shows, the characters always seem to be more focused on the mascot than their stories. However, POP MART is trying to be “the POP MART of the world”, so of course, it will be exploring its own strategies for that. But with the global LABUBU boom, it is only natural for the company to take a leaf out of the Sanrio book and try to establish the fuzzy MONSTER in the pop culture canon.
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