Somewhere between 2023 and 2025, a small, toothy monster started showing up on handbags everywhere. Birkins included. And at some point the whole thing genuinely stopped being just a toy story. Labubu went from a niche collectible figure to one of the most photographed accessories in fashion, dangling off everything from a tote at school pickup to a designer bag on a red carpet.
Here’s the thing though. The appeal was never really just about collecting the character itself. Somewhere along the way it became part of how people actually style a bag, an easy way to add personality to something that’s otherwise pretty plain. So let’s get into it: what a Labubu keychain actually is, how it went from a blind-box toy to a genuine fashion accessory, and where the trend actually stands now that the initial frenzy’s cooled off a bit.
What Is a Labubu Keychain?
Labubu, pronounced “lah-boo-boo,” started life as a character in Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung’s illustrated book series called The Monsters, first showing up back in 2015. Lung grew up between Hong Kong and the Netherlands, and he built an entire fairy-tale world for the series drawing on Nordic mythology. Labubu was just one of several creatures living in that world, officially described as a small monster with pointed ears, serrated teeth, and a mischievous look that hides a genuinely kind heart underneath.
The character stayed a fairly niche art-toy favorite until 2019, when Lung partnered with Chinese collectibles company Pop Mart to actually turn Labubu into physical vinyl and plush figures. Pop Mart’s the company behind the now-famous blind-box format, and they released the first keychain version of the plush in 2023. That’s really the point where things started shifting from “collectible sitting on a shelf” to “thing hanging off your bag.”
A regular Labubu figure is generally meant for display, sitting there as part of a collection. The keychain version’s built specifically to attach to something, a bag, a backpack, an actual set of keys, which is exactly what turned it into a wearable accessory instead of just a display piece.
How Labubu Became So Popular
The Role of Pop Mart
Pop Mart’s whole business model runs on scarcity and surprise, and Labubu became its biggest showcase for that approach by far. The company doesn’t just sell you a figure outright. It sells a mystery, basically, and that mystery is a huge part of why people kept coming back for more.
The Appeal of Blind Boxes
With a blind box, you genuinely have no idea which specific design you’re getting until you open it. That element of surprise turns a simple purchase into something closer to an actual event, and it’s a big reason people don’t stop at buying just one. Chasing a specific colorway, or a rare “secret” design hidden somewhere in a series, is part of the fun, and it naturally encourages both repeat buying and trading with other collectors.
Social Media and Unboxing Culture
TikTok and Instagram really did most of the actual work turning Labubu from a collectible into a full-blown viral moment. Unboxing videos, styling clips, “which Labubu did I get” reveals, all of it feeds an algorithm that rewards exactly that kind of anticipation-and-payoff content. By 2025, Labubu content had racked up enormous engagement on TikTok specifically, and the character became one of the platform’s defining fashion and lifestyle obsessions of that year.
Celebrity Influence
Celebrity sightings sped things up too, and honestly the list of names is longer than you’d expect. Rihanna’s been photographed with a pink Labubu clipped to a Louis Vuitton tote. Dua Lipa’s worn more than one of her bags. Blackpink’s Lisa, Hilary Duff, and Kim Kardashian have all been spotted with the charms as well, and even David Beckham reportedly ended up with one, a gift from his daughter Harper apparently. That kind of visibility across such a wide range of people helped push Labubu out of niche collector circles and into a much more mainstream fashion conversation.
From Collectible Toy to Labubu Bag Charm
Here’s the part that actually explains why this turned into a fashion story rather than just a toy story. Labubu didn’t invent the idea of decorating a handbag with small objects hanging off it. It landed directly on top of a bag-charm trend that was already building through 2024, when plush toys, beaded chains, and novelty keychains started showing up on designer bags well before Labubu became the specific character everyone wanted.
Labubu just happened to be the character that fit that exact moment. Distinctive enough to be instantly recognizable, small enough to actually attach to a bag without looking absurd, and available in enough colors and variations that people could genuinely collect multiples without every bag looking the same.
Why Labubu Works So Well as a Bag Charm
A few things line up here, honestly. The size is right, small enough to clip onto most bag hardware without overwhelming it. The look’s distinctive, so it reads as an intentional choice rather than random clutter. There’s real variety across colors and designs too, which keeps it collectible instead of a one-and-done purchase. And practically speaking, it’s just an easy, relatively cheap way to make an otherwise plain bag feel more personal.
Why Are Labubu Keychains a Fashion Trend?
Bag charms in general tap into something bigger than just decoration. Personalization’s become a real priority in how people approach fashion lately, and a charm’s one of the easiest ways to make a mass-produced bag feel like it actually belongs to you specifically.
There’s also a maximalist, playful undercurrent running through a lot of current style, a pushback against the overly minimal, quiet-luxury dressing that’s been dominant for a while, in favor of something with more personality and a bit of humor built in. Labubu’s slightly unsettling, slightly cute look fits neatly into what people call the “ugly-cute” aesthetic, a style category that leans into charm through imperfection rather than conventional prettiness. not too far removed from the accessory-heavy layering that’s long defined Decora fashion out of Harajuku.
There’s a nostalgia angle in there too, since plush toys and childhood-coded objects have become a recurring theme in adult fashion generally. And on a practical level, a charm’s just a genuinely affordable way to refresh a bag you already own without buying anything new. That explains part of why people who’d never normally spend on a designer handbag were suddenly willing to spend on a small plush addition to one they already had. It’s also become a popular way to mix luxury and playfulness in the same look, pairing something as serious as a structured designer tote with a slightly absurd monster hanging off the strap.
How to Style a Labubu on Your Bag
On a tote bag, it works as simple, everyday styling, clipped to a side ring or strap where it can move around a little without getting in the way. A shoulder bag calls for something more restrained, a small detail rather than the main event, letting the bag’s own shape stay the actual focus. With a mini bag, the opposite’s often true. One charm can genuinely become the focal point of the whole thing, since there’s less surface area for it to compete with. Backpacks lean more casual and streetwear-adjacent, and that’s where people are more likely to add a second or third charm without it looking cluttered.
As for stacking multiple charms, it can genuinely work, but it depends on restraint. A couple complementary charms in a similar size range reads as curated. A pile of mismatched charms in different sizes and colors tends to tip into visually busy pretty fast, so it’s worth thinking about it the same way you’d think about layering jewelry, rather than just clipping on everything you own at once.
How to Style a Labubu on a Purse
Labubu on purse styling has become an easy way to add personality to an otherwise classic handbag, and a few pairings tend to work particularly well. A neutral, plain-colored purse gives a colorful Labubu room to actually stand out rather than competing with a busy print or bold bag color. Matching the charm’s tone to the bag’s color family, rather than picking something totally random, tends to look more deliberate than accidental.
On a genuinely luxury-style handbag, a single, well-chosen charm usually reads better than several at once, since the goal there is a playful accent, not a full transformation of the bag’s look. And tying the charm’s color into whatever you’re already wearing that day is a simple way to make the whole outfit feel considered rather than random.
Popular Labubu Keychain Styles
Rather than trying to rank specific releases, it’s more useful to just think about the general categories people collect. Plush Labubu keychains are the softer, fabric-based versions most commonly seen on bags. Colorful charms come in a wide range of solid and patterned finishes. Themed or seasonal designs tie into holidays or specific collaborations. Limited-edition releases create the scarcity that drives a lot of the collecting and resale activity. Some releases include tiny character outfits or accessories on the figure itself, and matching sets let collectors build out a small family of related designs instead of one-off pieces.
Why People Collect Labubu Keychains
The surprise factor is really where it starts. Blind boxes make the act of opening the product part of the actual experience, not just a step before you get to the “real” reward. The collection factor follows naturally from that, since people often want multiple colors, outfits, or characters rather than settling for just one. The trading factor kicks in once rarer or more desirable designs enter the picture, creating a genuine secondary resale and trading market around specific releases. And the personal style factor covers everyone who’s collecting less for the toy itself and more because they specifically want something to decorate a bag or backpack with.
Labubu Keychains and the Rise of Personalized Fashion
Zoom out far enough and Labubu fits into a much bigger shift toward Personalized fashion generally. Bag customization, novelty keychains, plush charms, beaded accessories, DIY styling, maximalist bag setups, all of it points toward the same underlying idea, that individual expression matters more right now than uniform, matchy styling. It’s the same nostalgic, childhood-coded pull driving a lot of the current Y2K fashion revival, just expressed through an accessory instead of a whole outfit.
Bag charms had already become a significant customization trend before Labubu’s explosion specifically, which actually explains a lot about why the character translated into fashion so smoothly instead of staying a toy-aisle phenomenon. It landed on top of an audience that was already primed to decorate their bags with something.
Are Labubu Keychains Still Trending?
Worth being honest here rather than treating this as some permanent, unshakeable trend. Labubu absolutely was one of the defining fashion accessories of 2025, and by the time it showed up at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as an official Pop Mart balloon that November, it had genuinely crossed over from niche collectible into a full mainstream cultural moment.
That said, later coverage into early 2026 has pointed to real signs of cooling. Fashion press has openly discussed the bubble deflating somewhat compared to its spring 2025 peak, alongside reports of a slump in Pop Mart’s own stock. That doesn’t mean the trend’s vanished entirely. Plenty of people are still styling and collecting Labubu. But it’s more accurate at this point to call it a smaller, steadier niche than the unstoppable, still-accelerating phenomenon it was at its peak.
How to Choose a Labubu Keychain
A few practical things worth weighing. Think about the size of your bag, since a large charm can overwhelm a small purse just as easily as a tiny one can get lost on an oversized tote. Consider color against what you already own, whether you want it to match or deliberately contrast. Decide how much decoration you actually want before buying multiples, since it’s easy to end up with way more charms than you’ll ever use. Choose between one clear statement piece or a small curated set rather than buying randomly. And think honestly about whether you’re buying for everyday use or genuine collecting, since that changes whether resale value or rarity should factor into the decision at all.
How to Tell If a Labubu Keychain Is Authentic
A few general precautions are worth taking here, without pretending to offer some definitive authentication checklist, since counterfeit details shift over time anyway. Buy from Pop Mart directly or from clearly reliable, established retailers whenever you can. Be genuinely cautious of prices that seem unusually low for a supposedly official release. Look closely at packaging and finishing details, since inconsistent stitching or noticeably different materials can be a real red flag. Treat resale listings with a bit more scrutiny than a first-party purchase, and don’t assume something’s rare just because a seller says so. If authenticity genuinely matters to you, checking directly against Pop Mart’s own current guidance before buying secondhand is worth the extra few minutes it takes.
Labubu Keychain as a Gift
A Labubu keychain works well as a gift for a few fairly specific kinds of people. Dedicated collectors who already know the different series. Fashion-minded friends who’d enjoy a new bag accessory. Anyone who’s into playful or slightly quirky style choices. People who just like the appeal of a small surprise built into the gift itself. It also works fine as a lower-cost, casual gift for a birthday or small occasion where you want something fun rather than something expensive.
Final Thoughts
What makes Labubu keychains genuinely interesting isn’t really just the character, though the design certainly helps. It’s that they sit right at the intersection of collectible toy and fashion accessories, a space that doesn’t get filled successfully all that often. No single factor created this trend on its own. The character’s own charm, the blind-box collecting model, a social media ecosystem practically built for this kind of unboxing content, a wave of celebrity visibility, and a bag-charm movement that was already gaining momentum before Labubu even showed up, all of it combined to turn a fairly small plush toy into one of the more recognizable fashion accessories of the mid-2020s.
