Having a Labubu is no longer the flex you think it is-heres why

Labubus are the most recent fashion trend taking over our Instagram and TikTok feeds by storm. When they first came on the scene, they were an insider fashionistas' little secret,the" if you know, you know" , item. While they started as a fashion insider's little status symbol, they quickly blew up and caught fire, not only being seen on your favorite fashion influencers at fashion week, but now on "That girl on your feed who owns ten Chanel bags and cant decide which one she wants to accessorize today with her rare Coca-Cola labub". SO, this begs the question, are labubus still a fashion status symbol, or has their popularity been run into the ground?

We can first start off by taking a look into what makes something "cool" or "trendy" in fashion, at the most obvious age-old answer is one word: exclusivity.

There's something about knowing something that the "others" don't know that makes it seem that much more special. This applies to any field, whether it's tech, finance, or healthcare; every industry has its secrets privy to insiders that distinguish it from those on the outside looking in. Fashion is no different. When these plushy little fur monsters came on the scene, the only people who knew about it were those who legitimately loved fashion. Not "Love" fashion in a generic sense, but the kind that makes a person want to have a pulse on what's new and fun to experiment with. After all, the essence of fashion is about play, expression, and creativity. The uniqueness and aspect of play of that is what gives it the "cool factor"

It wasn't long before Labubus started making headlines as the "hot item" to have, and they started flying off shelves, and it wasn't long before it seemed like everyone had one. There's something about something that was once about fun and expression being positioned to be pumped out to the masses as a means to essentially "show off" that takes the charm (no pun intended) away from it. The push to commercialize anything that started off with a more intimate symbolization is what ultimately cheapens the brand. That phenomenon is exactly what is happening now, and its my prediction that labubus will soon be less representative of fashion lovers and celebration of play, and more about those who care about using fashion as a means of clout chasing, and flaunting ,showing off that they have a coveted item to others.