These Labubus might just be recession-era fashion's weirdest symptom.
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00:00These Labooboo's might just be recession-era fashion's weirdest symptom
00:04and the secret to it may lie in a completely different product, this.
00:08Made by Chinese toy maker Popmart, Labooboo is part of a blind box collectable series
00:13that can resell for up to $300.
00:16It's not rare, it's not functional and it's definitely not cheap.
00:20So why is it everywhere?
00:22Because every time our economy takes a hit, fashion and consumer choices start speaking louder.
00:28Start with the French Revolution.
00:30The collapse of the aristocratic power wasn't just political, it reshaped how people dressed
00:35in the West.
00:36Ornate governments gave way to simpler, more practical fashion that echoed the new ideals
00:40of liberty, equality and fraternity.
00:43Economic strain made extravagance out of touch.
00:46Then came the 1930s and the Great Depression.
00:49Out of that era, austerity emerged.
00:51Coco Chanel's little black dress, minimal, affordable and elegant, it rejected the frills
00:56of the past.
00:57Vogue famously called it the frog that all the world would wear.
01:01The Ford Model T of fashion or Maruti 800 if you're in India.
01:05The 1982 global recession brought on another wave, this time of rebellion.
01:09Punk exploded.
01:10Tall fishnets, safety pins, distressed denim, fashion as protest.
01:15After the 2008 financial crisis, the mood shifted again.
01:18Flashy logos went out of style.
01:20What mattered was longevity, value and subtlety.
01:23Fashion designer Phoebe Philo's minimalist designs embodied this perfectly.
01:27Clean lines, neutral tones, wardrobe staples over statement pieces.
01:31Some reports even claim that Hermes let anxious customers take their Birkins home in plain brown
01:36bags instead of their signature bright orange because flaunting wealth felt tone deaf.
01:41And now Labubu, we're not buying houses, we're not buying figurines.
01:44The Labubu craze may look absurd but it's following a very old pattern.
01:49Economists call it the lipstick effect.
01:51In times of economic stress, when big ticket luxuries are out of reach, people gravitate towards
01:55smaller indulgences like lipsticks or now Labubu's.
02:00A 300 figurine still feels rational compared to a $30,000 bag.
02:05But it scratches the same psychological itch.
02:08Status, taste, survival.
02:10Economist Robert Frank talks about this in his book Luxury Fever.
02:14How we often consume not for utility but for identity.
02:17It's not what a product does, it's what it signifies.
02:20According to JP Morgan, the chance of a global recession in 2025 has fallen to 40%.
02:26So no, Labubu is not just a toy, it's a recession artifact.
02:30A tiny viral symbol of how we cope, how we express ourselves and how we perform resilience
02:36in a shaky economy.