Tattoos, outfits, and desserts: The great Labubu takeover of Philadelphia

At Room 67, a private, appointment-only tattoo studio near the border of East Kensington and Fishtown, the walls are draped with fairy lights and disco balls. Natural light floods in through the large windows as tattoo artist and shop owner Rachel Behm preps her station.

She slips on her pink gloves and chooses a mix of magenta and orange inks for her next appointment. This client isn’t chatty, nor does Behm need to worry about them squirming or giving aftercare instructions — it’s a Labubu.

For those uninitiated, Labubus, monster characters that resemble a sort of mischievous Furby-Troll hybrid, are everywhere. The plushie key chains have become the summer’s hottest accessory.

And now, collectors are accessorizing their accessories.

Behm, like many of her friends, fell victim to the dolls’ ugly-cute nature and has grown a personal collection — along with a reputation for accessorizing them — over the last month. At her tattoo shop, she and fellow artists sell a line of extreme Bubus, which are hand tattooed (with a real needle, yes) and bedazzled beyond belief.

She’s not the only Philly business owner getting in on the craze. Across town, the character is getting dressed, pierced, and even made into dessert.

We’ll explain.

The Labubu character, which dates back to 2015 and originated in Hong Kong, has become a fixture in modern pop culture, particularly the 6-inch plushie key chain version that comes in various colors and characters.

The character was designed by artist Kasing Lung and inspired by Nordic mythology. Some have pointed out its resemblance to the monsters in Where the Wild Things Are, which Lung said he was partly inspired by.

The creatures have furry bodies, pointy ears, furrowed, wide eyes, peachy skin-toned faces, and pointy, extra-toothy grins. Another calling card for Labubus is that they are sold as blind boxes, meaning the specific character is unknown until the box is unsealed, adding to the anticipation and collectibility.

The toys are made and distributed by Pop Mart, a Chinese toy company that sells a slew of vinyl and plushie designer toys and collectibles, particularly blind boxes. Besides Labubus, Pop Mart also sells popular Crybaby, Disney, and Snoopy toys.

What sets Labubus apart from other Pop Mart toys right now is their extreme virality and, in turn, their scarcity, paired with the bag charm fashion trend.

“Bag charms have been really popular as a way to show off your interests and personality for a while now, so Labubu popularity isn’t surprising to me,” said Shelly Horst, the founder of Room Shop, a trendy, small batch accessory studio based out of South Philly that launched a clothing line for the characters. “They are extremely cute, sort of hard to acquire, and look great clipped on a bag.”

Collectors have likened it to this generation’s Ty Beanie Babies.

“They’re cute yet weird, and people find them amusing,” said Claire Williamson, of Gloucester County. The 26-year-old who works in marketing said she was exposed to the toys on TikTok, but didn’t realize how popular they were at first.

The toys have even sparked a competitive resale and bootleg market (the fakes have been deemed Lafufus by enthusiasts).

“I’ll clip one on my bag if I feel like it, but so far I mostly keep them at home,” said Erin Bailey, 36, of Fairmount. “They’re so hotly in demand right now that I’m a little worried about them getting stolen off my bag.”

Yes, it’s that serious. That’s because Labubus are more than toys at this point. They’re a status symbol and fashion trend — worn as bag charms by Lisa from Blackpink, Dua Lipa, and Rihanna.

On a recent track, Lizzo namechecked the little monsters with the line, “Can’t even outdress my Labubu.”

The most direct route is going right to the source: Pop Mart.

But, unsurprisingly, it’s getting increasingly more difficult to get one before it sells out.

On social media, fans have compared trying to get a Labubu directly from Pop Mart’s app to the intensity and stress of trying to score a Taylor Swift or Beyoncé ticket. Bailey and Williamson each scored their first key chains on Pop Mart and likened the experience to gambling.

A Labubu direct from Pop Mart costs about $30. The benefits are avoiding resale markups and knowing the toy is authentic. The cons include the sheer scarcity and, if you’re hoping for a particular colorway, the blind box component.

Pop Mart also has several retail shops nationwide, including in New York, but no brick-and-mortar stores in Philadelphia. However, there are official Pop Mart “vending machines” stocking Labubus and other toys in the region, including the King of Prussia Mall and Cherry Hill Mall.

Several Philly retailers are selling Labubus, including Asia Crafts, Happy DIY, Little Seven House, deko deko, Ebisu, and Vault 215. These are typically priced higher than Pop Mart because of the difficulty in sourcing the dolls (around $60, usually).

Street vendors have been seen around town selling the fake “Lafufus,” too (there are many tips and tricks online for how to spot counterfeits).

In community Facebook groups, some collectors offer trades in hopes of getting their desired doll. Some collectors and Labubu lovers are also trying to organize meetups and picnics in Philly.

Once the ‘Bubu has been acquired, the new goal becomes accessorizing.

Behm at Room 67 and her shop mate and employee, Rachel Knabe, launched “Tattubu” last month — a side business focused on decking out Labubus in custom chains, tooth gems, eyebrow rings, and face tats.

The process is a simplified version of how Behm or Knabe would tattoo a human client. They draw on a stencil, select their ink, and tattoo the doll’s vinyl face. From there, they’ll add gems to teeth and above eyebrows, mimicking piercings, and make necklaces for the dolls.

Almost right after her first Labubu Instagram post, Behm said her social media engagement skyrocketed. They’ve since decorated and sold about 30 of the plushies. Each doll takes a few days for the artists to decorate between their real, human appointments.

“The train left the station — and it’s still rolling," Knabe said. “We’re gonna ride the wheels off.”

The artists acknowledge that they’re not the first to do this, but they might be among the first in Philly. Most importantly, they think it’s a lot of fun.

“I saw a popular tattoo company doing a flash day for the dolls, and I thought it was a great idea,” Behm said.

Knabe added that summer can be a slow season for tattooing. One day, when a client who happened to have their Labubu on their bag walked in, things fell into place. The client let them use their doll as a test subject. Behm posted an Instagram Reel of the finished product, which earned nearly 8,000 views — more than double what the tattooer’s videos usually garner.

Soon after, the artists headed to Philly’s Chinatown to find more Labubus.

“I think it was obvious — because we’re tattooers — if you give us something we can tattoo, we’re going to tattoo it," Knabe said. “Their faces are made of vinyl, which is an easy surface to work on.”

They’ve since found their own designated “dealers,” organizing meetups in Target parking lots, keeping them stocked in dolls — not just for selling but for their personal collections, too. The Room 67 shelves are stocked with custom dolls perched on ledges. Both Behm and Knabes’ purses have customized Labubus hanging off their handles.

“That’s how the ‘Bubu factory started,” Behm said. “We decided, let’s just keep doing it. And then ‘Tattubu’ was born.”

For $110 to $140, customers can purchase the hand-tattooed and bedazzled creations from Room 67.

On Friday the studio is hosting an all-day event, encouraging people to BYO ‘Bubu to get tattooed for a smaller fee (around $50 to 75, depending on the design). They’ll also be slinging human tattoos, with a flash sheet full of Labubu-themed designs.

But for monsters not quite ready to get tatted and pierced, there are other options.

At An-An & Annilé, a sustainable clothing store that recently opened a Chinatown location, there’s a Labubu dressing station with costumes and outfits for the dolls. Some resemble designer outfits, made to look like Gucci or Chanel.

Shelly Horst, founder of Room Shop, launched a line of pint-size purses and scrunchies for Labubus modeled after the brand’s popular human-size designs.

“A friend of mine begged me to make a feminine outfit for her Labubu because all she could find were faux designer outfits,” Horst said.

The plan was for Horst to make a cute little outfit for Soy Milk, the cream-colored Labubu, and send it back. But once the designer started, she said she couldn’t stop.

“It scratches a specific whimsical itch, like playing with dolls as an adult, but it’s socially acceptable and even considered fashionable.”

An Instagram post for the accessories had such great reception that Room Shop’s Labubu accessory line was born, with scrunchies, purses, and necklaces ranging in price from $14 to $22. Like Behm, Horst said the collection has amounted to “some of the best engagement on Instagram that we’ve seen in a while,” along with steady sales. Customers are even going as far as purchasing matching human-size and ‘Bubu-size items, à la American Girl.

To the naysayers, Knabe says Labubus are just the latest iteration of collectors collecting things, like Livestrong bracelets or special dinnerware sets.

“It’s like buying a fancy car — everyone has something they splurge on,” she said. “People might judge this and be like, ‘Why is everyone obsessed with these ugly little dolls?’ But that same person is probably spending money on something we’d think is ridiculous."

She also jokes that tattooing the dolls is healing her inner child.

Behm agrees.

“It’s funny!” she says. “That’s what I love about tattooing — it’s unexpected. This career is such a roller coaster. But it’s a fun surprise. Honestly, the work is fulfilling something in me."

Bailey from Fairmount suspects it’s also a sign of the times, alluding to the current political climate.

“Things are generally so awful that people are grasping for any boost of dopamine they can get,” she said. “I figure a couple of Labubus isn’t a bad price to pay for a little comfort and whimsy.”