🔗 Share this article

Stella Huang purchased her first Jellycat brand plush toy amid a period of job loss in the pandemic. Inspired by an acquaintance's passion for these UK-created creatures, her interest was fully ignited when she saw a unique gingerbread house design circulating on a major Chinese social media app.

Although Christmas is not widely celebrated in China, acting more as a retail occasion rather than a cultural tradition, the imagery of festive cottages appealed to Stella. "The festival doesn't hold much for me... However, I have always loved the look of gingerbread houses," she remarks. This led her to eventually ask an old friend in Guangzhou to buy it for her.

That purchase took place back in 2021, right as the brand was poised of achieving enormous success across China and beyond. "Everyone felt anxious, and nobody knew what exactly would happen," says Stella, who developed a habit of petting and squeezing her plushies to cope throughout a difficult period. Living in Beijing, which experienced some of the most stringent restrictions in the world, she passed a great deal of time indoors.

Now aged 32 with a new job in sales manager in the tourism industry, Stella continues to grow her assortment. It has reached approximately 120 toys, representing a cost of about 36,000 yuan. "As an adult, there are numerous matters that you cannot discuss with others... and the problems we encounter are far more complicated than in the past," she notes with a sigh. "The plushies help me regulate my emotions."

Initially created for children, these soft creatures have transformed into a global sensation, especially in China where an somewhat disillusioned youth demographic is seeking solace in them as a source of comfort and solace.

Understanding the Kidults

Stella's Gingerbread house plushie belongs to their "Amuseables" collection, a set of characters featuring small expressions modelled after commonplace items, from bathroom tissue and hard-boiled eggs. These plushies are considered the "breakout products" that "appeal to a wide Gen-Z and millennial demographic" around the world, as noted by market observers.

Their growing appeal "may have a connection to a desire to feel companiable," suggest experts. It is hard to say for sure if the launch of the now-iconic Amuseable line back in 2018 was a deliberate move to target the adult market, toy manufacturers are under pressure to need to cultivate alternative audiences due to falling fertility rates across numerous parts of the world.

The brand entered China as early as 2015. By laying the necessary "foundation", the company was well-positioned to tap into "the mood during Covid"—when people sought comfort amid heightened anxiety—capitalizing on this momentum in the country, as explained by industry experts.

Jellycat's fame was also boosted by engaging pop-up experiences. These retail events often featured a menu of limited-edition "culinary" products. Numerous fans record themselves interacting and share the clips online.

Adaptation to local tastes has also been a core approach. As an example, fans could purchase plush versions of classic British fare like fish, chips and mushy peas at a temporary shop overseas. Conversely, items like teapot and teacup toys were sold at special stores in Chinese metropolises last year.

Last year, the UK-based firm's revenue is said to have rose significantly to a substantial figure. In that timeframe, sales of roughly $117 million worth of its products in China on major e-commerce platforms, according to research data.

This expansion parallels a wider boom in China's collectable-toy sector among young adults in search of emotional support and community. Overall sales from collectible toys in China are expected to exceed 110 billion yuan annually, as per a recent analysis.

The remarkable popularity of other toys such as Labubu, elf-inspired figures from domestic company Pop Mart, highlights the country's growing demand for designer collectibles. This "adult-child" phenomenon isn't unique to China; adults globally are increasingly question "traditional notions of adulthood," observe academics.

Particularly, items like the eggplant character—affectionately dubbed "the boss" by Chinese fans—have also spawned numerous online jokes, where users sharing grievances regarding adult life. On social media, the "eggplant boss" hashtag serves as a platform where fans draw various emotive faces on the plushie, showing it in different states enjoying a drink to fake-smiling.

As an illustration, one Hong Kong-based, Wendy Hui, modified her eggplant toy adding bags under its eyes and placing spectacles on it. She shared a picture on a social platform with the caption: "The mood of workers at the start of the week." "I was working at home even during time off," she explains. "I just wanted to convey the level of exhaustion I was."

Thus, Jellycat has become a surprising, whimsical outlet for young Chinese to air their frustrations about a slowing economy, in which hard work no longer guarantee commensurate returns. Despite strict content regulation, the internet have become an important, perhaps the primary, arena for such discussions.

The brand's regular releases of limited-edition designs coupled with the discontinuation of older designs—an approach often called "hunger marketing" in China—has further fueled {