“`html
For Stella Huang, the purchase of her first Jellycat plush toy coincided with a period of unemployment at the height of the pandemic.
Following a recommendation from a school friend familiar with the British-designed toys, she discovered the brand’s allure. However, it was a gingerbread house plushie spotted on the Chinese social media platform RedNote that truly captured her affection.
While Christmas maintains a largely commercial presence in China, lacking deeper traditional significance for many, Stella expressed, “The festival doesn’t mean a lot to me… But I always like the sight of gingerbread houses.” This prompted her to enlist the help of a friend in her hometown of Guangzhou to acquire the coveted item.
This occurred in 2021, just as Jellycat’s popularity was poised to surge in China and on a global scale.
“Everyone felt jittery, and no-one knew what would happen,” recounts Stella, who since the onset of Covid, has found solace in petting and squeezing her plushies. She endured extended periods at home in Beijing, a city subject to some of the world’s most stringent lockdown measures.
Now 32, Stella has returned to the workforce as a sales manager in the tourism sector, yet her affinity for Jellycats persists. Her collection has expanded to encompass 120 toys, with a cumulative value of approximately 36,000 yuan ($5,145; £3,815).
“At my age, there are many things you can’t share with others… and the troubles we face are a lot more complicated than before,” she says with a sigh. “The plushies help me regulate my emotions.”
Originally conceived for children, these soft toys have garnered widespread appeal, particularly in China, where a generation of disillusioned young adults seeks comfort in their embrace.
Stella’s Gingerbread house plushie belongs to the “Amuseable” line, a range of toys featuring endearing facial expressions on inanimate objects, from toilet rolls to boiled eggs. These plushies have emerged as “breakout products” that “appeal to a wide Gen-Z and millennial audience” globally, according to Kasia Davies of the global analysis firm Statista.
The popularity of these toys “may have something to do with wanting to feel companiable”, suggests Isabel Galleymore of the University of Birmingham, in the UK.
While it remains uncertain whether Jellycat intentionally targeted the young adult demographic with the launch of its now-iconic Amuseable line in 2018, Ms. Davies notes that toy manufacturers are increasingly compelled to explore new markets in response to declining birth rates worldwide.
Jellycat first entered the Chinese market as early as 2015.
Having laid the “groundwork”, the toy maker was able to capture “the tone of the pandemic” – when people sought comfort amid heightened uncertainty – and built on its success in China, says Kathryn Read, a business consultant with 15 years’ experience in China.
Jellycat’s popularity has been further amplified by its pop-up experiences, which offer limited-edition “food” items. Many fans document their interactions with these events and share the content on social media.
Localization has been a core strategy for the Jellycat experience. For example, fans could purchase stuffed versions of fish, chips, and mushy peas at a temporary store at Selfridges in London.
Teapot and teacup plushies were among the items sold at special outlets in Beijing and Shanghai last year.
In 2024, the UK-based firm’s revenue rose by two-thirds to £333m ($459m), according to its most recent Companies House accounts. During the same period, the company generated an estimated $117 million in sales to Chinese consumers via major e-commerce platforms, according to data from Beijing-based Moojing Market Intelligence.
The company’s ascendance mirrors a broader surge in China’s collectable toy market, as young adults seek emotional solace and a sense of community.
Overall sales of collectable toys in China are projected to exceed 110 billion yuan this year, according to a 2024 report issued by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the China Animation Association.
The remarkable success of Labubu, the elf-like dolls created by Chinese toy maker Pop Mart, underscores the country’s burgeoning appetite for collectable toys, particularly among younger demographics.
This “kidult” trend is not unique to China, as young adults around the world question “outdated understandings of adulthood”, says Prof Erica Kanesaka, a cultural expert at Emory University in the US.
Global toy sales fell in 2024 – albeit by less than 1% – but collectable toy sales rose by almost 5%, to a record high, according to market research company Circana.
Amuseables, especially the aubergine, which Chinese fans call “the boss”, have also spawned memes, with many sharing frustrations about adult life.
“Aubergine boss” is a hashtag on RedNote, where fans draw different expressions on the plushie. In these memes, the aubergine appears in various moods from drinking to fake-smiling.
For example, Wendy Hui from Hong Kong modified her aubergine Amuseable by drawing dark circles around its eyes and putting a pair of glasses on it. She then posted a picture of it on Threads with the caption: “The mental state of workers on Monday.”
“I kept working at home even when I was supposed to be off,” the 30-something marketing professional says. “I just wanted to express how exhausted I was.”
Jellycat has become an unexpected, light-hearted outlet for young Chinese people to air their grievances about a slowing economy, where hard work doesn’t guarantee comparable rewards. Despite heavy censorship, the internet has remained an important, if not the only, space for such conversations.
The brand also often launches limited-edition products and retires designs. The strategy, which many in China call “hunger marketing”, has also helped make Jellycat toys a favourite on social media in the country.
Collecting can feel like a treasure hunt, with fans combing department stores and independent shops for Jellycats when they travel overseas. Some resort to “daigou”, overseas-based shopping agents. And rare Jellycats, a status symbol among some fans, change hands for more than $1,400.
But most are cheap pick-me-ups amid a sluggish economy plagued by a property crisis and high local government debt. China’s youth unemployment rate has eased a little after hitting a record high in August, but official figures show it is still above 17%.
“You have to consider for a long time before buying a luxury bag,” 34-year-old medical sales representative Jessie Chen says. “But you don’t need to do that for a Jellycat.
“Jellycat also sells bags, which cost just a few hundred yuan [tens of US dollars]. They are practical and can hold a lot of things, so you might change the way you think about luxury goods.”
But China may have already reached peak Jellycat, with fans noticing less discussion about the toys on social media.
Ms. Hui has turned to “blind boxes” of toys like Teletubbies – where customers only find out what they have bought when they open the package – as a more thrilling, and cheaper, alternative. She has even considered “quitting the pit” – Chinese slang for retiring a hobby.
“It is so difficult to buy them,” Stella says. “Our daily life is not easy already and why should we make things harder for ourselves?”
Chinese people pay a 13% sales tax on contraceptives from 1 January, while childcare services are exempt.
Countries around the world celebrated the new year with colourful shows and long-held traditions.
The daughter of Jimmy Lai tells the BBC that her father’s health is deteriorating in prison.
Somaliland wants international recognition – here’s why, and what could have driven Israel to recognise it now.
The US President has downplayed the drills which follow a US announcement of an $11bn arms sale to Taiwan.
“`