Look of the Week: Marc Jacobs totes a boxed Labubu

CNN

3 days ago

When Marc Jacobs designed The Tote Bag, it seemed like the world nodded and scurried out to buy one overnight. When he launched his junior sub-brand Heaven, the notoriously elusive Gen Z shopper quickly claimed it as the aspirational label du jour. So it's perhaps fitting that on Monday, before he had even shown his Spring-Summer 2026 collection, Jacobs had another stroke of innovation — this one was box-fresh.
On the day of his latest runway, Jacobs was photographed walking into the New York Public Library — where his off-schedule collection would show hours later — carrying a black leather Hermès Birkin bag adorned with a shrimp tempura Labubu. Unlike most Labubu enthusiasts, though, who attach the grinning toy to their bags with its built-in carabiner, Jacobs chose to attach the bag charm without removing it from its blister pack, hooking it on as if he were putting it on a retail rack.
Jacobs joined the Labubu craze thanks to makeup artist and longtime collaborator, Pat McGrath, who posted a video to TikTok of the designer receiving the gift.
'She's major,' Jacobs said, attaching the box to his bag. 'Is this how you do it?' McGrath laughed, replying: 'Well, to each his own.'
Honored to gift my dear friend @marcjacobs HIS FIRST #Labubu Enjoy xx SO divine! 💋💄💫 Created by artist Kasing Lung and sold by Chinese toy maker Pop Mart, Labubus were popularized in 2020, though they've become a full-blown phenomenon in the past year as customers scramble to collect the sought-after limited editions for resale — with one Labubu selling for $150,000 earlier this month at an auction in Beijing.
Fastening a Labubu to a designer handbag has become a new favorite habit of the fashion set, who have been wearing theirs to runway shows for a number of seasons. The high-low contrast between a $27.99 toy and, say, a $4,700 Bottega Veneta Andiamo leather tote bag has become a knowing wink, a 4-inch-tall totem of irony. Even celebrities such as Rihanna, Lisa and Dua Lipa — the last of whom is known for her Jane Birkinification of whatever bag is in the crook of her elbow — have been spotted with the furry monsters in tow.
That Jacobs has joined in is no surprise — his own playful, pop-culture influenced designs are a natural fit for the accessory, and TikTok users have been painstakingly color-matching their Tote Bags to the cartoonish toys for months. But the choice to wear his Labubu boxed is a touch of camp for the designer, who has been metaphorically unboxing dolls on the runway for multiple seasons.
Inspired by the artifice of playthings, Jacobs turned to 1960s paper dolls last February, and this season opened the door to the dollhouse once again with clownish, clomping platform heels that forced his models to walk with a Barbie-like gait. Many models were adorned with huge bows in their hair — stiff and flat as cardboard — with puff-sleeves so large they could double as airbags.
Although protective Labubu cases are already creeping onto the market, perhaps Jacobs' pristine in-the-packet approach will kickstart a new trend — even if the designer was just trying to safeguard his latest investment. After all, Jacobs is a collector at heart. He spent years acquiring original works by John Currin, Andy Warhol, Richard Prince and Ed Ruscha, and, in 2019, he announced that he would be selling most of his fine art via Sotheby's to make space to 'start again.' Now, that collection is sure to be filled with the toothy-grinned PopMart bag charms — in their boxes of course — in no time.