Stella Huang purchased her first Jellycat brand soft toy during a period of unemployment in the pandemic. Inspired by an acquaintance's enthusiasm for these British-designed creatures, her curiosity was truly captured upon seeing a unique gingerbread cottage design on a widely-used social networking platform.
Although Christmas is not widely celebrated in China, being more of a retail occasion than a cultural tradition, the concept of gingerbread houses resonated to Stella. "The festival doesn't hold a lot to me... But I always like the look of those sweet houses," she states. This led her to request a friend in Guangzhou to buy the item on her behalf.
That acquisition was made back in 2021, right as the brand was about 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 hugging her plushies for comfort during that stressful time. Living in Beijing, which experienced some of the strictest lockdowns in the world, she passed extended periods indoors.
Now aged 32 and working as a sales manager in the tourism industry, Stella still grow her assortment. Her collection has swelled to around 120 toys, representing a cost of roughly 36,000 yuan. "As an adult, you have numerous matters you can't share with others... and the problems we encounter are a lot more complex than before," she notes with a sigh. "These soft toys assist me in regulate my feelings."
Originally designed with kids in mind, these soft toys have evolved into an international phenomenon, particularly within China where an somewhat disillusioned younger generation has been seeking solace in them for emotional support.
The Rise of Kidults
Stella's gingerbread cottage plushie is part of the "Amuseables" series, a range of toys featuring small faces modelled after commonplace inanimate objects, from toilet rolls and boiled eggs. These toys have become the "breakout success" which "resonate with a broad Gen-Z and millennial audience" globally, according to market observers.
Their growing popularity "could have a connection to wanting to feel companiable," suggest cultural commentators. While it's difficult to say for sure whether the introduction of the now-iconic Amuseable line back in 2018 was an intentional strategy to engage the young adult market, companies in the sector increasingly need to find alternative audiences amid declining fertility rates in many countries.
The brand made its foray into China as early as 2015. Having laid significant "foundation", the company was well-positioned to capture "the mood during Covid"—a time when individuals looked for comfort during heightened anxiety—capitalizing on its early success there, according to industry experts.
Its popularity was also propelled by engaging temporary events. These retail activations sometimes offered a selection of limited-edition "culinary" themed items. Numerous fans would film themselves interacting and share the videos online.
Adaptation to local tastes proved to be an essential strategy. As an example, fans could purchase stuffed toy versions of traditional UK dishes like fish and chips during a pop-up in London. Meanwhile, items like teacup and teapot toys were sold at exclusive stores in Beijing and Shanghai last year.
In 2024, the UK-based firm's revenue is said to have increased by two-thirds to a substantial sum. During that period, sales of an estimated $117 million worth of toys to Chinese consumers on leading online marketplaces, per research estimates.
This expansion mirrors a wider boom within China's collectable-toy sector among young adults in search of emotional support and community. Overall sales of collectable toys in China are expected to exceed 110 billion yuan this year, as per a recent industry report.
The remarkable success of brands like Labubu, elf-like dolls from Chinese toy maker Pop Mart, highlights the market's growing appetite for collectable toys. This "kidult" phenomenon is not exclusive to China; adults worldwide are starting to question "traditional notions of adulthood," observe academics.
Amuseables, items like the eggplant character—affectionately dubbed "the boss" in China—have also spawned numerous memes, where users sharing grievances about the pressures of adulthood. The "aubergine boss" hashtag serves as a platform where fans sketch different expressions on their toy, showing it in different states from drinking to forcing a smile.
For example, a marketing professional from Hong Kong, Wendy Hui, modified her aubergine toy adding dark circles around its eyes and putting a pair of glasses on the toy. She then shared a picture on a social platform with the caption: "The mood of employees at the start of the week." "I kept working at home even on my days off," she explains. "I just wanted to express the level of exhaustion I felt."
Thus, Jellycat has become a surprising, whimsical outlet for young Chinese to voice their grievances about a slowing economy, where dedicated effort no longer guarantee comparable returns. Amid heavy content regulation, the internet have become an important, perhaps the primary, arena for these types of conversations.
Its regular releases of exclusive designs coupled with the retirement of certain lines—an approach sometimes referred to as "hunger marketing" in China—has further fueled {
