It’s not just Labubu dolls. Chinese brands are booming

Labubu dolls are hard to come by. Even at the giant flagship store of their maker, Pop Mart, in Shanghai, throngs of customers are told they need to wait a week or longer. The grimacing elvish creatures, which come in “blind boxes” that keep buyers in suspense over which one they might get, sell for as little as $20. But a rare variety sold for $150,000 at an auction on June 10th. It is not just Chinese children trying to get their hands on them: celebrities including Sir David Beckham, an ex-footballer, and Rihanna, a pop star, have gone public with their appreciation.