Street style 2025: Lafufu edition

In the final quarter of 2025, Labubu has done what every niche obsession dreams of: she’s officially crossed over. The 10 cm bug-eyed, toothy doll was supersized to 16 feet to ride through New York’s Thanksgiving parade on a float. Naomi Osaka’s custom-made bejewelled versions earned her a spot in The New York Times’ list of the most stylish people of 2025. And now, she may be starring in a Sony-backed movie.

In India, while Labubu may be elusive, her counterfeit cousin—Lafufu—is everywhere.

She may have fewer teeth, a head and feet that spin, and her complexion may be pinker or more orange, but she’s not too far from the real deal. To document just how ubiquitous these imposters have become, we sent three photographers into the markets and streets of Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai with a simple mission: find Lafufus in the wild and photograph them exactly as they are, whether stacked in blue plastic bags and dangling from hooks or mixed in with keychains, toys, and household clutter. What they found was not just a knockoff economy but also a portrait of how cultural phenomena trickle down, mutate, and embed themselves in daily life.

Nearly 90 years ago, TS Eliot wrote Macavity: The Mystery Cat, a poem about an uncatchable criminal cat who was always missing from the scene of crime. In 2025, that role belongs not to a villainous feline but an ugly-cute mischievous-looking doll. Swap early-20th-century anxiety for internet scarcity and blind-box packaging, and the metaphor holds up. Below, a playful riff on Eliot’s work on the elusive muse.

Labubu: The Mystery Toy

Labubu’s a Mystery Toy, she’s the most wanted creature with paws —
For she’s the master criminal who can defy resale law.
She’s the bafflement of 2025, every Gen Alpha parent’s despair:
For when they reach Pop Mart to buy one — Labubu’s not there!

Labubu, Labubu, there’s no one like Labubu,
She’s broken the internet; some say she’s into voodoo.
Her powers of enticement have made everybody stare,
And when you think you can get her — Labubu’s not there!

Labubu’s a plushie toy, she’s very short and stout;
You would know her if you saw her, for her sharp teeth come out of her mouth.
Her brow is deeply lined with thought, her head is highly domed;
She’s wanted by kids and adults alike; her coat doesn’t need to be combed.
She ensnares you with her glittery eyes, with her snaggletoothed grin;
And when you think she’s within your reach, she’s out for a spin.

Labubu, Labubu, there’s no one like Labubu,
For she’s a fiend in elvish shape, a monster who loves to play peekaboo.
You may meet her on a Birkin; you may see her in the square —
But when you try to get one, then Labubu’s not there!

Labubu’s a furry toy: so fickle and so fleet,
You spot her once on StockX and she vanishes by next week.
You may think you’ve caught her, secured her fair and square;
You’ve paid a price that makes you blink; you’ve signed for her with care.
But when you open up the box, the truth is very clear;
The paint is off, the smile’s wrong, a Lafufu is here!

Lafufus lurk in marketplaces, in DMs after dark,
With prices far too tempting, and a box that feels off mark.
The fake Labubus of the world who pass themselves as true:
But does it really matter when, for the price of one, you get two?

She’s Big Into Energy. (They say she may be cursed.)
And her footprints are found all over your newest purse.
And when hype is high, and the stock is thin,
Or vinyl feels like mortal sin, and Popmart’s raking it in,
Or there’s a line across three blocks, and your obsession’s past repair —
Ay, there’s the wonder of the thing! Labubu’s not there!

Labubu, Labubu, there’s no one like Labubu,
There never was a toy of such deceitfulness and suavity (too).
And they say that all the toys whose wicked deeds are widely known,
(I might mention Jellycat, I might mention Sonny Angels that are now overthrown)
Are nothing more than agents for the toy who all the time
Just controls their operations: the Napoleon of Crime!