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A woman named Stella acquired her initial Jellycat brand soft toy during a time of unemployment in the pandemic. Encouraged by a friend's enthusiasm for these British-designed creatures, her curiosity was truly ignited upon seeing an adorable gingerbread house plushie featured on a widely-used social networking app.

While Christmas is not widely celebrated in China, serving more as a retail occasion than a cultural tradition, the sight of festive cottages resonated with her. "It doesn't mean a lot to me... However, I always like the sight of gingerbread houses," she remarks. This led her to request a friend in Guangzhou to purchase the item on her behalf.

That purchase was made back in 2021, right as the brand was poised of achieving enormous success across China and beyond. "People were jittery, and no-one knew what would happen," says Stella, who developed a habit of petting and squeezing her soft toys to cope during a difficult period. Residing in Beijing, which experienced some of the most stringent restrictions in the world, she spent a great deal of time at home.

Now aged 32 with a new job as a sales manager in the tourism industry, Stella still expand her collection. It has grown to around 120 items, representing a cost of about 36,000 yuan. "As an adult, you have many things that you cannot share with other people... and the troubles we encounter are far more complex than in the past," she says with a sigh. "These soft toys assist me in managing my feelings."

Originally designed with kids in mind, these squishy creatures have transformed into a global phenomenon, especially in China where a somewhat disillusioned younger generation has been turning to them for emotional support.

The Rise of Adult Toy Enthusiasts

Her gingerbread cottage toy is part of the "Amuseables" line, a range of characters featuring small faces based on commonplace inanimate objects, ranging from bathroom tissue and boiled eggs. These plushies are considered the "standout products" that "attract a broad Gen-Z and millennial demographic" globally, according to market observers.

The surge in appeal "could have something to do with a desire for a sense of connection," suggest experts. It is difficult to ascertain if the launch of the now-iconic Amuseable line back in 2018 was a deliberate strategy to target the adult consumer, companies in the sector increasingly need to find new markets amid declining birth rates across numerous countries.

Jellycat entered the Chinese market back in 2015. By laying significant "foundation", the toy maker was able to capture "the mood of the pandemic"—a time when people sought comfort during heightened uncertainty—capitalizing on this momentum there, according to industry experts.

Its popularity was further boosted through engaging temporary events. These retail activations often featured a menu of limited-edition "culinary" themed items. Numerous fans record themselves being served and post the videos on social platforms.

Localisation has also been an essential approach. As an example, fans were able to buy plush versions of classic UK dishes such as fish and chips at a temporary shop in London. Conversely, products including teapot and teacup plushies were featured at special outlets in Chinese metropolises the previous year.

In 2024, the UK-based company's sales reportedly increased by two-thirds to reach an impressive sum. In that timeframe, it sold roughly $117 million worth of its products to Chinese consumers on leading e-commerce platforms, according to market intelligence data.

This growth reflects a broader surge in China's collectable-toy sector among young adults seeking emotional support and connection. Overall sales from collectible items nationally are projected to exceed 110 billion yuan this year, as per a 2024 analysis.

The remarkable popularity of other toys such as Labubu, elf-inspired figures by domestic company Pop Mart, underscores the country's increasing demand towards collectable toys. The so-called "adult-child" trend is not exclusive to China; adults globally are starting to question "outdated understandings of what it means to be an adult," observe cultural experts.

Particularly, items like the aubergine plushie—nicknamed "the boss" in China—have inspired a wave of memes, where users sharing frustrations regarding adult life. The "eggplant boss" tag serves as a platform where fans sketch various emotive faces on their toy, depicting it in different states from drinking to fake-smiling.

For example, a marketing professional from Hong Kong, Wendy Hui, personalized her aubergine Amuseable by drawing dark circles around its eyes and placing a pair of glasses on the toy. She posted an image online with the caption: "The mental state of workers at the start of the week." "I was working at home even during my days off," the 30-something says. "I merely intended to convey how exhausted I felt."

Thus, Jellycat has become an unexpected, whimsical outlet for young Chinese to air their grievances over a slowing economy, where hard work doesn't always guarantee commensurate rewards. Despite heavy online censorship, the internet have become an important, perhaps the primary, arena for these types of conversations.

The brand's frequent launches of exclusive designs and the retirement of older designs—a strategy sometimes referred to as "hunger marketing" locally—has further driven {