Gen Z isn’t playing around when it comes to their love of stuffed animals.
Young adults are leading the plush toy boom as the “kidult” frenzy reaches a fever pitch, with millions of videos flooding the “#plushies” tag on TikTok.
“They make me happy when I see them,” Jellycat collector Andrew Elliott, 25, recently told the Guardian. “We don’t live in the most fun and friendly times, so I think surrounding your house with smiley faces is a good thing.”
Elliott likened the stuffed animals to a “modern-day Beanie Baby.”
Plush toy brands are “kind of hot right now,” Brian Benway, a senior tech and gaming analyst at market research company Mintel, confirmed for Business Insider. He found that stuffed toy sales have grown steadily in recent years.
Benway told the outlet that plush toy brands like Jellycat and Squishmallows are tracking with the growth of Legos, a leading brand in the toy and game industry, “so to see plushies up there with Lego is very positive for them.”
According to data from Grand View Research, the global market for plush toys is projected to jump 8.2% for the next five years, per Business Insider.
“It’s becoming more acceptable,” Benway said. “A lot of people are taking the approach that, well, I don’t care if other people think this is dumb, this brings me a little bit of happiness, a little bit of joy, so I’m going to keep doing it.”
On social media, collectors show off their prized plush toys or take viewers along to the brand’s themed shops, such as the FAO Swartz Jellycat Diner in Rockefeller Center or the fish-and-chips truck at Selfridges London.
“If you tell people you collect cuddly toys, it can feel as if you’re going to be judged because it feels like a children’s hobby,” said 25-year-old Jellycat collector Chloe Day, who spoke to the Guardian. The brand’s extensive line of animal characters and other kooky anthropomorphized objects have made their way into gift shop windows around the world.
“But then when you go on TikTok and see all these people the same age as you – women and men – it encourages you to not hold yourself back.”
Similarly, the Squishmallow craze, which predates the more recent Jellycat frenzy, saw Gen Zers and Millennials clamor to get their hands on one of the bulbous stuffed toys. In 2021, a kids store in NYC drew massive lines and was wiped of their Squishmallow stock in a matter of days.
At the time, teenage influencer Lexia Hayden told The Post she loved the stuffed animals’ adorable faces, while her mom, Adele, said that the plushies’ rounded shape is “so appealing.”
“Lexia is always cuddling with hers when she’s doing homework or reading — it’s like a stuffed animal that really curls into your body,” Adele added.
But Squishmallows aren’t just for kids, either. Twenty-somethings boast behemoth collections, with some owning more than 500.
“Lady Gaga posted a picture of her bed just absolutely covered in Squishmallows on Instagram,” Benway said. “So if Lady Gaga can do that, anybody can.”
