Labubu Was Created by a Belgian-Dutch-Hongkonger

In 2015, The Monsters, a picture book series inspired by Nordic folklore and mythology, made its grand debut in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Four years later, in 2019, Pop Mart acquired the exclusive license to produce and sell Labubu toys. However, it was not until 2024 that the Labubu craze truly took the world by storm. Since then, it isn’t unheard of for people to queue for hours just to purchase a "blind box."

Although the character of Labubu is heavily rooted in Nordic mythology—all Labubus are forest elves—the universe they live in was inspired by the Belgian comic series The Smurfs. This is no coincidence, as their creator, artist Kasing Lung, moved to Belgium in 2003 and later acquired Belgian citizenship.

As his name suggests, however, Lung’s family originates from Hong Kong. Born in the then-British colony in 1972, he spent his early childhood in Yuen Long. At the age of six, he moved to Utrecht in the Netherlands to join his parents, who had relocated there years prior.

It was in Utrecht that Lung developed his unique artistic style, deeply influenced by Nordic and European folklore, before moving back to Hong Kong in 1995. However, when Hong Kong's creative industries hit economic stagnation during the 2003 SARS outbreak, Lung decided to join his girlfriend (now wife) in Belgium.

Years later, in 2015, he conceptualized The Monsters universe in Antwerp, Belgium, where he still resides as of 2026.