Pop Mart is launching a six-week pop-up on the toy floor of Harrods on Friday (14 March). How is this relevant to fashion? Well, the company is “a market-leading character-based entertainment company and a global champion of designer toy culture”. And it’s big on items like small accessories and bag charms.

Its key characters include The Monsters (especially Labubu) and the pop-up will see The Monsters creator — Hong Kong-based illustrator Kasing Lung — making his debut in the UK.

The pop-up will feature exclusive Labubu collectibles, limited editions, and hot products. And ‘hot’ is likely to be the key word here with Labubu items heavily in demand and getting extra attention outside of the world of toy collectors. That’s partly because Labubu bag accessories have been seen on major celeb influencers Rihanna, Dua Lipa and Blackpink’s Rosa. And where that trio goes, the pounds, euros and dollars tend to follow.

So what will happen at the pop-up? Importantly, there will be a special signing event with Kasing Lung, his first-ever visit to the UK and also his first-ever appearance in Europe, and fans will get the chance to win exclusives.

Peter Shipman, marketing director and head of Europe, said that Harrods is “the perfect venue for our first-ever pop-up in the UK”.

That’s hard to argue with given that Harrods in Knightsbridge seems to be one of the two most popular venues for high-end pop-ups in London, along with Selfridges over in the West End.

In an already-ultra-busy 40th anniversary year, fashion/lifestyle retailer The White Stuff has is set to open another new store, this time at Broughton Shopping Park in Flintshire, north-east Wales.

The new 2,500 sq ft store, which will create eight new jobs in the area, will stock White Stuff’s latest Spring womenswear and menswear collections, including its just-released 40th anniversary ‘Rewind ’85’ archive collection.

The Flintshire store is the second of a number of planned openings for White Stuff in 2025 that will bring the brand “to more city centres, shopping malls and retail parks across the UK”. It follows the opening of White Stuff’s new store in Durham last week.

To mark the opening, customers can enjoy free drinks and take advantage of exclusive offers, including a 15% bounce-back offer and a free tote bag for the first 50 shoppers, while customers who make a purchase in-store will receive a 15%-off code to use on their next purchase. On Saturday (15 March), the store will also stage a spin-the-wheel promotion with chances to win prizes including ‘Win Your Shopping’ exclusive discounts, and cinema tickets.

White Stuff currently operates 116 stores and 49 concessions across the UK, serving 1.3 million customers a year through its stores and website. It also has six stores and 13 concessions across Europe and has 606 wholesale stockists (178 in the UK and Northern Ireland and a further 428 internationally).

The Broughton shopping and leisure destination borders England counties Merseyside and Cheshire, featuring over 45 stores and records an average annual footfall of 10 million.