• Where Has Lady Gaga Gone? Singer’s Disappearance Sparks Secret Wedding Rumors

  Grainy Polaroid photos have provided the first indication that Lady Gaga has not been seen in public for four months...

• Current “Miss Austria” Dies Suddenly at 22

  Officials have announced the tragic death of reigning “Miss Austria” Lucia Sisic. She was just 22 years old...

• Cardi B Shows Off Her $15,000 Diamond Butt Piercing

  “A $15,000 piercing on my ass in case some bitch needs to kiss it,” the artist captioned the post...

• “No Kissing”: Billy Baldwin Vows Never to Work With Sharon Stone Again

  ’90s movie star Billy Baldwin has declared that he will never agree to work with Sharon Stone again. The 63-year-old actor appeared on the Lisa Guerrero Unleashed podcast, where he looked back on their work together on the 1993 erotic thriller Sliver...

• A Joke That Went Too Far: Gwyneth Paltrow Reveals How Her Viral “Vagina-Scented” Candle Came to Be

  Goop’s infamous candle with the provocative name This Smells Like My Vagina became an internet sensation — but it was never supposed to be a serious product. According to Gwyneth Paltrow, the candle was born entirely by accident, as a simple joke. The actress and entrepreneur revealed the story on the Friends Keep Secrets podcast...

• Nicolas Cage’s $10.5 Million Luxury Malibu Mansion Nearly Swallowed by Giant Sinkhole

  Nicolas Cage’s Malibu mansion — a lavish $10.5 million coastal residence — is literally sinking into the ground...

• Trump’s Generous Gifts to Young Female Aides: Each Received $45,000

  US President Donald Trump gave three young White House staffers $45,000 each in cash. The sensational details were revealed in the president’s financial disclosures...

• Elon Musk Wanted Children “Before the Civil War” and Offered $40 Million for Silence: Shocking Claims by His Former Partner

  Elon Musk is using his social media platform X to sow “deliberate division” in society, with potentially catastrophic consequences if the platform is not regulated. That is according to Ashley St. Clair, the billionaire’s former partner and the mother of one of his 14 officially acknowledged children, as reported by The Guardian...

Chinese collectible designer-toy maker Pop Mart International is continuing its aggressive global expansion despite some cooling in overseas sales. The company has announced the opening of its first European flagship store in Paris, on the prestigious Boulevard Haussmann, next door to the iconic department stores Galeries Lafayette and Printemps, according to the South China Morning Post.

Ahead of the opening, Pop Mart founder and CEO Wang Ning personally visited Paris. During the trip, he met Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of luxury conglomerate LVMH, and presented him with a collectible Labubu figure.

The meeting was also attended by Dior CEO Delphine Arnault, Bernard Arnault’s eldest daughter, as well as Louis Vuitton CEO Pietro Beccari.

The visit followed another high-profile meeting. In July, Wang Ning traveled to Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, where he met CEO Tim Cook and incoming CEO John Ternus to discuss digital ecosystems and global consumer trends.

“We believe the business ties between Pop Mart and LVMH are underpinned by potential collaboration around Pop Mart’s key intellectual properties (IPs),” said Jeff Zhang, an equity analyst at Morningstar.

According to the analyst, after Labubu collaborated with luxury brand Moynat last year, the latest high-profile visits are aimed at elevating Pop Mart’s brand status. While premium collaborations are unlikely to immediately deliver a dramatic boost to the company’s overseas revenue, they could pave the way for Pop Mart characters to enter the world of high fashion.

The relationship between the two companies is also strengthening at the board level. Last December, Wu Yue, LVMH’s president for Greater China, joined Pop Mart’s board as an independent non-executive director.

“Wu Yue’s experience in the luxury industry gives Pop Mart opportunities to diversify beyond toy manufacturing, similar to what giants such as Disney and Sanrio have done,” Zhang explained.

A Year of “Adjustment” and the Push Overseas

Meanwhile, after releasing its interim financial results in August, Pop Mart management acknowledged that the company is unlikely to hit its 20% revenue-growth target this year, citing the high comparison base from last year.

International expansion remains a key priority for the brand, but first-half 2026 results showed a decline:

• Overseas revenue: 4.97 billion yuan (approximately $740.1 million), down 11.1% year-on-year.
• Share of overseas sales: fell to 29% of total revenue, compared with 40.3% a year earlier.

Calling 2026 a “year of adjustment” following last year’s boom fueled by Labubu’s explosive popularity, Wang Ning stressed that the company is focusing on strengthening its fundamentals and optimizing its global retail network rather than chasing rapid expansion for its own sake.

As of June, Pop Mart operated 676 physical stores worldwide.

Follow NEWS.am STYLE on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram