The growing “Kidults” trend.
How a Teddy Bear is boosting Tatuum’s sales.
Let’s face it: We’re obsessed with trying to turn back unrelenting time. There is no greater compliment than to say: “Wow, You look so young!”. We all want “baby soft” skin and obsessively apply sunscreen or anti-ageing creams on a daily basis, often losing ourselves in our attempts to recreate our once youthful appearance. But our efforts are only skin deep. So let’s go a little deeper.
Is it possible to completely escape the confines of adulthood? To live free of adult responsibilities and problems? Well, Kidults seem to have found an answer to these questions. Who? Kidults! Kid-adults. They’ve extended the carelessness of their youth into their adult life, surrounding themselves with things that society dictates are for younger people. They love cartoons, video games, building sets and action figures, and even dress in outfits that would be trendy with teens or young adults. It seems that there are plenty of them around. Some say that Kidults are unable to achieve conventional definitions of maturity. Well, we’ve all heard that there’s a child in all of us, so what’s wrong with that?
We live in times of global uncertainty and youthful accents are an antidote, a soothing recall of the times before ever-present media and adult duties took our lives by storm. Being a Kidult doesn’t mean looking naive or inappropriate. Kidult style can be spotted everywhere: from the streets to the runaways. With a dose of joie de vivre, some moderation and a pinch of irony, you can use pop culture references and still look like a professional, just one who’s young at heart.
A decade or two ago, an adult buying a PlayStation or a Lego set would draw mocking smiles and peculiar glances, but no one thinks that’s nerdy anymore. Sitting down with friends to play a game, solve a puzzle, or just have fun is as natural as can be, and today’s games and building sets transcend generations. And they’re more than just fun – they help us learn new skills, boost our creativity, train our problem-solving abilities, and can even teach us a thing or two about mindfulness.
There’s nothing wrong with tending to our inner child. Doing so fulfills our need for joy and indulges childhood dreams that may have never come true. If it makes us feel good, then why should we stop having fun? Just because we’re adults? Legendary dramatist George Bernard Shaw once said, “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing”. And besides, who said that having fun in life can’t go hand-in-hand with self-love, self-understanding, and self-reflection?
The fashion world loves to play and we love to play with fashion. In our latest campaign for TATUUM, we took the opportunity to use fashion as a portal that would take us back to the days of carefree youth of Polish kid adults. Usually, new collections are promoted by celebrities or well-known fashion models, but this time around, the face of TATUUM’s new campaign has button eyes, a brown plush face, and a lap-ear. That’s right, it’s a Teddy Bear!
Teddy Bears were invented almost 120 years ago in honor of US President Theodore Roosevelt after he saved a little bear during a hunting trip near Onward, Mississippi. Since then, Teddy Bears have become ubiquitous in pop culture. We all love the fairy-tale bears from our childhood memories; the cuddly figures that helped us fall asleep as children. The UK has Paddington, the USA has Yogi Bear, and Poland has Miś Uszatek – a childhood hero for many generations of Poles. Now, he is also the hero of TATUUM’s limited autumn-winter collection and we love seeing customers smile and revisit their childhood the moment they see him.
TATUUM uses this Polish pop culture icon to emphasize its Polish roots and local character – both the brand and Miś Uszatek, the hero of the cult animated series, come from Łódź. You can even find a bronze sculpture of the Teddy at Piotrkowska Street in Łódź, just a stone’s throw away from the first TATUUM store that opened in 1999.
TATUUM’s limited Miś Uszatek collection sold out in no time, showing that feelings of nostalgia are very strong among its customers. We shouldn’t underestimate Kidults and the powerful trend of leaving adult problems behind to revisit childhood memories – even if it’s just for a moment.
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