monchhichi

express yourself

Last month, I was in Berlin for a couple of days. I was in this super trendy shop in Neukoelln, which kind of reminded me of the time I lived there. Anyway, the vintage shop was expensive, of course. However, I had the urge to buy an item as I so often do. I ended up purchasing a small knit vest after the shop assistant told me how great I looked in it. That’s how they get you. Anyway, as I paid for the vest, she was overjoyed by the Monchhichi dangling from the side of my bag. The nostalgia of the item made her happy.

I am 26 years old, and I never would have thought that I would be able to purchase a Monchhichi from Urban Outfitters. Funny, how times change, isn’t it? Style Rookie would have loved this, right? Marx would have hated it, I am certain. I am unsure, divided as they say, and I write this, having concrete plans to purchase an item—duality, as they say.

When I open TikTok, I am overwhelmed with an influx of Trinket girls, running in the streets of London, having a million and one keychains attached to their bags. When they get complimented on their keychain styling, they jump up, almost like a small horse, so the chains make a noise. And, before I forget to mention it, Sandy Liang just did a collab with Monchhichi. I never thought I’d write this, but are toys being gentrified now?

Okay, let’s wind back from the beginning.

Life is a joke – at least that’s what 2010’s era T-shirts by elevenparis preached. For most Millenials, these t-shirts were a fun photo opportunity, and well, GenZ, took it literally. If you analyse GenZ humour, the never-ending meme additions flooding social feeds and brands’ endless attempts to seem cool, you may or may not find out that for young people, life, especially online is seen like a giant comedy. Life in late-stage capitalism feels pointless and surreal sometimes, so maybe humour is the way to cope. When you compare GenZ with GenY on a more serious note, you’ll find that (at least online) millennials are obsessed with creating something aesthetic, and GenZ is obsessed with creating something real. To young people, the power lies in honesty and humour, not something perfectly curated and orchestrated.

And that brings us back to trinkets. Being yourself without having a care is authentic. Being weird is authentic. Being hyper-individual is authentic. And here we go – the new stereotype for coolness. To be perceived as cool, you need to have a.) a message of some kind, and b.) be totally individual. The quirkier your personal brand is, the better. With this in mind, Urban Outfitters, a mass retailer selling trinkets, makes sense. Young people are reminded of a childhood they may have never lived (bear in mind, Monchhichi were peaking in the 80s) and the individualism connotated to charms sells well. At least, on paper it does.

According to Google search data, the keyword “monchhichi keychain” has had a 200% search increase worldwide – the word “monchhichi” on its own only had a “60%” increase. What separates the two items is that a keychain is visible to the world, whereas the Monchichi doll itself is mostly kept inside. These days, wearing a toy keychain signifies individuality – owning a toy on its own may not have the same effect.

Clearly, the trend is bigger than just a keychain – it’s about being as individual as possible. And weirdly, being hyper-individual has become the current fashion statement. To be weird is to be cool. I wish I could tell my younger self about that when people laughed at her Sonny Angel collection. When Tavi Gevinson broke the fashion internet sphere at the age of 13, she was championing what would become GenZ style. She wore old hand-me-downs, combined with a strange hat and a fancy bag. Quickly, some figures loved her, whereas others, like legacy editors, were very confused. One even said that she was a hoax. Style Rookie, which was the name of Gevinson’s blog, went online in 2007. Around the 2010s, Tavi was a household name.

Looking into the nostalgia cycle for young people, it seems logical that hyper-individuality through toy keychains is popular now. Whenever I see one, I keep thinking, Tavi would have loved it. If Style Rookie was a thing today, they’d probably be sponsored by one of the toy keychain brands. Funny, isn’t it? If Tavi had dressed how she did today, it would have been perceived as perfectly normal, but back then, it was very frowned upon.

Toy keychains are slowly wandering into the mainstream, which leaves the question – what’s next? Maybe a revival of blogs and Web 2.0 forums, but who knows?