For the July issue, Toy World pulled focus onto Beauty, Jewellery and Fashion, analysing how toy suppliers and manufacturers are adjusting to the influence that social media aesthetics and trends are having on young children.
Each year, social media continues to become increasingly influential to young children, shaping who they are becoming as a person and impacting their growing interests. Social media aesthetics, influencer culture and viral unboxing experiences are major contributors to this popularity, and as such, children’s fascination with beauty, skincare and fashion is growing exponentially. Both suppliers and retailers are now noticing younger and younger children seeking out trending cosmetics and luxury items, and in turn, growing out of toys sooner.
To counterbalance this, toy suppliers and manufacturers are creating products that appeal to the Beauty, Health & Fashion category, ensuring that children stay within the toy industry for longer. There is endless potential for creating products that let kids feel like they’re part of the beauty world, while still playing with toys. Many companies have introduced innovative ranges that feature colourful, playful packaging influenced by popular adult brands, combining creativity, self-expression and collectability. As a result, children are engaging in activities such as toy cosmetics, skincare-inspired playsets, styling heads, wearable accessories and fashion design kits.
There has been a debate around promoting beauty routines for younger children, especially as skincare and cosmetic trends typically spread rapidly across social media platforms. The toy industry has developed a nice median for this, creating age-appropriate products that are designed with kids in mind and safe for young skin, but also are a fraction of the cost of the more luxury adult brands.
The Beauty, Health & Fashion category blends entertainment, fashion and lifestyle, helping toy companies remain culturally relevant while strengthening these connections with consumers. As the wider toy industry continues to grow, the Beauty, Health & Fashion arena is expected to remain one of the most influential categories shaping future consumer behaviour and play patterns.
To learn more about upcoming developments in the category this year, click here for the full article, which appeared in our July issue.
