Why Is Gen Z Suddenly Obsessed With This 70-Year-Old Dutch Storybook Rabbit?
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Just like in Alice in Wonderland, a white rabbit has been popping up all over the place. A sweet crocheted plush one is being toted around by a child one moment. The next, it appears again as the motif on a stylish handbag.
But unlike Alice, following this white rabbit will not lead you on a fruitless chase. This one is Miffy, a Dutch children’s character who’s recently amassed a huge young-adult fandom stateside. With her simple, almost expressionless face, Miffy seems to court an air of mystery. But, as she prepares to celebrate her 70th anniversary next year, her story is ready to be told.
Miffy Started Off Life on Kids’ Bookshelves
In the United States, Miffy is still coming into her own, but in the Netherlands she’s a classic childhood character on the level of Winnie the Pooh or The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
She’s the creation of Dick Bruna, an author, illustrator and artist. Bruna mostly worked on adult books until he had his own son, Sierk, who inspired Bruna's book series while on a family vacation. “When Sierk was young, he saw a rabbit and his father started telling him a story about it, and started to draw illustrations of it,” says Marja Kerkhof, the managing director of Mercis BV, the global Miffy licensor, who's worked with the Bruna family for 25 years. The bedtime stories and illustrations turned into the first book featuring Miffy — or "Nijntje," as she’s called in Dutch — in 1955.
Today, there are more than 35 Miffy books, and more than 100 featuring Miffy's extended cast of friends. They've sold more than 85 million copies in 50 languages worldwide. There’s been a few different Miffy TV series, a full-length feature in 2013, and countless toys and stuffed animals. In Holland, Marja says, “Every library, every kindergarten and almost every household will have some of these items.”
Part of the appeal is the simplicity in which Bruna has drawn Miffy: She only has two small circles for eyes and an “X” that acts as nose, mouth and whiskers at once. “He wanted to make a very simple illustration for children,” Marja says. “He felt that it would be good to have the eyes as the most important feature of the face. And then he thought the nose is never really that nice, but if you can watch and if you can talk, then that is already great. So that's why he came up with the idea to make the nose and the mouth one feature.” Legend also has it that Miffy is a girl because Bruna thought it’d be simpler to draw a dress than trousers.
Her spirit, too, is one that kids can relate to. “She's always kind, but she's a child,” Marja says. “She makes mistakes, but she also addresses them. And she enjoys friendship and family.”
That just might be the spirit of Bruna coming through. “I've seen him with our queen, but I've seen the cleaning lady,” Marja says, “and he’s always kind to everybody."
Teamwork Has Propelled Miffy to a New Level of Fame
The books, TV series and toys are aimed squarely at children, but Miffy has her sights set higher. She took a jump in popularity in the United States in 2022, which was, not coincidentally, the Year of the Rabbit. That made certain grown-up brands, like Tommy Hilfiger and Mulberry extra willing to do a Miffy collaboration. “That really started to make the fashion girlies take notice,” says Jackie DeMaio, the senior licensing director at the Joester Loria Group, which handles Miffy in North America.
But that doesn’t mean that you can find Miffy all over the place. “We’re really looking at targeted collaborations, limited edition partnerships and high-quality products,” Jackie says. Hanna Andersson was one of the first, starting with a line of Miffy pajamas. The Miffy floor light, one of the most popular items, is offered through the MoMA Design Store. And then there’s the Miffy Bunny Sculpture made by Baccarat — a crystal bunny with just gold accents for the eyes and mouth that retails for more than $300. “We’re really focusing on those specialty retailers, and creating these moments for the brand that people are talking about,” she adds.
And they are. That perfect combination of highly coveted items in limited quantities is basically a recipe for success on Instagram, where it has more than 1.3 million posts, along with TikTok and YouTube. That’s where Miffy has found a following, with fans showing off their Miffy Smoko blind-box figurines from Urban Outfitters, cosmetic bags from LeSportsac or backpack charms from Just Peachy. Each addition to the collection is a post-worthy event.
“I first heard of Miffy through social media,” says Meili Zhang, a collector on the West Coast who shows off her finds on Instagram and TikTok. “I came across a picture of a bunny plush toy and thought it was absolutely adorable. From there, I followed Miffy’s Instagram account and fell in love with the character’s charm and cuteness!”
In-person experiences, too, have fueled the Miffy fire. “We’ve done some food partnerships with like brands like Junbi — they’re a matcha tea chain, and they did a bespoke Miffy matcha flavor drink,” Jackie says. “And then we'll do appearances at their stores, and the lines of Miffy fans that want to come and have a moment with Miffy is just out the door! And it's multi generational. You have obviously the Gen Zs and the young millennials, but you also have the grandparents with their grandkids who know Miffy.”
Meili says the feelings that Miffy inspires is also part of the draw. “Miffy’s appeal is similar to other beloved stuffed animals or collectibles like Jellycats, Squishmallows or Hello Kitty,” she says. “She’s a comforting and nostalgic character that sparks joy and connects people through shared love for cute and endearing items.”
“After the whole COVID period, everybody was very much looking for some warmth,” Marja says. “I think they were really looking for warm, pleasant things to collect. There's a certain amount of escapism in this.”
Miffy Portable Bluetooth Speaker
Miffy x Retrospekt 35mm Film Camera
Douglas Miffy Plush
Miffy turns 70 on June 21, 2025, and she plans on celebrating in style. There’s a museum exhibition of Dick Bruna’s art in the works, though right now it’s available to see in the United States. (Maybe in 2027, in honor of what would have been Bruna’s 100th birthday.) There’s a new TV series in development, with a plan to launch sometime during the anniversary year.
And, of course, there will be new collaborations that collectors will want to get their hands on. “There are a lot of new categories we'll be getting into for the first time,” Jackie says. “Miffy is going to be moving into the beauty space. She's also got some really fun collaboration in development for the 70th that will start to kick off in springtime as we head into, uh, Miffy's birthday month.”
Details might not be available until the new year, but Jackie assures that they’ll all have that signature unfussy Miffy style. “Her timelessness and her simplicity s striking a chord with a lot of Gen Z and young millennials out there,” Jackie says. “She really stands for simple joy.”
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