Mini portable fans have quickly become summertime staples to help beat the oppressive heat, whether in Midwestern music festivals, Southern cookouts, or city subways.
Although the device (and the weather) may be heated, experts suggest that rapid fashion and climate change are not the main causes of its popularity.
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TikTok and websites like Amazon, Shein, and Temu have helped the small blasters, which have long been popular in humid regions like Asia, spread throughout the West.
According to experts, fast accessories have expanded along with rapid fashion.
The cost of a fake jewelry, plastic eyewear, or a faux leather belt is usually less than $10. The battery- or USB-powered personal fan is available in a number of styles: To go with their beloved Labubu, users can attach it to their handbag, wear it around their necks, or even install it in their cars.
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According to Sheng Lu, an assistant professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware, the quick rise in reasonably priced accessories at online stores like Temu and Shein, where fans start at $4, is a selling feature, especially for Gen Z consumers with limited funds.
According to Lu, the broader theme of the portable fan boom is the way quick fashion’s appeal is currently extending to accessories. This type of accessibility and cost makes market expansion easier.
Due to the expiration of a tariff exemption for cheaper items entering the United States, the price may rise at the end of the month.
industry research agencies predict that by 2033, the global personal fan industry would have grown to almost $1 billion, nearly twice its current size. In the last year, 7 million portable micro fans were purchased by customers in the United Kingdom.
Over the previous ten years, Google searches for portable fans have grown significantly, reaching a peak in June as extreme heat waves swept throughout the central and eastern United States. Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina are among the hot Southern states that have seen the most search interest over the past three months.
Portable fans are the third most popular hashtag on TikTok for videos in the Tech & Electronics category. They are especially popular in Malaysia and the United States.
Pictures and videos of the product appear to be unavoidable on social media in general. According to Tracie Tung, an associate professor of fashion design and merchandising at California State University, Northridge, the emergence of small fans is also showing how the environment may be affecting fast-fashion trends.
She asserted that this is not a novel invention. These days, they are only made as fashion accessories.
Some influencers have started their own brands by taking advantage of the trend.Last year, Remi Bader, who has over 2 million TikTok fans, launched a trendy new fan that attaches to a phone and has selfie lights.
In March, New York City-based artist Kisha Peart shared a TikTok about the little blasters, which quickly gained popularity as the weather heated up. According to Peart, between 200 and 400 copies of the highlighted fan were purchased from TikTok Shop as a result of that one viral video; she received a commission for each purchase.
Since the bus’s air conditioning isn’t always working, Peart said the tiny fan has become an essential part of her daily travel to work.
“I just needed a way to stay cool,” she added, adding that paper fans only spew hot air. The five-speed portable fan has truly changed the game.
According to market research company Allied Market Research, the Asia-Pacific region, which is known for having exceptionally humid summers, contributed 55% of the worldwide portable fans market’s growth and has been its biggest source of income, bringing in close to $140 million in 2021. Since much of the world, from South Korea and Japan to the Nordic nations, has seen fatal, record-breaking temperatures this summer, Tung was not surprised that the trend had stretched from Asia to Europe and America.
Since 2018, JisuLife, a Shenzhen-based business that has become a market leader in the personal fan space, has sold 30 million units worldwide. Some variants of JisuLife’s small fans cost over $80, making them at the higher end of the price range.
According to JisuLife, its two largest markets, North America and Southeast Asia, have distinct marketing approaches. According to the corporation, the strategy is to work with local influencers and ambassadors to increase brand appeal because shoppers in Southeast Asia place a higher value on style and aesthetics than do North American consumers, who often prefer practicality.
However, the handheld fan boom also poses significant environmental issues. Waste is produced by the overconsumption of inexpensive goods, particularly those composed of materials that are difficult to recycle, such as plastic and batteries. According to Material Focus, a nonprofit organization located in the United Kingdom, around 3.5 million fans have been forgotten or discarded in the last 12 months.
When the summer is over, how do we handle these fans? Lu stated. People may consider these hundreds of thousands of goods to be disposable, but what happens to them?
Shek, Jocelyn, contributed.
