Milo and Tina, the mascots of the Milano Cortina Games, have been so popular that just days into the Olympics, plush versions are already selling out. But they’re not the only memorabilia flying off the shelves — Jellycat’s exclusive Winter Olympics–inspired stuffed animal collection is also gaining traction online and drawing in crowds.
Jellycat was founded in 1999 by Thomas and William Jatacre. After their careers in toy retail, they wanted to create something more imaginative than the traditional teddy bear.
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The brothers hired a small team in London, where they began producing soft toys with luxurious fabrics, high-quality craftsmanship and unique designs.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, their sales surged. In September 2023, they created the Jellycat Café in New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza. The immersive experience features exclusive food-themed stuffies served as if they were actual diner food.
The company’s most popular animals include the Bashful Bunny, Bartholomew Bear and Odell Octopus. They also sell “amusables,” such as the Happy Boiled Egg or the Sports Football.
No matter your favorite animal, sport, holiday or food, Jellycat likely has a soft toy to accompany it.
It’s no surprise, then, that Jellycat created a Winter Olympic-themed collection. The mini Bashful Bunny sports a gold-medal ski outfit, with Italian-colored stripes on her skis and the Amusables Cariss Curling stone is fitted with earmuffs and a smile.
A pop-up store in Milan features the Olympic exclusives alongside fan favorites, the Valentine’s Day collection and other winter-themed stuffed animals.
The pop-up has been extremely popular in the first few days of the Olympics, so much so that three days after the release, sales associates put up ropes and limited how many customers could shop at a time.
Anna Dennis, a University of Colorado Boulder student, was one eager customer who waited in line to purchase a Jellycat. She came to visit Milan for the Olympics while studying abroad in Florence and wanted something to commemorate the trip.
Dennis said she learned about the pop-up from TikTok and wanted to purchase the Bashful Bunny in a pink snow suit.
Lexie Kendall, a Univeristy of Southern California student studying abroad in Rome, said that she initially planned to buy merchandise from the Olympic Megastore, but the long line stretching around the Duomo deterred her.
She said she already owns a few Jellycats and hopes to start collecting them.
“If I can’t get a sweater or something from the store because the line’s hours long, this is good and cute — and I’ll remember [the Olympics] forever,” Kendall said.
Whether it’s a curling stone, a croissant or even a good old-fashioned teddy bear, Jellycats are becoming a popular token for Olympic spectators to remember the Games by.