The Rise Of IRL Events

Last year, I proudly predicted the IRL events and pop ups would increase in 2025, we were right.

If you live in London, or any other major city, I can guarantee you’ve been to at least one. If you don’t then you’ve seen them plastered all over your for you page.

When I first moved to London, I was adamant that I could enjoy the city and stay frugal, my main avenue for doing this was pop ups. I’d line up for hours to get free makeup, discounted clothes, or explore art installations. I loved it, and five years later still very much miss that time of my life.

Fun fact, chronicling all these events is actually what led to this blogs creation, if you scroll down far enough you can actually see where it all started.

A couple of months ago, I decided to try relive the good old days and visit the Gisou pop up in Covent Garden. First 100 people at the door got a free goodie bag and the remainder were fed doughnuts and hot chocolate throughout… seemed like a pretty good deal and I was quite confident I’d be able to get a bag… how I was wrong.

I completely underestimated how big the line would be, and when it would start. The first 100 customers arrived in the queue 12 hours before the doors opened and just camped out, several of them had done this daily.

Despite arriving at 4:30am I was 120 in the line and at this point, I’d committed too much to just go home again.

The hype of this pop up was ten times bigger than that of the 2021 events, more people were aware of the freebies, the fun, and the social media content they could get from it. While I’ve seen other brands do much better at avoiding scalpers and overnight campers, I’ve also seen a massive surge in pop ups in general.

So why have they become so popular all of a sudden?

The Rise Of The Dupe

In the midst of a cost of living crisis, more and more customers are looking to secure dupes than the original high end designs we covet. Whilst we may be able to obtain the right look, brands are keen to show that you can’t replace to quality and community that luxury can offer.

Over the past few years we’ve seen pop ups from Prada, Coach, Gucci and, Hermes… just to name a few.

Cheaper Than An Ads Strategy

Budget wise, building a pop up event IRL is cheaper than running an awareness ads campaign for most businesses. If you don’t live in any hot spot pop up cities, ask yourself, how often have you seen the events pop up on your social media feed? These aesthetic events are the ideal social media content for every baddie who wants to look like her fingers on the pulse of fashion.

Community And Exclusivity

Three day pop up? First 100 or so people get a bag of goodies for free? These sort of incentives create two very key things in an over saturated market, a sense of community and a sense of urgency.

No matter how many people show up to these events, there will always be a feeling of intimacy between the customer and the brand. A sense the brand is “giving back” to the customer.

Realistically brands could afford to keep these events running for a week or more, but the two to three day length allows them to create a sense of urgency and exclusivity - you feel special if you’ve been able to get to the queue.

Test And Learn

For some brands, like Tala or Odd Muse, pop ups can be a great way to test new ideas, learn more about your target market and, grow as a business.

For example, Odd Muse has always ran a pop up shop prior to committing to a permanent venue. After running only on ECom, testing footfall and IRL interest allowed them to get a better understanding on how their business would survive a spot on the high street.

Ultimately, I’m really excited to see where pop ups head. We’re definitely seeing popularity rise and subsequent issues develop, but once the scalpers are scared away and brands learn how to better manage themselves in real life…this could be a great marketing tool for all businesses.