In the 95-degree heat at the Wimbledon men’s semifinals, I saw one accessory again and again.
I’d already noticed it in the hands of stylish Londoners in the well-to-do neighborhoods of Chelsea and Marylebone, and British Vogue had dubbed it the “most important accessory” at Paris Men’s Fashion Week in late June.
As Europe swelters through record-breaking heatwaves, it seems the continent’s hottest new status symbol isn’t a designer bag or luxury watch — it’s the $149.99 Shark ChillPill handheld fan.
The cool kids want fans
A combination of one of the hottest summers on record in Europe and its aversion to AC created the perfect conditions for fans to take off.
During the June and July heatwaves, searches for “handheld fan” surged across the UK, France, and Germany, Google Trends data analyzed by Business Insider showed. Orders for portable fans outpaced air conditioning in six of eight major European markets, a spokesperson for Alibaba, the Chinese-owned global marketplace, told Business Insider.
The trend reflected “distinct European realities,” including older housing stock, restrictions on renters, high electricity prices, and the cost and complexity of installing air conditioning, the spokesperson said.
“There’s far less air conditioning, and more of daily life happens outside: on foot, on a bike, waiting for a train,” Stephanie Carls, a retail insights expert at RetailMeNot, told Business Insider. “Staying cool becomes something you do in public, which means whatever you reach for gets seen.”
That puts handheld fans in the same “visibility category” as sunglasses and handbags, she said, making them something people notice — and judge.
Europe warmed to the ChillPill
The 4.4-inch Shark ChillPill, which launched in March, quickly became Europe’s fan of the summer. In the UK, France, and Germany, spikes in Google searches for the device coincided with the heatwaves.
“In our best-selling weeks, we’ve sold three every minute,” a spokesperson for SharkNinja, the makers of the ChillPill, told Business Insider. The company said the fan was also among Amazon UK’s bestselling products on the first day of Prime Day.
Unlike regular handheld fans that have spinning blades, the ChillPill is bladeless, and features both a water mister and a cooling plate, which can be pressed against the skin. Its twin-barrel design, reminiscent of a pair of binoculars and available in a range of colors, makes it look more like an accessory than a gadget.
“Most handheld fans look like small machines, and machines can’t be status symbols,” David Ratmoko, owner of the Switzerland-based modeling agency METRO Models, told Business Insider. “It’s an accessory that can be recognized from across the street or in the background of a photo. Instant recognition is the key to any status object.”
Justin Bieber collaborated with Shark on a limited-edition ChillPill, while the tennis player Aryna Sabalenka has promoted the fan online. Its premium price point is also likely to have added to its desirability.
From TikTok to St Tropez
Anyone who has spent much time on TikTok this summer has probably come across the ChillPill. Paid partnerships, affiliate videos, and independent reviews of the fan regularly attract tens of thousands of likes.
SharkNinja credits much of the fan’s success to social media. The company said more than 280 posts about the ChillPill went viral organically in the UK since it launched, generating 65 million impressions.
That visibility translated into sales. A spokesperson for TikTok Shop UK told Business Insider that sales of the ChillPill increased by more than 1,200% between the April-May and June-July periods.
The spokesperson added that search exposure for the product “more than tripled” in this timeframe, suggesting shoppers were actively seeking it out.
Jeanel Alvarado, the editor in chief of RetailBoss, a fashion, beauty and lifestyle publication, first came across the ChillPill on TikTok.
Once she recognized it, she said the device was ubiquitous at some of Europe’s most fashionable events this summer. She used hers to keep cool during France’s hottest June on record, including at Cannes Lions, and at Paris Haute Couture Week in July.
“In Cannes, Saint-Tropez, I noticed a lot of girls had them,” she told Business Insider. For Alvarado, the ChillPill has become her summer “essential.”
Across Europe, the hottest accessory is one that keeps you cool.
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