How a $150 handheld fan became Europe's hottest status symbol
Europe's heat waves and lack of air conditioning helped turn Shark's $150 ChillPill handheld fan into the summer's hottest status symbol.
SharkNinja describes its ChillPill as a "3-in-1 cooling device."Courtesy of SharkNinjaA lot of European buildings don't have AC, making record-breaking heatwaves particularly uncomfortable.The situation has helped turn handheld fans into a summer essential.
Shark's ChillPill, costing $149.99, has become a status symbol in fashionable European circles.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 fansA 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.Handheld fans are a new staple accessory in Europe, where there's little AC and people spend significant chunks of time outdoors.Dan Kitwood/Getty Images"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
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