Llamas, like other animals in pop culture, will have their share of stardom until the next new animal trend comes around.
Every holiday, I know I can count on two things: good food and receiving a llama-related present.
I’ve received blankets with llamas on them, coffee mugs toting sassy mantras like “No drama for this llama,” and socks—so many pairs of socks.
I can’t complain, though. Over the last three years, my llama collection has taken over my kitchen cabinets, covered my wall space, and earned dedicated dwellings on my Room Essentials bookcase.
It’s a little embarrassing being a 21-year-old woman who’s obsessed with an animal I feel like no one understands.
But where did it all start? The internet—obviously.
It all started in 2012, when I watched “Llamas With Hats” on YouTube. A string of heavy-metal music videos introduced me to Carl and Paul—the two llamas who started my obsession.
First, it was just watching the videos and scouring Etsy shops for llama merch.
Then, the annual llama Christmas gifts began. During our first Christmas as a couple, my boyfriend bought me a stuffed llama, Cedrick. Santa hasn’t come once without leaving some sort of llama paraphernalia under the tree.
At the time, llama merchandise was scarce and expensive. You could find llama keychains on Etsy, but not much else, aside from sweaters made from llama or alpaca wool, which start at $70. And finding a llama anything in stores (at least in my area) felt impossible.
But that’s changed within the last couple years, as llamas have become popular among toddlers, kids, teens, 21-year-olds, and researchers. In stores such as Target, Walmart, and Joann Fabrics, the creatures are everywhere—T-shirts, craft kits, baby clothes, socks, Valentine’s Day cards. And for trends expert Daniel Levine, who has delivered keynote speeches to various companies including McDonald’s, HBO, and Microsoft, that’s the easiest way to tell if something is becoming a trend.
“Once you start to become aware of something, you can pretty much bet there’s a fad happening,” says Levine. “Once your parents start becoming aware of it, it’s already on a downward trajectory.”
Levine says trends sometimes start organically—someone, somewhere thinks something is cute, and it makes its way across the internet. Trends can also become popular through celebrity endorsement. Animals are a feel-good trend, and a new animal fad will begin as one is ending in a continuous, couple-year cycle, he says.
“People are always looking for the next kitten and puppy,” Levine says.
Becoming Pop Culture Icons
According to Google Trends, llamas hit their peak popularity (judging by the frequency of online searches) in December 2016. Since, the trend has zig-zagged up and down over the past two years.
But for me, it’s not comforting to notice my favorite, previously overlooked, animal in stores: It’s annoying. Once Chrissy Teigen endorses llamas in an interview with Refinery29, the internet explodes. But when I, a woman from the Midwest, spend my day scouring for llama merch, I’m a weirdo—talk about a double standard. I know llamas aren’t necessarily known for being kind and gentle because they spit and have weird teeth, but I could do without the bug-eyed stares and furrowed brows when people discover llamas are my favorite animal.
And I’m not alone in this frustration. Lydia Wiseheart, a sophomore music performance major at Ball State University who has owned llamas and alpacas (jealous), isn’t fully on board with the trend, either.
While she enjoys the variety of merchandise covered in llamas, which she says are her spirit animals, she doesn’t feel like people really understand the creatures.
When Lydia was 18, her family rescued two llamas named Rainbow and Moon, along with an alpaca named Lambert. The llamas, rather than acting like dogs or cats, were often standoffish toward people. The alpaca would spit at the family, usually spending most of his time out in the field away from them.
“Well, whenever it
became like a big trend and everything, I started getting as much [llama stuff] as I could because I knew there wouldn’t be much merchandise in a couple of years,” Lydia says. “I even have llama slippers and just everything I could find.”
Like Lydia, I’ll bask in the rays that are llama stardom, but in the next year or so, I know my obsession will be shunned back to YouTube and Etsy.
Though llamas can have a reputation of being standoffish, Robert Van Saun, who has worked with the species for nearly 30 years, says the opposite.
Generally, llamas and alpacas are gentle and social animals, Van Saun says. However, they’re just like any other animal, and when they feel threatened, they spit.
(Yes, he’s been spit at before.)
Staying #OnTrend
In the 1980s, it was big hair and neon. In the 1990s, it was grunge and Lisa Frank. In the early 2000s, it was fake tans and Britney Spears. In the 2010s, it was Vine and the Kardashians. Now, it’s exotic, mythical creatures and liquid lipstick.
Devon Powers, who has a Ph.D. from New York University’s Media, Culture, and Communication program, says she has noticed movements over the years with different animals.
Powers said the process of creating a trend isn’t instant (things like viral challenges are fads, which don’t last as long as trends. I’m looking at you Tide Pods.) It takes research, going out into the field, and making a decision to run with it. People who work in merchandising, fashion, or retail are responsible for anticipating what consumers will want in the future.
“It’s kind of crazy, right?” Powers says. “Somebody sitting in a boardroom six months ago was like, ‘I think llamas are getting really exciting. Let’s do that.’”
When something—whether it’s cats or flat whites—becomes popular, someone in a boardroom decided months ago to present it to consumers, Powers says.
“We don’t think about it, but you know, pretty much everything we buy, everything we listen to, everything we like, everything we watch, works on this idea that certain people like something,” Powers says. “Those people are the early adopters, and then all the rest of us kind of follow what those people do after a period of time.”
Will Acton, owner of Pumkinfish in Indianapolis, says now more than ever people are looking for one-of-a-kind gifts that commercial stores like Target and Walmart don’t sell. So, he constantly orders new merchandise to pique interest.
The main things people love? Bath and body items (think bath bombs), mythical creatures, animals, and profanities (shocker), he says.
When looking at what to stock Pumkinfish’s shelves with, Acton says he often listens to customers, and if there’s a request for a particular print on a product, he usually purchases it.
In addition to paying attention to what customers say in his store, Acton watches social media, reads magazines, and pops in to small stores to see what other people are buying and selling.
“I’m constantly bugging Peyton [Acton’s former social media director], ‘What are the kids doing today? What are they buying? What are they saying?’” Acton says. “[Social media] is a huge influence just because one person gets it, posts it, and BOOM—it can go viral in a second.”
However, like any good trend, llamas will eventually slide back to unknown territory, leaving their mark in haphazard clearance bins.
But for now, I’ll cherish every llama-themed gift that makes its way into my hands (even if it’s another pair of socks).
