I’ve been mocked for my giant £42 ‘adult sippy cup’. But I am drinking more water than ever. This is why I am a fully signed up member of the Stanley Squad, along with Adele, Victoria Beckham and Meghan.

Adele can’t do without it. Victoria Beckham and Meghan Markle have been pictured with and about them, while Jessica Alba has shown off her baby-blue version on social media.

If you think the must-have item in question is an Hermès Birkin or the latest Chanel crossbody, I’m afraid you’re a decade behind.

Designer bags are not the latest craze among celebrities and on social media. It is a supersized, insulated water tumbler. These almost comically gargantuan ‘adult sippy cups’ have become ubiquitous at boutique gyms – known to the oh-so-healthy, Lululemon-wearing, salad-eating Pilates fan.

While enormous cups come from a variety of manufacturers, such as brands such as Yeti (Victoria Beckham’s model of choice) or Simple Modern (Meghan’s favourite), the current king of water bottles is the Stanley ‘Quencher’ – a ginormous, £42, 40oz (850ml) one Mug with straw.

The hashtag #Stanleycup is now over seven billion TikTok has become something of a cult online, with celebrities including actress Shay Mitchell and Love Islander Molly May Hague promoting it online. They come in dozens of different colors, each selling out within minutes of release.

Just last week, Stanley sent social media into overdrive with a highly anticipated, limited-edition collaboration with Starbucks for Valentine’s Day.

Videos have emerged of shoppers queuing overnight in America to get their hands on the bright, £35 pink and red cups. In the viral footage, a man tried to grab a box from other customers who had been queuing for hours before he was tackled and beaten. The cups are now selling for as much as £150 each on eBay.

So how did the insulated cup — which, let’s face it, was once the preserve of construction workers and mountaineering dads — become the ultimate fashion statement?

Since William Stanley Jr. invented the vacuum-sealed steel bottle — not the Stanley knife — in 1913, the Seattle company has sold a variety of tumblers from 14oz (400ml) to 64oz (1.8l), catering to long-distance drivers, outdoor workers, picnickers, hikers and more. .

I’ve been mocked for this purchase by colleagues, family and friends – but after filling it for the first time a week ago, I’m starting to understand the craze.

World War II pilots carried stainless on their plans. As recently as 2012, Stanley stated that its products primarily resonated with ‘policemen with 30-year careers’ and ‘retired army soldiers’. It’s safe to say that Stanley fever didn’t catch on overnight.

It was only in 2016 when the company released their Quencher model that the brand captured the imagination of Gen Z – born in the late 1990s and 2010s. I must declare an interest here: at the beginning of the year, I succumbed to Tiktok – Mania and bought the Stanley Cup.

Not the Viral Quencher, but its leak-proof sibling, Iceflow – a 40oz bottle with a flip-up straw – for £42. I’ve been mocked for this purchase by colleagues, family and friends – but after filling it for the first time a week ago, I’m starting to understand the craze.

On TikTok, influencers started sharing how much water they carry in their tumblr and how it keeps them ‘hydrated’. Pop queen and TikTok royalty Olivia Rodrigo sparked a new wave of devotees last year.

‘I was really TikTok-influenced to buy this,’ said Rodrigo, sipping his lilac cup in a video interview with GQ.

‘I was like, “I need this. This looks like it’s going to change my life.” And it absolutely did.’

Stanley’s revenue has grown – from $94 million in 2020 to $194 million in 2021, doubling again to $402 million in 2022.

Obviously, it’s the product’s practicality that appeals. At the heart of the Stanley Tumbler’s popularity is its insulation technology which I can attest to actually keeping drinks hot or cold for up to 24 hours.

In November last year, TikTok user Daniel Marie Lettering proved this to the extreme. She posted a video showing the aftermath of her car bursting into flames. Amidst the charred wreckage of her burned Kia, her copper-colored Stanley sat perfectly intact in the driver’s seat cupholder, with ice still frozen in the tumbler. The video has now received over 94 million views. Clearly excited by the marketing opportunity, when Stanley saw the video, the company offered to replace not only the cup, but his car.

However, Stanley is only for drinking; It is a lifestyle statement. The hashtag #StanleyTumbler became a gallery of advertisements for the product, featuring the tumbler in picturesque landscapes, cozy coffee nooks and vibrant cityscapes. It obviously plays into the ‘Bouji’ aesthetic. It’s a Gen Z term derived from ‘bourgeois’, which describes the tendency to shamelessly display wealth and materialism on your online platform.

Skinned enough to afford designer bags and sunglasses, young social media users settle for branded water bottles.

Do they cut down on plastic waste? Stanley claims it is ‘reducing the demand for disposable products that end up in waste and water streams’, but its Gen Z customers don’t see it that way. Instead, fans collect dozens of flasks to match their Stanley with their outfit on a particular day.

And although it may look like a grassroots social-media trend, Stanley’s bosses know what they’re doing. In 2020, the company appointed Terence Reilly as its new president. Reilly spent seven years at footwear brand Crocs, where he led a transformation that saw the rubber loafer turn into the hottest shoe on the market.

Reilly saw opportunities in the growing media landscape.

Gen Z is constantly looking for ways to reinvent the ugly ‘cool’. Reilly made it with Crocs, but the same phenomenon holds for the absurdly baggy jeans and giant tote bags that are synonymous with the ‘fashionable’ tweens – as well as the revival of the once-nerdy Birkenstock sandal. So it’s no surprise that this demographic is embracing the idea of ​​a ‘sippy cup’ for adults.

Just as many young TikTok users advertise weighted blankets or collect soft toys as a means of relieving anxiety, sucking on the nipple of a giant flask can strangely stimulate an infant. The hashtag #emotionalsupportwaterbottle has over 330 million views.

So what do people put in their flasks? Some suggest spiking their water with candy-flavored powdered-drink mix, fruity syrup, or plain old Coca-Cola. And I haven’t even mentioned American influencers filling their flasks with liters of caramel mocha frappuccinos or – Victoria Beckham, stop reading now! – Hot chocolate.

Tragically, for a water purist like myself, this detracts from Stanley’s Pilates/salad ‘vibe’.

As a result, some say the Cup is on its way. ‘This is Peak Stanley. Casey Lewis of Youth Consumer Trends says there is no benefit from the analyst here.

I’m not so sure. Although the water bottle has its drawbacks – it’s bulky and the straw is difficult to clean – I drink more water than I ever have before and consider myself a fully signed up member of the ‘Stanley Aesthetic’. That is, until TikTok tells me there’s another flask that’s even cooler.