It’s Hot Out Here. Brands, It’s Time for Fans

Phone, wallet, keys… fan? On the streets of Paris, editors and buyers have been rushing between shows fan-in-hand, from high-tech cooling devices to tried-and-true paper fans. So are the commuters alongside them, whether navigating the city by foot, train or bike, in an attempt to stay cool amid the 100-plus degree Fahrenheit temps sizzling across Europe.

At Paris Fashion Week Men’s, paper fans were everywhere from show seats to appointments, with brands including Dior, Lemaire, Soshiotsuki, and Yoke offering their own versions to help cool down guests. Attendees carried around their own handheld powered fans or wore cooling devices around their necks to fend off the heat. Now, on the heels of Europe’s second summer heatwave, Americans are gearing up for a sweaty, sticky holiday weekend, with temperatures surpassing 100 degrees on the opposite side of the Atlantic. Looking ahead to next week, editors are gearing up for yet another hot flash during Paris’s couture shows.

Handheld fans date back centuries, and handheld electronic versions have long been popular in Asian countries like China and Japan. But as summers continue to get hotter, global interest in fans of all kinds — but especially portable electronic devices — is on the rise. Searches related to hand and portable fans are up 60% year-on-year on Pinterest. Searches for “cute mini fan” are up 141% versus June 2025, “electric hand fan” searches are up 133%, and “mini fan snap” are up 117%. European wholesalers and retailers are increasing their order volumes for fans more than they are for air conditioning units, per Alibaba, with French retailer orders for handheld fans up 31% year-on-year.

“Consumers will increasingly think of fans in the way they consider water bottles and headphones: as functional but something they want to be proud to carry publicly,” says Emily Gordon-Smith, content director at trends intelligence agency Stylus. “So we’re seeing a move away from pure utility and cheap quick-fix purchases, toward high-performance premium tech where aesthetics and status matter.”

Both electronic and paper fans were big hits at PFW.

Innovation is ramping up as brands are introducing more complex technology to add a level of luxe — and better cooling systems. Jisulife, which makes one of the handheld fans currently doing the rounds on TikTok, released a higher-tech model earlier this year, the Pro 1 Mini. Appliance company SharkNinja launched its ChillPill portable cooling device last year, which is a three-in-one fan, mist, and InstaChill personal cooling system. This year, Dyson launched its HushJet Mini Cool, which serves a similar purpose; it launched in the US in April, and sold out in 24 hours, says Dyson design engineer Emily Blance. The UK launch that followed sold out in two hours, while queues formed outside the Paris store to pick one up. “The response has been a strong validation of what we set out to achieve: delivering effective cooling in a highly portable form factor that fits seamlessly into everyday life,” she says, noting Dyson’s plans to restock and introduce new colors in the coming weeks.

Beauty and fashion retailers are beginning to carry fans as a sort of wellness accessory, though it’s still a nascent category. Sephora and Ulta both began stocking the SharkNinja ChillPill earlier this year (in the shade Iced Latte at Sephora, and pink and purple at Ulta), retailing at $149.99, while Ulta also carries a simpler Zadaro fan at $21.99 via its third-party marketplace. Bloomingdale’s carried the Dyson HushJet Mini Cool, though it’s now sold out online. Retailers like Revolve and Harrods carry luxe versions of the paper fan, with Revolve selling a raffia iteration by Eva Ventai for $315; Harrods currently has a banana motif fan for sale for $185 by Pubumésu.

Brands and retailers should stay close to the cooling category, experts advise — these temps aren’t dropping any time soon.

Simple paper fans have long been a chic accessory — Dior’s version, available on its site now, are inscribed with the brand name — but the real opportunity lies in the increasingly high-tech devices that are entering the market.

Gordon-Smith expects handheld models to dominate, given their flexibility. “They double as desk fans, can be shared with a friend, and tucked away in a bag,” she says. A wraparound neck fan, by contrast, is relegated to the neck, and is often too large to slip into a handbag once you’re safely in the AC. “Neck fans are more ultimately about utility, being hands-free making them massively popular for train commutes and active tasks. Aesthetically, they suffer from design barriers and will likely always look less fashionably appealing — although maybe some smart brands will address this.”

Dyson’s HushJet mini fan has sold out across its global markets.

Brands like Dyson and SharkNinja are focused on how to balance effective cooling tech and a sleek aesthetic. Dyson’s HushJet Mini Cool uses the brand’s air purifying tech, applied to portable cooling. “We’re particularly excited about the potential of the HushJet platform, and how we can continue to evolve its distinctive design and engineering,” Blance says. “As technology advances, we expect personal devices to become increasingly multifunctional, combining capabilities such as cooling, purification, heating, humidification, and other forms of environmental management into compact, high-performance solutions designed to move seamlessly with you throughout the day.”

SharkNinja launched the ChillPill with a similar goal: to make cooling tech portable, functional, and good-looking. Much like Dyson, the product combines Shark’s existing cryo cooling technology with its airflow expertise. “Bringing together three distinct cooling technologies into one device meant rethinking the category from the ground up,” says Michelle Crossan-Matos, chief brand and experience officer at SharkNinja. This multi-method cooling is where she sees the most potential for innovation. “It’s been fascinating to see the range of people reaching for ChillPill, from travelers and parents spending long days outdoors to those whose cooling needs have changed with different phases of life,” she says, noting that these insights will shape future releases and developments.

Dyson’s Blance anticipates that devices will integrate AI tech to enhance the experience. “We see a future where these devices become increasingly intelligent, able to automatically adapt to changing environmental conditions, activity levels, and individual preferences to deliver personalized comfort exactly when and where it’s needed,” she says.

The fan opportunity isn’t relegated to technology players. Fashion brands playing in the cooling arena have traditionally focused on clothing, from air-conditioned clothing (most recently at the Rick Owens show, where the designer showed garments using Climacool technology in collaboration with Adidas) to investing in new fibers and blends better suited to ultra-hot temperatures. Still, there’s room for brands to add cooling accessories into the mix, as they would a wallet or sunglasses.

Some brands have dabbled. Gucci sold $250 paper fans back in 2017, to mixed reviews, while Dior has a $225 fan available to shop online as part of its Dioriviera collection. This might evolve to brands giving fans away to customers or store visitors, like brands do at fashion shows. Emily Dawn Long gave away her own paper paddle fan to customers at her brand’s Paris pop up during men’s week. “There’s huge opportunity for brands to take the traditional paper fan and make it a modern-day accessory category winner,” Gordon-Smith says. “Leaning into premium, artisanal-crafted and creative renderings, look at the history of fans and their significance over the centuries in making social, aesthetic and even political statements. From collectable art pieces to fun yet practical marketing giveaways, we’ll see a boom in them in years to come.”

SharkNinja’s ChillPill collab with Skylrk debuted at Coachella 2026.

Paper fans are also a smart play for the bridal category, with many weddings taking place outdoors in the summertime. Brands like US-based Gigi and Olive offer bride-worthy fans as well as favors for guests, signaling an option for more occasion brands to get in the mix. Elsewhere, many brides-to-be order their wedding day fans in bulk from smaller vendors on sites like Etsy.

Beyond the paper iterations, fashion can tap into the more tech-forward fans via collaborations. Justin Bieber’s Skylrk got ahead of the curve on this with a SharkNinja collab at Coachella earlier this year. Skylrk launched an exclusive orange-colored ChillPill in the limited-edition shade Heat, which was briefly available on both brands’ sites, as well as in the Skylrk Oasis space on the festival grounds. (The appliance brand did a big push at the festival, where they also had influencer Alix Earle promoting its non-collaboration fans.)

“We wanted ChillPill to show up in places that are part of people’s lives in all the nooks of culture, fashion, music, and sports,” Crossan-Matos says. “The timing aligned perfectly and knowing the temperatures are always hot in the desert, we knew it was a great moment.”

With temperatures rising well beyond the desert, more brands will have ample opportunity to tap in for hot summers ahead.

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