Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2011

Courtesy of Mindcreate Japan

Metropolis gets deluged with press releases, but few of them have socked us between the eyes like the one that we received last month from the makers of the Airquin. This, after all, is no ordinary product: it’s “the one-and-only, epoch-making inflatable BODY SHAPE OBJECT (or people say Mannequin conventionally).” The Airquin range of brightly colored PVC body parts can be flat-packed and slipped into an envelope when you’re done, making them a lightweight alternative to conventional dummies. Though they’re sure to appeal to fashion stores, these “kitschy pop” torsos, hips, legs and heads could also be used to spruce up an otherwise dowdy apartment—and they won’t be a pain to get rid of once the novelty wears off.

Airquin, from ¥3,675. Available from Tokyu Hands Shibuya: 12-18 Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku. Open daily 10am-8:30pm. Nearest stn: Shibuya. www.airquin.jp