日本设计师打造气球礼服

日本设计师细贝里枝最近用200个气球打造出了一件超轻透明的气球礼服，售价超过一千美元，打破了人们惯有的“气球廉价”观念。据悉，细贝里枝一直醉心于气球艺术，还曾经获得比利时年度气球节的国际大奖。她打造的气球礼服全部都是手工完成，每个气球的成本只有9美分，但经过精心设计制作而成的时装却可以卖到两、三千美元。不过，每件礼服只能保持24小时，而且会随着温度与湿度的变化出现变色的情况。据介绍，入行两年以来，她已售出20件气球婚纱和一系列礼服、头饰和花束等作品。她希望能吸引越来越多的人穿着气球时装参加派对，更期望能用气球礼服鼓舞沉浸在灾难伤痛中的日本民众。

The latest in dresses from one Japanese designer is feather-light, see-through and comes with an unusual warning: watch out for needles.

It's a dress made from balloons -- 200 of them, to be exact.

The crystal-clear creation is the latest in balloon couture from balloon artist Rie Hosokai, who has won international prizes at Belgium's annual "The Millennium Jam" balloon festival for her skill at twisting and weaving the light, latex toys into dresses.

"There are latitude and longitude balloons to be woven together, so it's quite similar to fabric," said the 35-year-old Hosokai recently, as she deftly manipulated balloons into a transparent mini-dress.

All the work is done by hand, and Hosokai said it can be hard to account for the amount of air when adjusting the size and volume of the dress.

The garment, worn with white underwear and co-designed by Hosokai's husband Takashi Kawada, was modeled for photographers with the warning, "Watch out for needles."

Despite the inexpensive materials, 7 yen($0.09)for each of the 200 balloons she used, the bubbly creation came with a price tag of well over a thousand dollars, reflecting Hosokai's determination to puncture the stereotype of balloons being something cheap.

Most of Hosokai's dresses carry price tags ranging from 150,000 to 300,000 yen($1,930 to $3,860), but she has sold a set of balloon dress, headpiece and bouquet for 1 million yen.

Each dress lasts only 24 hours at most before it starts to deflate, while some change color depending on the temperature and humidity.

Hosokai, who began her career as a florist before expanding into balloon art and opening her "Daisy Balloon" office ten years ago, hopes to lift the profile of balloon fashion and attract customers eager for unusual party wear.

She has sold more than 20 wedding dresses since entering the business two years ago and would be pleased if her ephemeral garments helped lift spirits in the wake of Japan's March 11 disaster by reminding people of their childhood dreams.

"You can wow people at parties or weddings with a balloon dress. They'll be surprised, " she said.