Smell is the most persuasive sense, according to Canadian designers Studio NminusOne, which explains why they've designed a mannequin that makes clothes smell of the person looking at them (+ slideshow).
Ducts and pumps connect the mannequin to a perforated chair, which harnesses the unique fragrances of the shopper and releases them onto the garments.
The shopper is then seduced by the familiar scent and can convince both themself and anyone nearby that the outfit is perfectly suited to them.
Other design projects featuring mannequins include a chair formed when a concrete-filled torso is dropped onto it from above.
Here's some text from Studio NminusOne:
The Hu-Mannuquin Project
By Studio NMinusOne with clothing designed by Adrian Wu & Erin Holman
"Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions, or will. The persuasive power of an odor cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it.”
- Patrick Süskind, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
The Hu-Mannequin allows for a new relationship between people and clothing, by engaging the olfactory sense.
The experience of the material becomes heightened through the experience of the immaterial.
The Hu-Mannequin is a scent-emitting mannequin that, throughout the day releases a variety of smells into the environment. A seat is placed within a given environment to harness the scent of the individual sitting.
The scent of the person occupying the seat is transported through a system of ducts and fans, where the smell is released into the air via perforated mannequin.
The person occupying the seat metaphysically wears the clothing through smell. The mannequin, typically a lifeless object, is now animated by human qualities through the production of smells -- becoming a Hu-Mannequin.
While sitting on the furniture, a person literally inhabits the clothing, giving an outfit that person’s unique smell. This sets up a new dynamic.
Unlike the act of physically trying on a suit in a dressing room, partners, friends and strangers can visualize an outfit by smelling the virtual wearer’s body on the clothing.
