Toshio Iwai's playful Rain Drops

My latest obsession these days is textiles, and so when Chris from Pixelsumo emailed me about Toshio Iwai's rain poncho created for the Tokyo Fiber 2007 exhibition, I was naturally interested. The poncho is constructed of water repellent fibers and embedded with raised, circular designs that are bristle like in texture (see pics below for a detail of the design that adorns the front of the poncho). The idea is that a child can catch raindrops with the poncho and lead a drop through the maze of circles, much like one of those small plastic toys, I imagine, with the tiny metal balls that you roll around a maze.

It's a very poetic idea...but I do wonder how old a child would have to be to truly "get" this...or have the patience to actually play with the rain as intended. Still, a very interesting exploration.

via Pixelsumo. (Thanks Chris)