Mannequin Day

What Is Mannequin Day?

Every March 24th is "Mannequin Day" in Japan. On March 24, 1928, at the "Grand Ceremony Commemorative Domestic Industry Promotion Tokyo Exposition" held in Ueno Park, Tokyo, the Takashimaya kimono store presented Japan's first "mannequin girls." These mannequin girls were not dolls but female sales staff who wore the store's clothes and served customers, and they are said to have become popular as models who also sold the goods.

Mannequin Girls and the Origin of the Word

In Japan, the word "mannequin" first spread as a word for people, not dolls.

• Debut at the exposition: The exposition was held to celebrate the enthronement of Emperor Showa. It ran from March 24th to May 22nd, and about 2.23 million people are said to have visited over those two months.
• The origin of the word: "Mannequin" comes from the French "mannequin," meaning a fashion model among other things, and is said to trace back further to a Dutch word meaning "little person." Various stories are told about why Japanese settled on "manekin" rather than the French-style "manukan"; one holds that "manukan" sounded like "manekan" ("won't beckon [customers]"), which was considered unlucky.
• From people to dolls: Today, the word "mannequin" on its own usually refers to the life-size "mannequin dolls" used to display clothes.

Mannequins as Displays

Mannequins are essential to store design, showing the appeal of clothing in three dimensions.

• Showing how clothes look when worn: Unlike clothes on a hanger, clothes on a mannequin help shoppers picture the silhouette and styling.
• VMD (visual merchandising): In visual merchandising, which conveys a product's appeal through presentation, stores combine mannequin poses, placement and lighting to create the look of the sales floor.

Fun Facts About Mannequins

• The oldest mannequin?: One theory holds that the world's oldest mannequin is a life-size wooden figure found in an Egyptian royal tomb, thought to have been used for fitting clothes.
• Faceless mannequins: Some mannequins have abstract faces without features, or no head at all, so that attention goes to the clothes themselves.
• All sorts of poses: Mannequins come in many poses for different uses, such as running poses for sportswear.
• "House manukan": In the 1980s, sales staff who wore a brand's clothes while serving customers were called "hausu manukan" (house mannequins) and became a talking point in Japan.

Tips for Marking Mannequin Day

• Look at shop windows around town and notice how the mannequins are styled and displayed
• Use a mannequin's outfit that caught your eye as inspiration for combining clothes you already own
• Look into the history of department stores or expositions in the early Showa era
• Ask someone who works in retail about their tricks for displaying clothes

A Story From the Dawn of Showa, Behind the Shop Window

The mannequin first appeared in Japan at the start of the Showa era as "women who wore clothes and served customers." March 24th is a day to remember that the mannequins we see around town come with a little history of their own.