Photos By Gail

This week we are having a serious Design Flashback as we feature the truly iconic  Blow inflatable hair. way back in 1967, long before TikTok and IKEA hacks took over our interiors, the Blow Chair literally burst onto the scene. Designed by Italian architects Jonathan De Pas, Donato D’Urbino, and Paolo Lomazzi, this cheeky piece of pop design was the world’s first mass-produced inflatable chair, and it had zero interest in blending in.

Installation View with Saarinen Tulip Chair

Made from brightly colored or crystal-clear PVC plastic and sold with its own foot pump, the Blow Chair was a beacon of Space Age optimism and 1960s rebellion. It was lightweight, transparent, portable, and — let’s be honest — not super durable, but that was kind of the point. In an era obsessed with the future and freedom, who wanted heavy, serious furniture?

Produced by avant-garde Italian manufacturer Zanotta, Blow was part furniture, part fashion statement. With its see-through body and bubble-like form, it looked like something plucked straight from a sci-fi movie set — or your childhood pool party.

Today, surviving examples of the Blow Chair are rare collector’s items, lovingly preserved in museums like MoMA. But back in its heyday, this balloon-like seat represented a bold shift in how we think about form, function, and fun. So the next time you spot a piece of  inflatable furniture in a dorm room or in an Instagram ad, thank the Blow Chair — the original icon that made plastic fantastic.

Photographed in The Museum of Modern Art in NYC