Cool but unfashionable: Wearable air-con vest to hit stores
Late to the party? Japan already had their own version of a 'cool-down' vest way back in 2006. It's anything but fashionable, but there may yet be a place for this function-first garment on the kind of runway trafficked by jumbo jets if not twiggy models. The Straits Times recently reported on a new product called the Cool Walker from Fridge-To-Go, an 'air-con' vest that conceals panels of removable chill packs that last up to three hours. The brainchild of Hong Kong inventor Jackson Chan, it'll hit the Takashimaya store in October.
Neat idea, but until now our idea of cooling off has been to wear less, not more -- can a vest that weighs 2.1kg (likely more than all your other clothing combined) really be the answer? Probably not at its current price point of S$215, and definitely not three hours later, when the batteries have run out and you're left looking like a nail bomber in a sweaty deadweight vest.
Will we see queues forming at Takashimaya when the Cool Walker hits shelves? That remains to be seen. But if you've got more money than taste, Fridge-To-Go is offering a 25 percent discount for pre-orders now.
If you spot other well-meaning fashion disasters, drop us a line now.
