yang zhao introduces sharkman, a wearable furniture for everyday use

created by product designer yang zhao, the sharkman is a hybrid wearable furniture which explores the possibilities of deformable ‘soft furniture’. working with the idea of flexibility, the item could suit many different situations and usages.

adaptable sharkman furniture, fitting the laptop comfortably
(above and main) image © james barnett

graduated from central saint martins in 2016, yang zhao brings about an innovative and experimental design with sharkman. responding to the need for a flexible private space, the soft furniture creates an environment around the user whether they are sitting, lying down or standing. in other words, it can be altered to create total privacy or complete exposure to others. this design was selected to be exhibited in the brainwaves london design festival. it has also won the certificate of excellence from the mayor of london’s international student innovation 2016 award. 

the possibility of creating a private enclosure when working or wanting to concentrate
image © james barnett 

sharkman transformed into a tent-like design, when the user lies to sleep
image © james barnett

demonstrating the deformable qualities of the wearable furniture
image © yang zhao

a quiet environment is created when sitting down
image © yang zhao

the user, wearing the sharkman, can move from one place to another 
image © yang zhao 

the designer yang zhao 

yang zhao testing her design (1)

yang zhao testing the full-on coverage of sharkman (2)

project info:

special thanks: tom bishop and shigeya miyata (modeling)
yang zhao contact detail: [email protected]

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.