Japanese designer Rie Hosokai also considers herself to be a “balloon artist.” Hosokai constructs avant garde dresses by hand using thousands of tiny balloons. The inflated balloons are painstakingly hand-stitched together to create a lightweight, and head-turning fashion piece for her Daisy Balloon collection.

Although material for the frocks is inexpensive, a lot of time and effort goes into each piece. The fragile gowns are biodegradable, and can only be worn for a few hours before they start deflating. If you’re interested in wearing one yourself, each piece carries a hefty price tag ranging from $2,000 to $4,000.

Hosokai has created a few dresses as part of Piece for Peace, a charity art exhibition at the Parco Gallery in Tokyo until 9 January, 2013. Browse through more of Hosokai’s designs below.

Rie Hosokai