Exclusive to Mannakin – our Retailers Starter Pack is an opportunity to gain access to the biggest mannequin cupboard in the United Kingdom. We give you the flexibility to choose from our range of new and used mannequins and exchange them for different types of mannequins as and when it suits you.

The benefits are enormous. By changing and exchanging perhaps black mannequins for white ones, realistic for faceless, your customers will always look to you for a fresh look. And for a viable mannequin investment, this is definitely the best deal we have seen yet.

For more information please use our web enquiry form to register your interest and we will forward further details of our Retailers Starter Pack to you. Nearly all mannequins featured at www.mannakin.com are available for you to hire.

It is true that almost every blog to do with fashion, weight loss and eating disorders is having a dig at Rootstein for creating a new design of male mannequin.

I thought it best to put our hat in the ring, being an upcoming designer and producer of mannequins.

Rootstein is known as the pioneer in the mannequin world. They produce fantastic mannequins that hold their value and almost everyone knows about them. They didn’t achieve this status by not producing different kinds and styles of mannequins.

The latest release is Homme Nouveau – a tall, 37 inch (waist) male mannequin with what I would call a ’slight’ build. This can only fill a gap in the market and would not have been created if the demand was not there.

A lot of bloggers have said that this encourages eating disorders in men. But what these reporters fail to realise is that there are men out there with builds like this and they are not malnourished or ‘manorexic’.

We say well done Rootstein for enabling us to gain yet another category in our mannequin world.

(Picture found on web)

1. Always unpack your new mannequin with care and consideration. Ideally, wear gloves when handling the body parts. If you do not have gloves to hand then at least ensure your hands are clean and rings are removed. Rings scratching against the surface of a mannequin will cause what looks like light pencil marks. They can be removed but in any case, avoid yourself the extra job of cleaning by removing your rings.
2. Clean hands are essential when unpacking, assembling and dressing a mannequin. We see the most common of marks caused by hands on key areas, such as around the neck, bottom of torso, thighs and arms. All of this can be avoided.
3. Join the mannequin together with care. Forcing a limb in place with undue care and attention can break the fittings. These can be fixed but again, safe yourself the hassle and expense.
4. Do not stick cellotape or double sided velcro to the mannequin. It will either remove the paint or leave a sticky residue which is time consuming to remove. It can of course be removed in about a half hour with white spirit, but it is an unnecessary task. If clothes do not fit the mannequin as you desire, use pins on the fabric, not tape on the mannequin.
5. Do not, if you can help it, drop the limbs. Whilst many old fashioned or expensive mannequins may survive, most modern, lightweight mannequins will not. If you think your mannequin needs to survive the hands of novice merchandisers, then please ensure they are adequately informed before they are let loose on your investment.

We once liased with a leading department store on the care of their mannequins. Their policy in fact was very bright. We were talking about damaged mannequins and how they recycled them. Simply put, they told us that there objectives were to always care for the mannequins and handle them in the correct way. As such, this attention to detail ensured that their investment lasted well into the future. With stores throughout the United Kingdom, this was obviously a good policy to have and saved a lot of time and money.

Before I Sleep is a site-responsive promenade production inspired by The Cherry Orchard, specially designed for the former Co-operative department store on London Road.

The characters in Chekhov’s greatest plays inhabit a world on the verge of collapse. They look out to the future and wonder what life will be like in years to come, unaware that, for them, it is about to change dramatically and irreversibly. Their future is now our present.

132 (no less) of our mannequins have been integrated into the set design and we are very proud to be working with such an exciting production.

‘dreamthinkspeak is an extraordinary company.’

The Guardian

It hardly even needs words – this image (to a mannequin enthusiast) speaks volumes.

If the mannequin is made from fibre glass, then it is in a static pose and cannot move much apart from its arms can move from by its side to a little higher – by having a hinge like joint where the top of the arm meets the torso. This mannequin video shows a great example, where the production team have used static (fibre glass) mannequins to imitate the dummies playing a keyboard.

But if you want a truly flexible mannequin that can do almost everything (apart from the washing up of course) then you need to look at our range of realistic and faceless flexible mannequins. They provide a very versatile solution to a variety of productions and are on the top of the list for a number of big idea directors.

Starring as yet the no name robot mannequin – more news to follow

Niki’s opening show at the Garrick Theatre is pictured here with 4 of our Selfridges 8 as backing singers, wearing dresses that appeared on the X Factor.

A recent addition to that category includes these two beautiful lounging female mannequins which are now available for hire only. We like to think that they will be used by event planners of a variety of descriptions including weddings and birthday parties.

These mannequins are now available to hire from £40 each plus shipping and VAT. We hope you agree that they are a truly artistic addition to our mannequin collection.

We apologise for the photo quality on these.

The exhibition showcased the favourite outfits of members of the public and explored the stories behind their clothes. ‘My Favourite Outfit’ incorporated clothes from the 1940’s to the present day and included country and western fashion, 70’s maxi dresses and wedding outfits, among others.

“The faceless white mannequins we chose were perfect as they were bland enough to suit a range of styles and ages of clothes, yet human-looking enough to give atmosphere to the room and created the feel of models on a catwalk”.

We have been listed as a finalist in the Newark Business Awards for Successful New Business. We are of course very honoured to have reached this stage in the process and have all our fingers and toes crossed to win, including all the mannequins fingers and toes, or at least the flexible ones .

We did enter last year, but didn’t get a look in, so we must have really impressed the judges so far and indeed we have come a long way from a year ago. We are up against the Vertical Pole Fitness Company and Wilson Energy, so whomever of us wins, we are sure it is a massive achievement!

This year the organisers have compiled short video interviews and we had great fun doing ours.

The grand finale is on November 25th and the guest speaker at the event is Sir Alans right hand man, Nick Hewer, so we are really looking forward to the event.

We will post more news here as soon as we have it.

On the theme of remaking and recycling featured in this video below – we have a huge collection of older mannequins that are just crying out to be transformed into your creations. So do get in touch and let us know if you are interested.

On|Off TV DAY FOUR from LowFatFilms on Vimeo.

We say that headless and faceless mannequins are the modern mannequins of the future, but consider using a realistic mannequin in your windows with no wig.

This picture (taken in Melbourne) of bald realistic mannequins, shows that as long as the model has great make up and a good pose and positioned within the right environment – it can also hold true the boldness of modern.

We are always pleased to work alongside set designers to create the right look so if this is your game, please get in touch for a chat. We are very flexible on financial negotiations and relish working with you long term.

Upcoming designers should contact Vauxhall Fashion Scout for information on the support they provide.

All of us here at Mannakin wish MIKA every success in the world with the new album. Roz’s favourite track? I see you!

The shoot was featured twice on Channel 4’s T4 on Saturday 29 August 2009. It is available for 30 days on 4 on Demand. Click here to view on the web.

We are back after a successful trip with the mannequins to Glastonbury Festival. Not only did they stand on stage for the duration, they also appeared with Lady Gaga – when she did her secret gig at Club Dada, Shangri La. We were delighted as she announced how much she enjoyed performing with the mannequins. Kelvin Clone even had his privates fondled by her! (He is now charging double his usual hire fee!) Some pre photos here, with more to follow shortly.

We supplied the silver mannequins in this video. These are part of our Ralph Pucci ‘Manikin’ Collection.