Azone International is pushing the boundaries between dolls and figures with its high-quality sewing skills and costume design

[2025 63rd All Japan Model Hobby Show]

Event period

October 18th: 9:30-17:30

October 19th: 9:30-16:30

(Vendor invitation date: October 17th)

Venue: Tokyo Big Sight South Halls 3 and 4

Admission fee

Same-day tickets: 1,200 yen

*Free for junior high school students and younger

Azone International (Azone) had a strong exhibit at the 63rd All Japan Model Hobby Show in 2025. Azone is a doll manufacturer with a long history, having previously exhibited at events such as Wonder Festival, but they also offer products that are dolls but also have strong qualities as figures, such as 1/12 scale dolls and character doll series that reproduce the costumes and shapes of anime characters.

An anime character turned into a doll. Anna Yanami from "Too Many Losing Heroines." Release date undecided. Recently, they have released costumes in collaboration with Aoshima's "Kemonopla," and have also developed costumes that can be used for Kotobukiya's beautiful girl plastic models "Frame Arms Girl Grandescale Innocentia" and "Sousai Shojo Teien."

Clothes made from fabric have a unique appeal, such as silhouette and movement. However, when trying to express costumes at 1/12 or 1/6 scale, the "thickness of the fabric" becomes an issue. Simply making the costume smaller will make it appear relatively thick. Even the thread used for sewing must be thin and inconspicuous in order to produce costumes in small sizes.

In collaboration with Aoshima, they are also developing clothes for "Kemonopla." The costumes for their 1/12 scale doll "Piconeemo R" can also be used for "Kemonopla."

Costumes and large weapons that can be used in Kotobukiya's "Sousai Shojo Teien" are also on sale.

The 1/6 scale costume can be used for "Frame Arms Girl Grandescale Innocentia." Clothes for beautiful girl plastic models are likely to become even more popular in the future. Costumes for dolls and figures require unique knowledge of fabric, thread, sewing techniques, etc., while also applying the techniques used to make regular clothes, such as fabrics that look like real clothing even in small sizes, and how to put together complex designs with many pleats, such as Gothic Lolita (Gothic & Lolita) lace, etc. With the current popularity of beautiful girl plastic models, it may be that cloth costumes that cannot be expressed in plastic modeling are an area that will attract even more attention in the future.

　Azone also sees this opportunity as an important retail sales channel. Although the number of users of doll clothes has increased in recent years, there are still few stores that understand them. It is seen as "something for women" and "a specialized product," and there are still few wholesalers who will approach them or stores that will stock their products. Azone exhibited at the hobby show with the aim of raising awareness of Azone through the customization of beautiful girl plastic models.

Azone's recent product lineup is centered on 1/6 scale. There are plenty of Gothic Lolita costumes that are typical of dolls.

It also incorporates cosplay elements.

Collaboration products too

Azone's strength is that the designers of the clothing are responsible for the design, fabrics used, and even sourcing the materials. Production is carried out at a factory in Vietnam, but the designers provide detailed instructions, such as "Use this fabric in this way, and finish it in this way," and also secure the fabrics and other materials to be used. This allows the factory to produce costumes that make the most of the designers' knowledge and sewing techniques.

　On the other hand, because they produce using purchased fabric, it is difficult for them to secure large quantities of fabric like well-capitalized manufacturers, and because they give detailed instructions for each costume, they are not suited to mass production. They operate a business with small production runs that sometimes sell out.

Within Azone, multiple designers design clothes, each using their own sense and knowledge. The clothes are based on the image of the character they are modeling, and users can enjoy the doll as that character, or use them as clothing for their own dolls. By having multiple designers each produce, Azone is able to offer a wide range of designs.

There are also products that offer realistic costumes for dolls.