Later next month KAWS’ iconic ‘companion’ character will be floating by during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in a 40ft form. The shy looking character has been built in balloon form from urethane-coated nylon, taking roughly 7 months to construct between the 30 people working on it. Only four living artists have featured in the parade, those being Tim Burton, Jeff Koons, Tom Otterness and Takashi Murakami and now KAWS also known as Brian Donnelly, will be added to the honourable list.

Companion has been a reoccurring character for KAWS. Being both a toy and a sculpture and now a balloon. The thought process behind the iconic shy pose comes from KAWS himself imagining how mortifying it would be to have a million people passing by and staring at you all day.