“Leather is dead animal skin,” says designer Victoria Ledig. Her big purse, clutch and make-up bag are made from leather and you can really, really tell. One looks just like cow skin peeled of a cow’s face. Another is a cow ear pouch, thick and pink. Another is a snout, it’s nose holes incorporated into the design.
I took those body parts not normally used in leather goods, as the cow’s head, tail or lower leg and turned them into leather, highlighting their natural forms and textures. These parts would normally be discarded within the process or be processed further into an unrecognizable animal ingredient.
The Precious Skin project up-cycles “skin parts which would otherwise be considered waste products.” It still looks like couture and not actual waste, mercifully scavenged from the death chambers of slaughterhouses.
“Precious Skin” at Self Unself, The Collective Design Fair, May 8 – May 11, New York
