Good things come to those who wait, especially if you’re in line for a Hermès Birkin or Kelly handbag. Rare, precious, and the ultimate status symbol, these holy grails of fashion have women around the world queuing up, despite the ever-climbing prices. Still, what if you could one-up even a Hermès Birkin? It sounds impossible, but in a world driven by relentless technological advances, why shouldn’t innovation spill into fashion? In fact, history itself is joining the mix. A company has just announced plans to create the world’s first T. rex leather, engineered from the DNA of the prehistoric beast.
Expensive leathers like Crocodile Porosus, found in the Himalaya Birkin, Alligator Mississippiensis, or Ostrich, long favored by top luxury houses, are suddenly starting to feel… passé. Enter VML Netherlands, in collaboration with Lab-Grown Leather Ltd., which is breaking ground using tissue engineering to develop a never-seen-before alternative to traditional leather. This lab-grown Tyrannosaurus rex leather will be crafted by reconstructing T. rex collagen, the protein that gives skin its structure, from fossilized amino acid fragments preserved for 66 million years. Honestly, I doubt any luxury bag in circulation can claim that kind of pedigree.
With the combined powers of AI and synthetic biology, sheets of T. rex-inspired leather will soon be crafted in labs, setting the stage for a world where you might actually strut down the street with a T. rex leather handbag or jacket. Let’s just hope it doesn’t become too commonplace. After all, Hermès loyalists are bound to have the last word, especially since even those armed with wads of cash can’t simply walk into a boutique and buy a Birkin. That’s its true magic.
Unlike traditional leather production, which contributes to deforestation and pollution through chemical tanning, this new T. rex leather is also a more environmentally conscious option. It eliminates animal cruelty concerns entirely, according to the Daily Mail. By the end of the year, the team behind this Jurassic innovation expects to unveil its first luxury fashion item as a flagship commercial product. Here’s hoping for some roaring success, and shorter waitlists.
