Cows hold onto your nipples,Birds hold onto your wings

This year at London Fashion Week, designer Rachel Freire showed a provocative collection. It included a dress made from 3,000 cow and yak nipples (90% cow and 10%yak).Anyone that knows what a yak is,please share it with the world. It is created from patches of cattle hide recovered from tanneries(whatever they are). I think I may need to go and find a dictionary. The dress was shown on the Paris catwalk too. I dunno how the curly moustache, beret wearing striped t-shirt brigade would take it. If there are any French people reading,sorry for the stereotype. The collection also included an intricate bra made from layers of protruding cow nipples. 


As soon as the collection was shown, editors were typing quicker then lightning on their blackberries, while MPs and animal rights campaigners were getting in a tizz. It didn't take long for an MP to express their outrage. And can you guess which party the MP was from?? Drum roll.....Labour! What a surprise! MP Kerry McCarthy said 'It seems to me absolutely grotesque. I think most people will find it sickening and repulsive.' While eating a duck sandwich. I'm surprised she didn't also say 'This is all down to the coallition and Labour has part of their manifesto that we will not allow cow nipples or any other kind of nipple to be used for fashion. This is all David Cameron's fault and shows what has become of our society within this government.' As you can tell I am a bit of a cynical grumpy young women, especially about politicians. The opposition is always quick to slate the opposing party if they have done anything wrong. It's like a bunch of school girls bitching about the horrible girl with buck teeth and how awful new lipstick is. I'm surprised they don't have a stitch and bitch group. I can just see David Cameron sitting in a circle with his cabinet discussing Ed Miliband's new haircut, whilst doing knit one pearl two. Anyway I'll stop with the cynicism about politicians,well at least for now anyway.
An animal rights activist from the organisation Viva, Justin Kerswell added: 'Isn't the way we treat farmed animals bad enough, without turning their dead bodies into a runway freak show?'. But us english like our freak shows honey. Look at how many viewers Jeremy Kyle gets.


Rachel Friere said that she was excited about revealing her designs at Somerset House and is now defending her creations. She said 'They really make you aware of the animal itself. I create fashion using material that would otherwise end up on the scrap heap. What I am doing is recycling. The people criticising are clearly clueless about the amount of leather wasted on a daily basis.' I know we have it forced into our brain 'Renew,Reuse,Recycle' daily, but don't you think using cow nipples is just a step too far? What's next,pig's tails? Piglet watch out.


Rachel started her label in 2009, with a degree in Design and Performance from Central Saint Martins. Jealous much. Rachel has no experience in the fashion industry, but her unique collection has obviously been a hit. Well that's certainly one way to get your name out there. She prefers to be called an artist instead of a fashion designer. Rachel said 'I am an artist in wolf's clothing.' OK,I have no idea what that means but good for you.


I don't know where I stand on this really. As a hardcore vegetarian of eleven years and an animal lover,I do think its a bit wrong. But the eccentric wacky designer in me does think its a cool idea,so I am torn. Maybe I'm just missing Haribo. The point is that I'd rather the animal was not killed in the first place. However,it sadly is and the by-products left over would be going in the dump anyway, so I can see where the designer is coming from when she says it is just recycling. I don't think its what the government had in mind though honey. Is this  really Eco friendly?


I hate leather and refuse to wear it. I don't like the smell of it and I hate going near anyone who is wearing it. But then a lot of designers use leather for shoes including my love Christian Louboutin,along with Jimmy Choo. I could maybe justify wearing them if the animal was killed anyway and the leather is a by-product, but I wouldn't wear them if the animal was solely bred for the leather,the same with fur. But is wearing and using by-products of animals encouraging animals to be killed in the first place and increasing the demand? So, it means I'm torn between my vegetarianism and my total love of shoes. Christan Louboutin if you're reading this,not that you would be,please make some vegetarian shoes for me that doesn't make me look like a monk or an out of date social worker, so I can wear them without feeling guilty. I'm not that keen on having dead animal skin on my feet. Just the whole dead thing freaks me out. Of course my family are very supportive with me being a vegetarian. My dad pushes me in the butchers every time we go past and my sister said that we should all get cremated together and she would wear her leather coat just to piss me off. Families eh.


I came across another designer a while back who loves recycling animal parts called Jess Eaton. The Brighton designer uses pieces from animals that have died naturally or have been killed for food. Jess boils up bones from a sunday dinner and makes them into a necklace. Her Roadkill Couture collection shown at Brighton Fashion Week in June 2011, includes a fascinator made from rat skulls, a hat made from four magpie wings, a cape made from the tail of a shire horse and a belt made from a rack of spare rib bones. Yeah I can see them being sold in h&m.
Jess also creates fur-based pieces,inspired by style icons such as Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. These pieces include a bolero jacket made from the skins of fifty white rats, whose flesh was eaten by her friend's pet lizard and a hat made from a fox tail with pheasant feather wings. She has also made accessories which include a necklace of 12 pheasant skulls,evening gloves trimmed with the birds' feathers and jewellery made from mussel shells. You can see the show here Roadkill Couture Collection.

Fascinator made from
magpie wings

Pheasant skull necklace with sparkly diamond

Jess said 'I'm certainly not squeamish. I have to skin all the animals myself. Because they lived natural lives instead of being bred for fur on farms,the roadkill is often scarred. Squirels seem to be particularly macho as they are covered in injuries from fighting. It means I have to work that bit harder to make them look beautiful.' I'm sure a blob of foundation and a sweep of blusher would do the the trick. Jess goes on to say 'I was recently donated a whole horse's head after the animal died. I carved the skull and used the skin and hair in several pieces.' It sounds a bit like the Godfather. I wonder if she woke up and found it on her pillow. 'People see roadkill and think of me. One friend rang in a panic because there was a dead fox in her garden. I picked it up and now it is a cape. It was lovely and fresh.' Now that is true friendship. 'My poor son Norton,seven is sick of the smell of flesh-eating bugs at home and my workshop at home is often full of bits of animal. But I am moving into a shop in Brighton soon, so at least it will be out of our little flat.' God I wouldn't want to live above that shop,give me an Indian takeaway any day.' Jess hopes her work inspires people to think about where food comes from and how much we waste. I don't really get how making a necklace out of pheasant skulls will make people think about where their food comes from and how much we waste, they will just think you're mad.

Rat skin jacket,rat skull fascinator & spare rib belt

This is another collection that I am in two minds about. The pieces do look good and I am the first in the queue to wear eccentric and unusual things,but its an animal. People could argue that the animals have suffered enough already by being killed and don't deserve being cut about,but they have not been killed solely to make the pieces. A lot of them are killed by silly drivers that are too busy fiddling with the radio and not watching the road. So what does everyone think,is this art and beautiful or is it wrong and repulsive? For the meantime,I just think I will stick to spikes and cameos.




Second Hand Rose
XxxX