How would you feel about wearing a sleek leather coat made from your DNA? Or holding a leather bag that no one else can claim as theirs?
In the not-so-distant future, all of this may become a reality. This idea was presented by a fashion designer at the Biofabricate held in New York, which focused on new developments in organic materials.
Fashion designer Tina Gorjanc, responsible for the Pure Human project, imagines a near future where biotechnology will penetrate the luxury goods market, and warns about the legislative loopholes that protect human genetic information.
Gorjanc presented her first project in this field this year, and mentioned that she could create leather products with synthetic human skin that would be “grown” from the DNA of the famous fashion designer Alexander McQueen. Although Gorjanc has not yet taken this step since her creations are made of pigskin specially dyed and treated to resemble human skin, she has already filed a patent application in the United Kingdom for the entire production process.
