A bizarre new thigh-high boot is proving that you really can veganize anything. The shoe, crafted by Canadian fashion brand Matieres Fecales, looks like it is made from human skin yet its materials are entirely animal-free and vegan.
The shoes are made to look like bare human feet but with horns protruding from the calves and heels. Matieres Fecales, which is French for “fecal matter,” will sell the boots for $10,000, Pretty 52 reports.
The shoes fit well alongside Matieres Fecales’ other unique concoctions, including body and face costumes with alien-esque vibes that have garnered an impressive fanbase online; the fashion brand has more than 360,000 Instagram followers.
Matieres Fecales founders Hannah Rose Dalton and her partner Steven Raj Bhaskaran posted an image of the boots online earlier this year. However, at the time, they were partially Photoshopped to the model’s feet as they were not wearable.
The image triggered a “huge response” from followers, Pretty 52 said, inspiring Dalton and Bhaskaran to create the shoe for real-life wear. “We can get this alien look and present it and tweak it with Photoshop and make it look really realistic,” said Bhaskaran to Vogue in an interview. “But at the same time, there is always this dysphoria in us. There is this urge inside of us to take what we do on the Internet and try to create that via real life. That is what we are doing with the shoes.”
Artist Sarah Sitkin worked with the duo to help bring the idea to life. Creating the shoe was a lengthy process, with four different versions being made, all with silicon. The boot’s entire makeup – including its arches of the feet, hue of the skin, moles, and leg hairs – was molded to match Dalton’s leg. “It is like creating a custom art piece that is wearable,” Dalton said to Vogue.
While many might view the shoe design as outlandish and just a bit of fun, the philosophy of Matieres Fecales extends further. The founders acknowledge that “the masses aren’t going to adapt to this,” but hope that one day society will “accept it and see it as something not scary or intimidating.”
“Through our platform, a lot of people are gaining confidence and living their lives without fear,” they said.
This post was last modified on December 15, 2020 7:11 am