Plumped up Handbags: Botox and Silicone for Zagliani Bags Edit

40-something designer, and former dermatologist, Mauro Orietti-Carella hand-injects silicone and botox into the crocodile skins that he uses for his handbag designs for Zagliani. These handbags are being referred to as the “key style of the season.” Weird.

Zagliani produces no more than 2000 of these bags per year to keep up with the policies of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Apparently, the intention of these absurd injections in this archaically unethical practice is to enhance, soften and plump the skins, as these reptilian skins are notoriously stiff. Wait, isn’t the purpose of utilizing the skins of crocodiles, alligators, pythons and other members of the reptilian family to capture the texture?

Orietti-Carella describes his business’s best practices, saying “My responsibility wasn’t to make a fashionable bag; it was to keep these people employed.” Some of the Zagliani staff members have been employed there since the 50’s. He then goes on to say, “..it makes me satisfied that in one year we have made the market talk about us. I am proud to be recognized for the advances we have made.”

Controversy aside, these bags run for somewhere between $2000, climbing the scale to well over $30,000.

My favourite part about this interview: Orietti-Carella reveals to journalist Kate Finnigan that indeed, he is…
a Buddhist

I’m just going to leave that final bit of info with you, and let the hypocrisy sink in.