This past week at the London Fashion Show, Rachel Friere doubtlessly proved that a stylish ensemble can ultimately be made out of anything. Some experimental designers prefer toilet papers, others gravitate toward wiry metals and Ms. Friere works with cow nipples.
Surprisingly, the audience attending the runway event wasn't entirely taken aback by Rachel Friere's cow nipple dress, which stitched together over 3,000 bovine areola. Instead, there was considerable discussion concerning the ethics of patching slaughterhouse trappings into a dress -- to many, it seemed grotesque and unnecessary. But Friere assures viewers that not only were the nipples harvested from a high-standard tannery, but that they're identical to any other kind of leather. Indeed, the idea of a nipple comes with more narrative baggage which raises (admittedly baseless) objections from the eco-conscious crowd.
Regardless, the cow nipple dress is a fascinating experiment in social reactions to leather, the applicability of the fabric and its natural color schemes.
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