Brazilian designer Oskar Metsavaht has repurposed the skins from the pirarucu fish found in Amazonian rivers and lakes by transforming it into sustainable scaly garments and fashion accessories.
The designer developed the fish skin material as an alternative to traditional bovine leather, which is harmful to the environment, with cattle ranching being one of the biggest causes of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
Fashion brand Oskar is making bags from the skins of pirarucu fishes
The pirarucu fish has been a staple diet amongst people in the north of Brazil for centuries, but they typically discard the skins after eating it.
Metsavaht, who founded Brazilian fashion brand Osklen, decided to put the wasted skin to good use to create a "new luxury", with a series of ready-to-wear garments like jackets and accessories such as handbags that "bring together aesthetics and ethics". The brand believes that the pirarucu skins are more sustainable than leather
As well as being environmentally friendly, pirarucu skin is also more resilient than bovine leather, despite being thinner and softer, and is therefore well-suited to items that see a lot of use.
Osklen buys the fish skins exclusively from communities that work alongside sustainably-managed fisheries, where the fish can only be caught once they reach a certain size of over 1.5 metres, and only 20 per cent of the species can be taken from each lake.
The pirarucu skins can be worked like leather to m...