PETA launches human leather ‘shop’

Animal rights group PETA is making waves with the introduction of Urban Outraged, a satirical online ‘store’ selling clothing and accessories made from human skin.

“Human skin is ‘in,’” PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) wrote in its press release about the store. To protest clothing and materials made from animals, the group flipped the situation and instead presented images of hypothetical jackets and handbags derived from humans.

 Like many of PETA’s public campaigns, the images have gotten attention for their extreme nature, with items such as shoes and belts showing splatters of blood, and others displaying poor stitching together of skin. 

Descriptions of some materials also include the names of the ‘victims’ behind them, including the Sofie Dress, a unique garment because “there was only one of her.” 

The Juliet Dress, meanwhile, is more than one-of-a-kind, but not by much, as Juliet was “petite.”

“Built to appear like a real online shopping experience, its goal is to make visitors question why it’s deemed acceptable to use the skin of any living, feeling being for fashion. And yes, it’s as disturbing as it sounds,” PETA wrote in its presentation.

The name of the store, Urban Outraged, is also a direct shot at Urban Outfitters, a popular clothing chain. The company has been targeted by PETA in the past, and the organization is demanding that it drop “ALL animal-derived materials” from its stores.

PETA’s latest campaign has earned a level of mockery and confusion often typical with the group’s public stunts.

The items listed on the website are of course not for sale, but clicking on the site’s purchase button will take a user to even more displays of cruelty, showing slaughtered sheep and cows in gruesome fashion and asking, “Why aren’t you horrified by what’s already in your closet?”