PARIS-.A leather bag reconstructed from cells Tyrannosaurus rex It is auctioned this Thursday in Paris, a piece “unique in the world” estimated between 350,000 and 580,000 dollars. Presented a few months ago in Amsterdam, this bag was created from collagen remains found in the femur of a T-Rex in Montana, United States, 25 years ago.
“In recent years we have managed to have techniques, biotechnologies with which we can give instructions to a cell culture to build, in quotes, in the laboratory, authentic T-Rex skin,” Iacopo Briano, an expert in paleontology, associated with the sale, recently explained to AFP.
Sustainable exclusivity
The Drouot auction house, where the bag will go on sale this Thursday, speaks of “an unprecedented object in the history of luxury” and of a “scientific feat” that allows leather to be created “without resorting to livestock farming at all,” according to a statement.
“Cellular leather opens a new path: that of exclusivity that is no longer based on extraction or intensive livestock farming,” he adds.
According to Briano, this material is different from vegan leather, made from plastic.
“Here we start from a cell culture, so it is 100% skin. And at the same time it comes from an animal that disappeared 67 million years ago!” he assures.
Estimated at a value of between 300,000 and 500,000 euros, the house organizing the auction, Alexandre Giquello, specifies that it was necessary to “invent a price” for sale, which had to reflect both the amount of investments necessary to create this bag and its rarity.
In the end, “300,000 euros is still a lot, a lot of money. But it is also something unique in the world,” he said.
