MUMBAI: A handbag that’s literally Jurassic chic has just roared into the fashion world and it’s made from collagen extracted from Tyrannosaurus rex fossils. Scientists and designers have unveiled a teal-coloured handbag crafted from laboratory-grown leather derived from ancient protein fragments of a T. rex. The striking accessory is currently on display at the Art Zoo Museum in Amsterdam, exhibited on a rock inside a cage beneath a replica of the mighty dinosaur. It will remain there until 11 May before being auctioned, with a reported starting price of more than $500,000 (approximately Rs 5 crore).
The material was created by inserting protein fragments recovered from dinosaur remains into an animal cell, which then produced collagen that was processed into leather-like material. The project is a collaboration involving The Organoid Company, Lab-Grown Leather Ltd., and other partners.
Thomas Mitchell, CEO of The Organoid Company, acknowledged the technical challenges involved but described the initiative as one of the closest attempts yet to recreate a material inspired by T. rex using current technology. The firm had previously worked with VML in 2023 to create a meatball using DNA from a woolly mammoth.
Che Connon, CEO of Lab-Grown Leather Ltd., highlighted the T. rex connection as adding distinctive appeal, positioning lab-grown leather as both an environmentally friendly alternative and a technological breakthrough.
However, the project has faced scepticism from some independent scientists. Melanie During of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam pointed out that collagen in dinosaur bones survives only in fragmented traces, making it unsuitable for recreating skin or leather. Thomas R. Holtz Jr. of the University of Maryland added that any collagen found in fossils comes from bones rather than skin and lacks the necessary structural properties for leather.
In response, Mitchell noted that criticism is a natural part of scientific progress.
From prehistoric fossils to a high-end handbag, this project proves that even a 66-million-year-old predator can still make a fashion statement. Whether it becomes a collector’s item or sparks more debate about lab-grown materials, one thing is clear, this T. rex-inspired bag is anything but extinct in the style stakes.
