Featured Image Credit: @fishtokisab/TikTok
Topics: Fashion, Food and Drink, Style, Animals
Gregory Robinson
Topics: Fashion, Food and Drink, Style, Animals
Today's fashion-themed catch of the day happens to be clothes manufactured out of discarding fish skin and we're utterly obsessed. Watch below:
Fashion student Isabelle exclusively shared her fishy tips and tricks with Tyla as she discussed how her two interests - fashion and fish in case you have not guessed - have helped her transform fish skin into unique garments.
Creating the clothes is a long process which starts with Isabelle scraping the fish skins to ensure all the tiny bits of flesh have been removed.
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This is only the beginning as she then scrapes off the scales with a spatula. A film on the inside of the fish skin is also scraped off as part of the prep.
Next on the Isabelle’s to-do list is to wash the fish skins in washing-up liquid and water.
The fish fashion pioneer cleans and dyes the fish scales and skins before starting the drying and shaping process.
Then the treatment process starts, for which Isabelle mixes the fish skin in a bucket filled with olive oil, witch hazel, egg yolk and washing-up liquid. Sometimes Isabelle uses beetroot as a tannin, which dyes the fish skins pink.
The skin takes two weeks to dry after this step.
“The smell gradually disappears over that time,” Isabelle explains.
Once the fish skins are dry they are ready to be cut and shaped.
Isabelle says: “The skin is actually really tough and the skins are quite big.
“Fish skin has the fibres which go across, so it’s actually more strong than a cow leather or something like that where the fibres are just going in one direction.”
Some of the mind-blowing clothes and accessories Isabelle has created from her recycled fish materials include a body corset, shoulder pads, gloves, a mask and pierced nipples.
We can totally envision Lady Gaga wearing something from Isabelle’s collection.
The outfits have been crafted to have zips sewn in, to ensure the person wearing them can put them on and take them off with ease.
Isabelle also reveals her plans for her astounding fish skin nipples.
She says: “I’m gonna put Swarovski crystals on them and embellish it onto a skirt and stuff like that, and I think those are the kinds of things that people will wear.
“Even if I were to design T-shirts and they had a fish skin nipple on it, it’s something that’s quite accessible and I can see it as quite a successful brand idea.”
Isabelle sees her creation as being sustainable because she uses fish skins that fishmongers are not using and no money is involved.
“It’s quite literally taking it from the bin,” she explains.
Watch the full video here. You can see more of Isabelle's fish fashion on TikTok.