A leather bag crafted from Tyrannosaurus Rex cells is set to be auctioned at Paris' Hôtel de Drouot on Thursday, with an estimated value of €300,000 to €500,000, according to the Giquello auction house.
The bag, unveiled earlier this year in Amsterdam, was created using collagen found in the femur of a T-Rex excavated in Montana, United States, 25 years ago.
Iacopo Briano, a palaeontology expert involved in the sale, explained that advances in biotechnology now allow scientists to instruct cell cultures to "build" genuine T-Rex skin in a laboratory.
'Unprecedented in the history of luxury'
In a statement, Drouot described the bag as "unprecedented in the history of luxury" and a "scientific achievement" that eliminates the need for traditional animal farming.
The auction house highlighted that cellular leather represents a groundbreaking alternative to conventional materials, providing exclusivity without reliance on animal farming or intensive harvesting.
Unlike vegan leather, which is often made from plastic, this material is entirely composed of genuine skin derived from cell cultures, Briano noted. He emphasised its extraordinary origin, "from an animal that went extinct 67 million years ago".
The lack of precedent for such an item posed challenges in setting its price, said Alexandre Giquello, whose auction house is overseeing the sale.
"€300,000 is undeniably a significant sum, but it's justified by the bag's rarity and the investment required to create it," Giquello recently told AFP, adding, "When something is one-of-a-kind, it becomes inherently expensive."
