Grow Your Own Bio-Customized Stingray Sneakers

I have to be honest. I had a friend who had a stingray in his home aquarium. Whenever he and his wife went on vacation, I was the only sucker… ‘er um… I mean volunteer who offered to feed the poor thing. I will never have a stingray for a pet, and I really didn’t enjoy feeding it all that much, but I get it. They are beautiful and sexy to watch glide through the water so gracefully and unique, which brings me to my post today.

I recently stumbled upon a shoe company in Thailand with a pretty bizarre claim for the sake of all those who adore fashion footwear. I have trouble buying into the Rayfish Footwear marketing and Raymond Ong’s claim. I also question the ethics here since I am sure this post will raise the eyebrows of vegans and people who protect creatures of all kinds from abuse.

There are times when color adorns beautifully designed products, and we don’t give it a second thought. We assume it’s paint, dye, ink or some sort of pleather – not genetically manipulated sea animals. Your eyes and brain cannot help but investigate it a bit further to try and make sense of it. You say to yourself, no way, that’s not possible. A practical person has to stop and question the manufacturer’s claims that this bio-manipulation is scientifically possible or true, or at least that it’s the exact design process that they have lead us to believe.

I am still on the fence with this one regarding whether or not the fish shoe company is truly able to genetically alter the skin of stingrays to entice footwear fashionistas with brilliant color and patterns. What really captures me here is the marketing and brand story. I wonder if what I am experiencing is fiction or maybe a bizarre marketing attempt? I must admit that their videos are pretty slick and visually interesting, but I probably would have thought the same thing without the “bio-customization” and all. After all, stingrays are pretty beautiful creatures on their own natural merits.

I think the jury is still out in the blogger community about whether or not this is fact or fiction. Besides, these shoes won’t be inside many people’s closets at the current price point which is between $14,800 and $16,200 according to the Rayfish online store.

Image Credits: [Rayfish Footwear] [Facebook]