Most of us in the West are fairly comfortable with leather—even some vegetarians wear it. But when you think about it, the fact that every time you lace up your boots in the morning you’re swathing your feet in the dried and treated flesh of an animal is pretty gross.So keep in mind that most of us are swaddled in animal byproducts of some sort when considering Hidden Beauty – Inner Skins by Studio Gutedort. After all, the rustic, earthy accessories by Eva Schlechte and Jennifer Hier, are leather. They’re just made from offal.The process by which the skins are produced is involved. First, the intestines are cleaned, then chemically acidified. Then, they’re tanned in vegetable tanning liquor for up to two months. They’re bathed in three different types of fat to make the leather pliable and soft, and then they’re acidified again. And coloring them is even more work."If the skins are examined open-mindedly, their unprecedented form and uncommon leathery surface reveal their hidden value,” says Studio Gutedort. Once you get over someone draped in innards, the pieces are objectively beautiful, diversely textured and earth-toned. They also tap into our historical uses of animal intestines; They used to be absolutely everywhere— kids played with pig bladder balloons, soldiers used raw animal bowel as swimming belts, and doctors stitched people up with sheep bowels. Given their utility and attractiveness, maybe we’ve given up on animal intestines a little too soon.Find more of their work here.Related:Meat the Fleshy Oil Paintings of Oda Jaune Instagrammer Captures Raw Meat Ray-Bans Phillip Stearns Glitches Meat for a Year-Long Creative Code
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