{"id":517114,"date":"2026-04-07T06:00:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T06:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/517114\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T06:00:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T06:00:13","slug":"scientists-create-worlds-first-t-rex-leather-handbag-with-600k-starting-price","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/517114\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists create world\u2019s first \u2018T-Rex leather\u2019 handbag with $600k starting price"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text-neutral-grey w-full mb-4 text-body-6 md:text-body-5 font-body dark:text-neutral-white external:text-custom-content-text external:dark:text-custom-content-text\">A handbag scientists claim is made from \u201cT-Rex leather\u201d is set to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, with a starting bid of \u00a3500,000 (approx. $660,000).<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-neutral-grey w-full mb-4 text-body-6 md:text-body-5 font-body dark:text-neutral-white external:text-custom-content-text external:dark:text-custom-content-text\">The project was announced in 2025 by a group of companies aiming to create a \u201ccruelty-free, eco-friendly\u201d alternative to traditional leather using reconstructed dinosaur protein.<\/p>\n<p>Handbag unveiled next to a life-size T-Rex specimen<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-neutral-grey w-full mb-4 text-body-6 md:text-body-5 font-body dark:text-neutral-white external:text-custom-content-text external:dark:text-custom-content-text\">According to the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" class=\"hover:text-vertical-primary underline decoration-2 underline-offset-4 decoration-vertical-primary\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vml.com\/news\/worlds-first-t-rex-leather-product-unveiled-a-luxury-handbag-designed-by-enfin-leve\">press release<\/a>, fragments of T-Rex collagen recovered from fossils were used to help engineer the material, which was then grown in a lab without using animal hides.<\/p>\n<p>Article continues after ad<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-neutral-grey w-full mb-4 text-body-6 md:text-body-5 font-body dark:text-neutral-white external:text-custom-content-text external:dark:text-custom-content-text\">The one-off bag was designed by techwear label Enfin Lev\u00e9, with lead designer Michal Hadas saying the material \u201chas a distinct character and responds unlike any leather we\u2019ve worked with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-neutral-grey w-full mb-4 text-body-6 md:text-body-5 font-body dark:text-neutral-white external:text-custom-content-text external:dark:text-custom-content-text\">Visually, the bag features a deep teal finish with three cuts across the surface designed to resemble claw marks.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Teal leather handbag with dinosaur scratches\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"603\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"cursor-zoom-in\" style=\"color:transparent\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Trex-handbag-1024x603.jpg\"\/>@artzoomuseum \/ InstagramThe handbag is a deep teal colour with three incisions made to resemble dinosaur scratches.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-neutral-grey w-full mb-4 text-body-6 md:text-body-5 font-body dark:text-neutral-white external:text-custom-content-text external:dark:text-custom-content-text\">The bag was unveiled at the Art Zoo Museum in Amsterdam on April 2, positioned beside a life-size T-Rex specimen. After a six-week exhibition, the bag will be auctioned and sold to the highest bidder with a starting bid of \u00a3500,000 ($663,000).<\/p>\n<p>Article continues after ad<\/p>\n<p>Article continues after ad<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-neutral-grey w-full mb-4 text-body-6 md:text-body-5 font-body dark:text-neutral-white external:text-custom-content-text external:dark:text-custom-content-text\">However, not everyone is convinced by the science behind it. University of Maryland palaeontologist Thomas Holtz Jr., in a statement made to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" class=\"hover:text-vertical-primary underline decoration-2 underline-offset-4 decoration-vertical-primary\" href=\"https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/animals\/dinosaurs\/t-rex-researchers-eviscerate-misleading-dinosaur-leather-announcement\">Live Science<\/a>, claimed that there are no DNA samples of T-Rex skin available to make collagen from. He said: \u201cWhat this company is doing seems to be fantasy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-neutral-grey w-full mb-4 text-body-6 md:text-body-5 font-body dark:text-neutral-white external:text-custom-content-text external:dark:text-custom-content-text\">For more on prehistoric species, check out our coverage of the <a class=\"hover:text-vertical-primary underline decoration-2 underline-offset-4 decoration-vertical-primary\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dexerto.com\/entertainment\/scientists-discover-terrifying-new-spinosaurus-dubbed-the-hell-heron-3322690\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">new terrifying Spinosaurus species<\/a>, or the <a class=\"hover:text-vertical-primary underline decoration-2 underline-offset-4 decoration-vertical-primary\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dexerto.com\/entertainment\/teenager-finds-rare-six-inch-megalodon-tooth-off-florida-coast-3342458\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">teenager who found a six-inch-long Megalodon tooth<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A handbag scientists claim is made from \u201cT-Rex leather\u201d is set to be auctioned off to the highest&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517115,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59,90,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-517114","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}