JESS EATON

Extreme recycling - the fashionable way

When Jess Eaton talks about recycling, she's not discussing the separation of her household waste. 

That's because she's one of Britain's most talented and controversial fashion designers and creates bespoke pieces of beauty from the most unlikely of places: Roadkill.

Her achingly beautiful range, Roadkill Couture, challenges everything we feel about the use of animals in fashion and celebrates the raw beauty that surrounds us every day in the natural world. And it has found a diverse range of fans, from Mario Testino, who photographer her work for Love Magazine, to Brian May, Toyah Wilcox and Pete Burns.

Nothing is wasted in the world of Jess Eaton - everything can be crafted into a wearable item of high fashion. Necklaces lovingly made from duck skulls; jackets created from the luxuriously soft fur of lab rats; even winter hats bearing the majestic horns of a ram.

But this isn't an attempt to goad animal-rights groups into action. In fact, Jess is an animal-loving former vegetarian, who grew up on a farm and believes the Roadkill Couture range should be seen as a celebration of the beauty of animals and no animals are ever killed for the making of her pieces and all come from ethical sources.

Jess says: "I never, ever kill animals for our designs and we wouldn't accept anything that has been killed for the purpose of turning it into a fashion item.

"What I do is take these animals, once their natural lives are over and give them a new lease of life. 

"Personally, I wouldn't have a problem wearing materials derived from a human source, after all, we are all simply material, once we're dead.  My only issue is HOW something died. I have some antique human bones I will use to make some very special jewellery. It will be an honour to wear one of these pieces."

Jess believes that animal skin, bone and fur is the byproduct of natural life and death, and is no more offensive than the wearing of leather, which started out as fur before it was de-haired. 

Indeed, Jess picks animals up herself from the roads around Brighton, from local abattoirs and has even launched a special range of pieces using people's deceased pets: "People like the idea that they don't have to let go of their pets when they sadly pass away."

Because Jess only works with the animals that are donated by members of the public or local businesses, each piece is bespoke, ensuring that every animal is as unique in death as it was in life.

Jess found her way into her latest range by way of 'Trashion' - her Brighton Fashion Week show that took everything from crisp packets to supermarket bags and Barbie dolls and used them to create wearable, high- fashion outfits. 

And Roadkill Couture was the ultimate next step for recycled fashion...

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