$663,000 T-Rex Lab-Grown Skin Bag Goes on Sale in Amsterdam

On April 2, the Art Zoo in Amsterdam opened an exhibition featuring the world’s first bag made from lab-grown Tyrannosaurus rex skin. The work of art is displayed alongside a full-size replica of a T-Rex skeleton. After six weeks on display, the bag will be put up for auction, with a starting bid of £500,000 (about $663,000), although some critics have already called the project “fantasy.”

The project was the result of a joint effort by three companies: creative agency VML, biotech firm The Organoid Company, and sustainable materials company Lab-Grown Leather. Since 2025, they have been working on a technology to produce leather from reconstructed Tyrannosaurus rex collagen.

Although it sounds like science fiction, scientists have actually studied collagen found in Tyrannosaurus rex fossils. Using artificial intelligence and computational biology, they managed to reconstruct the protein structure, synthesize DNA and initiate specialized cells that “grew” into a material similar to traditional leather.

The value of this approach lies in its naturalness: the cells independently form a large structure, while the material does not require chemical tanning, is biodegradable and fully traceable.

The finished leather was handed over to Polish designer Michal Hadas, known for his avant-garde style under the brand Enfin Levé. The result is a dark turquoise bag with fittings in the form of a double DNA helix, reminiscent of an artifact from the Middle Ages.

Hadas noted: “With the Tyrannosaurus skin, we did not aim to create a traditional luxury item; we studied how it reacts: where it resists, how it withstands tension. It is a material with its own character.”

Bas Corsten, VML’s global creative director, commented on the concept: “Lab-grown leather hasn’t yet taken over the luxury world, because it’s perceived as imitation. We’ve gone back 66 million years and we’ve not got a replacement, but something completely new.”

However, not everyone agrees with this approach. University of Maryland paleontologist Thomas Holtz described the project as “fantasy,” arguing that real Tyrannosaurus skin or DNA doesn’t exist, so there can be no authenticity.

After the auction, the Tyrannosaurus material will become available to brands and designers, first in the luxury accessories segment, and later in the automotive industry and beyond.