Rayfish Footwear takes customization to a whole new level and we’re positive there’s some positive and negative feelings surrounding the release of stingray leather materials used in their footwear.*ahem* PETA!

Last year marked a milestone in which the company engineered their first fully bio-customized stingray using a technique which the have developed that allows you to design your own transgenic stingray. At the Rayfish Footwear labs, using the DNA which the have stored in their genetic library, they identify the genes responsible for color and pattern, implanting the synthetic ‘supergene’ cluster into fetal rays before they are born.

As they grow and mature, they express the predetermined patterns on their skin. markings and coloration from dozens of varying species can be combined, resulting in an infinite variety of shoe designs. Using the brand’s online ‘grow sneaker tool’ you can select elements from dozens of animal patterns and remix them into something that nature itself could never have even imagined. working on the manufacturing principle of ‘one fish, one shoe’, Rayfish Footwear raises stingrays in their Thai aquaculture facility where the family run business creates these handcrafted shoes.