Saturday, September 15, 2007

Thailand starts making leather from fish skins

The buzz at this year`s Bangkok`s fashion festival was a fish-skin bikini, a new and unique addition to the fashion market in Thailand.

Made from the skin of tilapia fish, the colourful fish-skin bikini spiced up an otherwise stale fashion festival.



Tilapia are cut in half, their scales are removed and the skin is dyed, which increases the value of the fish-skin from one cent (U.S.) per kilogram to one U.S. dollar per piece.

Previously, tilapia skin was only sold to street vendors as a fried fish to eat with noodle soup, but few years ago its skin become well-known in the leather market as one of the most durable around.

"We tried to make something that was worth nothing into something valuable," said Anchali Chatrakul Na Ayudyha, a businesswoman who sells tilapia skin goods on her Web site, www.angieandpenny.com.

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