Show Us Your Teats: Cow Nipple Couture

London-based British fashion designer, Rachel Freire, has animal rights activists screaming for her hide at Paris Fashion Week for some awesomely bizarre new looks made from, well...cow nipples.
UK animal rights group Viva say that, much like the use of fur, nips are just no place for the runway. But before you wail, "SAVE THE TATAS", Freire defends her use of 3000 cow and yak nipples as creating art from recycled waste.
Check out the latest nipple slip since Janet Jackson at the Superbowl inside.
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At first glance, Freire's pieces resemble a beautiful type of floral armor and corsets romantically adorned with pale rose blossoms. A closer look reveals the thousands of intricately fashioned cow areolas, that are hard to miss once you realize what they are.

Although the pieces did not hit any London catwalks during fashion week due the overwhelming weight of the garments, they are currently on display in Paris; still ruffling the feathers of protesters.

U.K.-based animal rights group Viva was the first organization to express outrage over Freire's work. Viva's Justin Kerswell told the Daily Mail "Isn’t the way we treat farmed animals bad enough without turning their dead bodies into a runway freakshow?"

But Freire refutes Viva's claims, telling The Huffington Post that the nipples are "from European cows slaughtered for meat in veterinarian-approved and checked slaughter houses." She also points to the excessive amount of leather that goes unused and explains she's creating art with recycled waste."If people don't have a problem with leather, they shouldn't have a problem with these designs," Freire added.

SOURCE: Huffington Post

I often find myself rolling my eyes at PETA members who shout their protest against animal cruelty while wearing leather tennis shoes, but is cow nipple couture pushing the fashion envelope too far? Or do you think Freire has a point? Should she be granted a pass for salvaging what would normally be considered wasted material from "ethically slaughtered" animals?

Although the nips are a bit creepy for my taste, Rachel Freire is an incredible designer whose work shouldn't be shadowed by a bit of bovine boob controversy. Check out more of her work here.

Your thoughts?
MOO it or BOO it? ~vK