People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, better known by the acronym PETA, has launched an unsettling new campaign featuring clothing made of "human" leather, The New York Post reports.
The often controversial animals rights organization even launched a satirical online retailer named Urban Outraged, apparently taking inspiration from the popular shop Urban Outfitters.
But unlike the latter, everything for sale at this new "store" is supposedly made from various "human parts".
According to a press release, the store features all sorts of clothing items and accessories "made of the finest leather - that on second look, reveal human faces on the jackets, human teeth on the shoes, and human blood oozing from the bags."
The campaign, which appears to be a nod to Buffalo Bill's human suit from the 1991 hit movie The Silence of the Lambs, was launched to take aim at trendy clothing stores that sell items made of animal leathers and furs.
In fact, a tagline for Urban Outraged refers to their range as "fashion that dares to ask the question 'Who are you wearing?'"
"A cow’s skin belongs to her, and she feels fear and pain in a slaughterhouse every bit as much as you or I would," PETA's executive vice president, Tracy Reiman, said in a statement to The Post.
Everything sold at the store purportedly features the names of "slaughtered people" whose organs were used to "fabricate" the items, many of which retain their original form, such as a pair of shoes made with "human teeth".
"PETA’s Urban Outraged challenges shoppers to see the individual behind every bit of animal skin on store racks and shelves," Reiman added.
It should be noted, however, that the items listed on Urban Outraged are not actually for sale and are simply supposed to highlight to the public how unsavory the idea of making clothing out of once-living beings is.
The online "store" even has its own fictional reviews, with one "buyer" writing: "I’m not really a boot person, but I’m glad Meg was because these are the best boots I’ve ever worn."
Plus the retailer has an "Afterlife Collection" which, in the name of satire, offers a service to transform the skin of dead loved ones into necro-wear.