Devon designer's 'dead ostrich' dress takes centre stage at PETA protest

When PETA was preparing to protest outside Hermès' flagship London store, the group knew it needed a fashion-forward representation of its latest exposé of the highly secretive industrial ostrich-slaughter industry.

And Devon-based designer Laura Harvey of Curiosity Cabinet Studios had the perfect solution: a gruesome twist on Björk's iconic "swan" dress.

"Laura Harvey was the perfect choice to create a protest piece that's as artful as it is provocative", says PETA Director Mimi Bekhechi. "Her design is a visceral reminder that every ostrich-skin Birkin or Prada bag came from a smart, sensitive and curious young ostrich who was shocked, slaughtered, plucked and skinned."

To create the ostrich's head, Harvey used pillow wadding, a sculpted beak, and a mould made of clay, burlap and liquid latex. She used bake clay over a tinfoil base – lightweight and cost-effective – and painted glass gems to create the eyes. The 30-inch neck was created with a section of corrugated tubing, and she covered the entire piece with airbrush-painted synthetic fur.

As PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that "animals are not ours to wear" – recently revealed, young ostriches are kept in barren dirt feedlots until they are trucked to abattoirs. The 1-year-old birds are then turned upside down in a stunner, have their throats slit and have their feathers plucked out – creating the bumpy-textured skin used for Birkin and Prada bags.

For more information, please visit www.PETA.org.uk