Clothing and accessories can acquire unsettling associations through the events they become part of, the materials they contain or the bodies they imitate. From trainers linked to a mass suicide to jewellery made with human skin, these five objects connect fashion with real events, unusual materials and the macabre.
1. Nike Decade
In March 1997, 39 members of Heaven’s Gate died in a mass suicide in Rancho Santa Fe, California. They wore identical black Nike Decade trainers with white Swooshes, black trousers and matching shirts with embroidered “Heaven’s Gate Away Team” sleeve patches. In news photographs, purple shrouds covered the bodies while the trainers remained visible. The uniform emphasised the group’s shared identity, while the matching trainers became a recognisable detail of the tragedy.
2. Sruli Recht’s Forget Me Knot Ring
Sruli Recht’s Forget Me Knot ring pairs a 24-carat gold band with leather made from his own abdominal skin. Made in late 2012 and presented with his Autumn/Winter 2013/14 collection, it began with a documented surgical performance in which an 11-centimetre strip of skin was removed. The material was processed, salted and tanned before being mounted on the band, with hairs visible across its surface. The studio listed the ring as a unique piece, supplied with a DNA certificate and a documentary of the procedure.
3. Aris Leather Gloves
Cashmere-lined Aris leather gloves became a central piece of evidence in O.J. Simpson’s 1995 murder trial. Former Aris Isotoner executive Richard Rubin identified them as style 70263, made exclusively for Bloomingdale’s, citing their stitching, leather and lining. On June 15, Simpson tried them on over a pair of latex gloves and struggled to pull them into place. Their fit and possible shrinkage became subjects of testimony, turning the construction of a leather accessory into a courtroom argument. Simpson was acquitted in the criminal trial on October 3, 1995.
4. Fecal Matter’s Skin Heels
Fecal Matter’s Skin Heels turn the appearance of a bare leg into a pair of silicone boots. Created in 2018 by Montreal duo Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran with artist Sarah Sitkin, they were moulded to Dalton’s legs and reproduced her skin tone, moles and small hairs. Horn-like heels and distorted toes extended the illusion into an altered anatomy. The wearable design followed an earlier concept made with prosthetics and Photoshop, with four trial versions involved in its development.
5. Alexander McQueen’s Hair-Lined Coat
For his 1992 graduate collection, Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims, Alexander McQueen made a pink silk-satin frock coat printed with thorns and lined in white silk containing encapsulated human hair. Hair also appeared in the labels of his early designs, sealed inside clear plastic pockets. McQueen said the first labels contained his own hair, explaining that the idea came from Victorian practices of selling locks to be given as keepsakes to lovers.
