Lions, tigers and bears are 'designing' jeans in Japan

A zoo in Japan is employing animals to produce its own range of distressed jeans. Ripped jeans – one of fashion’s most enduring trends – are usually created by machine (or at home with a razor if you’re into DIY) but now the Mineko Club, a volunteer group, are wrapping denim around tyres, rubber balls and planks of wood and using them to entertain the lions, tigers and bears at the Kamine Zoo in Hitachi City.


The end result, once the minders fetch the giant chew toys from the dens, is metres of trashed, ripped, bitten and clawed fabric which is then sewn together and sold as "Zoo Jeans". They are similar in style to Acne's pop-trash look from 2012, or something Bon Jovi wore in their heyday.

So far the team has only manufactured three pairs and put them up for auction. The funds raised go towards conservation charities.

With just a few hours remaining on the eBay type auction, “Zoo Jeans designed by Tigers” were the most popular, attracting a top bid of more than $1260. The efforts by the lions and bears looked set to sell for more than $525 each.

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