T-REX LEATHER

Brand
LAB-GROWN LEATHER
Entrant Agency
VML
Category
Creative B2B
Award
Bronze
Festival & Year
Cannes Lions (2026)

Case Study Details

Luxury fashion has always been built on heritage, craftsmanship and rare materials — but the future of luxury requires rethinking where those materials come from. While brands explore alternatives to animal leather, many struggle to create materials that feel truly premium and emotionally desirable. The opportunity was to move beyond imitation and create something completely new. VML, The Organoid Company and Lab-Grown Leather Ltd. created T-Rex Leather™, the world’s first leather material inspired by a prehistoric species. By reconstructing fossilised T.rex collagen sequences through advanced biotechnology, the team created a futuristic luxury material that connects 66 million years of evolution with the future of sustainable design. The material was transformed into a one-of-a-kind handbag by avant-garde techwear label Enfin Levé. Unveiled at Art Zoo Museum in Amsterdam beside a life-sized T.rex structure, the piece created a powerful contrast between prehistoric biology and future fashion. The project demonstrated the potential of lab-grown leather as a durable, traceable and animal-free alternative for luxury, fashion and beyond. The launch generated global attention by turning a complex scientific innovation into a cultural conversation around the future of materials and sustainable luxury. The T-Rex Leather™ handbag became a unique collector’s piece, exhibited publicly before auction, while the project positioned VML, The Organoid Company and Lab-Grown Leather Ltd. at the intersection of biotechnology, creativity and future-facing design. CREDITS Brands & Innovation Partners: The Organoid Company, Lab-Grown Leather Ltd. Creative Agency: VML Paris. Global Chief Creative Officer, Innovation & CCO EMEA: Bas Korsten. Design Partner: Enfin Levé. Founder & Lead Designer: Michal Hadas. Scientific & Technology Partners Professor Che Connon, Lab-Grown Leather Ltd. Thomas Mitchell, CEO, The Organoid Company.

Presentation Board

biel 100 300 400 s00 eit tt litt «PREHISTORIC BIOLOGY AND MODERN COUTURE HAVE OFFICIALLY CONVERGED.» 4.63 Billion X10 +279% INTEREST FROM. LUXURY BRANDS MEDIA IMPRESSIONS, LAB GROWN LEATHER LTD. «A T-REX LEATHER HANDBAG IS REWRITING SUSTAINABILITY’S ROLE IN LUXURY.» SHARE PRICE & DESIGNERS THE HYPEBEAST i / a P $< <——_—— 05765 LGL Lab-Grown Leather Ltd 0.9623 ———+ ; | T-REX LEATHER™ + 1? THE FUTURE - OF LUXURY MATERIALS. 66 MILLION YEARS IN THE MAKING” Md Li Mt Leetert alin eran nan I | 300 400 500 . . Ld B2B | PROBLEM B2B | STRATEGY B2B | IDEA ee For over a decade, the lab-grown leather category was trapped. Despite endorsements ur strategy was to create a brand experience that would make our B2B audience _ Lab-Grown Leather presents “T-Rex Leather": To convince a B2B audience that rejects sap from major brands, it was rejected by the luxury industry, As Jean-Noél Kapferer writes in feel the The Luxury Strategy: The moment a mate be flawlessly replicated in a laboratory infinitely, it ceases to be a luxury.’ This wasn't a marketing problem. It was an ideological wall. Luxury houses lobbied against the term ‘leather for these materials, and their disceming lab’ with ‘fake. Lab-Grown Leather (LGL) faced a problem no ad alue of our innovation. The insight: luxury decision-makers are moved by myth and rarity, not just tech specs. They evaluate materials through cultural signals, not sales decks. instead of a traditional B2B approach, we designed a cultural experience around a single creation. We targeted the media our B2B audience actually reads—The Financial Times, The Drum, MaterialDistrict. By unveiling the handbag in a museum, we created an immersive story they experienced through global media, transforming their perception without a single sales pitch. pitches, we did not create a pitch. We created a cultural experience. We resurrected in of a T-Rex and unveiled a single, pri creation in a museum. The idea was fojtransform a B2B sales meeting into an immersive narrative. We created an experience ‘our B2B audience did:notattend, but one they read about in the world's most re: publications:This experience Wasiampliied globally through a documentary. The final touchpoint was thé’auction announcement, With a price signal that spoke directly to the ‘commercial realities ofithe luxury market. clients associated ‘campaign could fix: its technology had a perfect body but no soul. A radical launch was needed to resurrect its reputation, and reconnect with fashion brands and designers 700 700 @usATopay {-:reuters (CCS swNBCNEWS WE) yahoo! vocciA laconceria 1¥1GaRo ee Ee DAILYSEXPRESS @he Selegraph AERELCOT DaitycamMait RA dsc _leParisien_ i} NOTV NLeTiMEs sky GEM cto6© THEssanmNpu malaymail scencesvie Bax mJARANNEWS — JQURNA @cBS EBiminuten THEs@@&:TIMES GNN Livesci-Nce RO Luxurylaunches® techradars) ‘PELERIN TheDallasExpress RobbReport Futurism UK INVESTOR TRENDHUNTER- Bos ™ ‘THE TIMES OF INDIA Q)NEWS @Audacy Slater THUFFPOSTI SFINANCIALEXPRESS AAQL Chroniclel ive woatp Stuté news MS Woh i svev in Fr

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