AUSTRALIA'S most unpopular animal has been given a new lease on life as a luxury fashion item.
Melbourne shoe designer Karine Emanouel has created a women's fashion shoe from cane toad leather.
"From a design point of view the cane toad is very similar to snake skin but I wanted to do something different while also helping the environment," Emanouel said.
"I know cane toads are a pest. They are also poisonous and ugly so I'm doing my bit for the environment by turning them into something beautiful and useful."
The stiletto pumps with four-inch heels come in black and beige, featuring the cane toad skin on the toes. They retail for $540.
There are six cane toad skins used in each pair of shoes and the high cost of the heels is mainly because of the labour involved in skinning the animal. They are skinned at a farm in Cairns.
"The skin is very expensive to buy because it's such a small skin and a fiddly job to remove it," she said.
The range launches next week and will be available to buy online at karineemanouel.com.au
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