Rayfish Footwear

The rise and fall of Rayfish Footwear began with the launch of an online design tool that allowed customers to design their own sneaker from a genetically modified fish. The startup received lots of media attention and seemed bound for success, however, there were also critical petitions against the company’s consumptive use of animals.

While almost ten thousand people had designed their own fish sneaker, animal rights activists broke into the company and released all the fishes in the ocean. The CEO of the company, Raymond Ong, responded with a passionate video statement, which stirred further debate on our estranged relationship with products in a globalized world.

As Rayfish struggled finding new investors, the escaped fishes where out in the open and started appearing into video’s of tourists and fishermen. The story ended with the bankruptcy of Rayfish, after which the true objective of the company was revealed in a ‘making of video’.

Grow your own sneaker

Visitors of the Rayfish website could grow their own sneaker with the online design tool. The best designs would win their shoe. In reality seven highly exclusive stingray leather sneaker prototypes were created in collaboration with Dutch Shoe designer Jan Jansen. The stingray skins were provided by Roje Exotic Leather. The leather of the shoes has not genetically modified, but dyed with paint.

Media hype

Countless prominent media, including Wired, Huffington Post, Fast Company, Glamour, Designboom and ABC News, reported on the project, which further catalyzed the discussion. A rayfish presskit containing images, texts and video material on the project is still available.

Societal discussion

Almost 10.000 people designed a stingray on the rayfish website, showing their desire for a biocustomized sneaker. Meanwhile almost the same amount of people protested against the company, resulting in an intense discussion on the consumptive use of animals in our society.