Would you wear DEAD ANIMALS on your feet? The shoes designed by a 'taxidermy babe' who kills and stuffs the critters herself

A woman has turned her obsession with taxidermy into a fashionable venture - a shoe collection.

Divya Anantharaman, a 29-year-old Pratt Institute graduate originally from Miami, kills and stuffs birds, rodents and deer herself, and then fashions them into unique sculptures and wearable accessories. Ms Anantharaman is no stranger to fashion; after getting her degree in sculpture and fashion at Pratt, she worked as a freelance designer of shoes and accessories.

Now, the Brooklyn resident is launching a collection of taxidermy-themed footwear, including a pair of six-inch heels adorned with metallic silver scales, quartz crystals and real sparrows.

Prices for the ornate shoes, which are put together by a cobbler in London, are expected to be between $2,500 and $3,000.

Ms Anantharaman has designed the collection, set to launch this fall, with the help of a $10,000 prize she won through Lifetime's competition show, 24 Hour Catwalk.

She's also been featured as a 'dead animal addict' on TLC series My Strange Addiction.

Fancy footwork: Divya Anantharaman, a 29-year-old Pratt Institute graduate, is launching a collection of shoes made from taxidermy animals that she killed and stuffed herself

 
Fascination with wildlife: 'Ever since [childhood], I've been curious about nature - super curious about how you could preserve something so that it can last,' explains the designer

Her real passion, however, has always been in the anatomy of animals, and how to preserve them.

The designer told Bedford and Bowery that her interest was first piqued as a child, when she discovered a dead lizard in her backyard, and kept it in a box until it rotted, and her parents made her get rid of it.

'All leather shoes are made out of taxidermy, really'

'Ever since then, I've been curious about nature - super curious about how you could preserve something so that it can last,' she explained.

On her website, the 29-year-old writes: 'I have always been fascinated by nature's mythology and oddities, and their relationships to the ones we create.'

She also says that all the animals in her work are 'ethically obtained and thoroughly sanitized,' and all the parts of the animals are put to good use. 

That includes the bones and skeletons, which are sometimes requested by witches on the hunt for props for their pagan ceremonies.

'They're looking for black rabbits' feet, particular animal parts, stuff like that,' said Ms Anantharaman. 'They want to do magic with bones and skeletons.'

For the designer and her customers, however, taxidermy is more about the fascinating anatomy of the animals, and the imaginative stories you can create with them.

As for those who are squeamish about the idea of wearing dead rodents on their feet, she has one thing to say to them: 'All leather shoes are made out of taxidermy, really.

Let Me Just insert this below, this shoes totally creep me out and the woman does too!! there's no way am wearing a bird that i can still see on my feet *insert straight face*