Florida woman launches Kickstarter to make purses out of dog hair

TAMPA, Fla., Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Florida woman Doris Carvalho launched a Kickstarter campaign to start a new fashion craze: purses made from dog hair.

For those worried the designer is mimicking Cruella de Vil, Carvalho does not harm any dogs during the process of making the bags. She takes the hair of groomed dogs to make the high-end purses sold for about $1,000 a piece -- until mass production can bring the cost down.

"I turn this groomed dog fur that would be garbage anywhere else in the world into these handbags," Carvalho told WPTV. "I sterilize and I use to make the thread, the yarn. It's reused, recycled."

She said it can take around 50 hours to complete one purse and offers the option to make them from the hair of a customer's dog. Carvalho's business intersects two of her interests, she previously worked as a veterinarian in Brazil and took fashion design courses.

"I sterilize and I use to make the thread, the yarn. It's reused, recycled," she said.

Carvalho has raised $350 of her $15,000 goal with 50 more days to go.