One foot in the grave: The bizarre shoes made from dead animals



This bizarre range of shoes may make the owner feel like they have one foot in the grave.

Crafted from dead animals, Iris Schieferstein's outlandish designs fetch up to £3,900 and have proved a hit with extreme dressers such as Lady Gaga .

Some of the most controversial pieces include a pair of sandals sporting stuffed doves with their wings spread wide and a collection of heels fashioned from hollow horse hooves.

Some of Iris Schieferstein's most controversial designs include a pair of sandals sporting stuffed doves

The 45-year-old designer, from Berlin, Germany, collects carcasses from her local butcher which are discarded after the meat is used for sausages.

She spends a week stripping out any remaining meat and bones from the animal's feet and the skin is sent to a tanner to be treated for preservation.

The sculptor then sets the skin - complete with fur still in place - around a shoe model before hand-stitching insoles and lining.

She said: 'Creating the shoes is ugly work, taking the meat out is not nice, like any taxidermy.

'When I began working with dead animals I would pick them up from the street.

'But they are protected by the government in Germany, and so after ten years they tried to put me in prison. Now I use my butcher.'

The horse boots feature horse fur, a zip up the front, an intact hoof and horse bone as a heel.

Extreme dressing: A pair of shoes featuring cream horse fur with a front zip and bone heel

Suffer for your art: The heels can only be worn for several hours at a time before becoming too uncomfortable



Macabre: This pair of snakeskin heels show a snake seemingly eating its own tail

While a pair of snakeskin stilettos feature a replica pistol as a heel with the reptile seemingly eating its own tail.



Describing her inspiration Ms Schieferstein added: 'I love horses and I love shoes so I thought this would be perfect.



'Horses have a beautiful walk and I wanted to recreate that with my footwear. '



The footwear has been displayed at numerous exhibitions around the world and have even inspired a range from Dolce & Gabanna.



Despite the high price tag the footwear can only be worn for several hours at a time before becoming too uncomfortable.



Ms Schieferstein said: 'A s yet no company has been willing to produce them for the high street.'