Rayfish Footwear

This is the story of the Rise and Fall of Rayfish Footwear.

The Rise and Fall of Rayfish Footwear Rayfish.com crafted personalized sneakers from genetically modified stingray leather. More info: http://www.nextnature.net/events/rayfish/

In case you were still in doubt: there is something fishy about rayfish. Tomorrow we reveal the entire story on the rise and fall of Rayfish Footwear...

OMG Weird musical fishes on the beach!!! Yeah right. This must be a bunch of escaped transgenic stingrays from rayfish footwear

We never thought our rays would make it this far in the forest.

After numerous attempts to attract new investors, we regret to announce that Rayfish Footwear Inc. filed for bankruptcy this morning. We thank all our fans for the warm support you have given us. This story is not over.

Giant branded stingray spotted by fishermen near Ko Samui

Thanks to Lauren Dixon for sending us this photo of one of our spotted stingrays. Amazing they are growing this big!

...and another escaped fish was spotted by tourists! Send us pictures if you happen to spot one.

Its alive! One of our stolen stingrays was spotted by a Scuba-diving tourist! Teardrops in our eyes.

Strangely patterned stingray in Thailand I was diving in Koh Lan and spotted this strange stingray. I checked in my fish guide, but it didn't match anything there. New species?

One of our stingrays was found near Bo Phut. It got a long way but sadly couldn't survive in the wild.

Talking to investors today on the reboot of our Rayfish breeding facility. Wish us luck!

One of our stolen stingrays was found dead and washed up on a beach. It is such a sadness.

OMG Weird Creature Fish!! Never seen such a strange fish before! Too sad it died. What the F*CK is this?? Who knows?!?!

Our CEO Raymond Ong recorded a video statement in response to the break-in at our company.

CEO Responds to Animal Rights Activist Break-in at Rayfish Footwear Our CEO Raymond Ong responds to the animal rights activists that broke into the headquarters of Rayfish Footwear, destroying lab equipment and sneakers, and ...

Here is our press release on the break-in at Rayfish Footwear

Animal Rights Activists Break Into Rayfish Footwear Facility, Steal Dozens Of Stingrays - Ceo Raymon

PLEASE HELP US FIND THESE THIEVES

This weekend activists broke into the headquarters of Rayfish Footwear, destroying lab equipment and sneakers, and stealing numerous living stingrays. A video uploaded by the perpetrators on YouTube depicts masked men removing stingrays from the Rayfish aquaculture facility and releasing the animals into the nearby ocean.

We are asking our fans to help us catch these criminals. Any information about the identities of these thieves can be sent to [email protected]. Please, serious leads only.

A reward of 40,000 baht is also being offered for the return of any of the stingrays that were released into the wild. We urge whoever catches one of our rays to make all attempts to keep the animal alive and comfortable.

Rescue Operation at Rayfish Footwear On August 12th 2012 we liberated over 200 stingrays at the Rayfish Footwear fish farm, where this immoral company creates hideous sneakers from transgenic st...

Dear Fans, This weekend our stingray breeding farm was struck by vandals. We're assessing the situation and keep you updated on this unfortunate event.

With over 5000 submitted shoe designs, you're bound to get some duplicates. For instance, already nine shoes titled 'Purple Haze' were submitted. Which one do you like best?

Good to see our sneakers end up with an owner that really craves for it.

SneakerHead show his Rayfish Kicks Who's rocking stingray leather sneakers? Sneaker head Chad Bojang is rocking them after winning a free pair with his marvelous SnakeTongue design. Word up. D...

Ling Chow wins this round with his Koi Karper design. The jury loved how an existing animal pattern was fabulously simulated by crossing the clownfish and tabby-cat swatches.

HOW WE CREATE LION, TIGER AND DRAGON GENES

After the launch of our company website, many have been baffled by our pattern design tool. How could we get tiger genes into a stingray? How did our scientists manage to find a sample of “dragon” DNA? Some experts even argued this was downright impossible. Indeed, things aren’t exactly as they seem, at least in our design tool.

It’s true that transplanting complete gene sequences from mammals into fish is too far advanced, even for us. Mammals use a completely separate class of color-determining cells than cold-blooded animals. While our stingrays are transgenic – our scientists implant novel DNA into the one-cell embryos – they don’t incorporate genes from mammals, worms, arthropods or anything else. During the initial research phase, our scientists successfully implanted DNA sequences from other cold-blooded animals such as snakes and fish into the stingrays. However, we’ve since improved on this rather imprecise process by switching to entirely synthetic genes. Our comprehensive library of patterning genes is not used as a readymade set of implantable DNA, but as an important reference during early research.

So if our rays aren’t swimming around with dalmatian DNA, where do they get their unique coloration? As Alan Turing first hypothesized, and as many subsequent studies have shown, nearly any animal pattern can be generated through the interactions of two different morphogen molecules. Turing-type equations govern everything from an ocelot’s spots to an angelfish’s stripes. As can be seen in our prototype design tool, pictured above, our technical team can control multiple variables in order to closely replicate the patterns and colors seen in other animals. Names like “phoenix” or “bambi” are just their creative interpretations for these patterns that help to make the design of a shoe an easy and playful experience for our customers.

Except, of course, for “dragon”. Our director Raymond Ong keeps a real one under his desk.

Don't you think this stingray leather bag by Alexander McQueen is just awesome? Could use some bio-customization still.

FAKE PLASTIC RAYFISH KNOCKOFFS SPOTTED

We discovered some companies have been trying to pass off second-rate shoes as genuine Rayfish.com sneakers. These are the same people who manufacture Iplod Mp3 players and Dolce and Guarana sunglasses. The fake sneakers are made from cow leather or pleather, and covered with plastic to mimic the bumpy texture of real stingray skin. Our representatives have spotted them in China, Thailand, and the Philippines. You might have seen some in your own city. They are sold in shops as 'biocustomized shoes' even though you cannot personalize them at all.

How can you tell if the stingray leather on your shoes is real? First of all, Rayfish Footwear does not sell shoes in retail stores. All our shoes are uniquely personalized via our online design tool. Secondly of all, the 'grains' of ray skin, also called placoid scales, are a part of the skin. Glued-on plastic pieces can be pulled off. Real stingray scales are neatly and closely arranged, with no gaps between them. Plastic looks sloppy. If you're ready to risk some destruction (and burned fingers), stingray placoid scales are also resistant to the flame from a lighter, or to being punctured with a red hot needle. Plastic will melt or be pierced through.

Accept no substitutes! The first and only bio-customized stingray sneakers come from Rayfish Footwear. For now, you can only get a pair of our shoes by winning our design contest.

Samurais used stingray leather for their sword grips. We’re cutting-edge in a different way.

Who knew stingrays were such photogenic creatures? When Rayfish Footwear goes into commercial production in just a few short months, we will be installing webcams in every tank. That way, you’ll be able to watch your stingrays grow from babies no bigger than your hand, to adults a half-meter across. Check in for feeding times, or just relax as you watch them “fly” through the water. Voyeuristic? We don’t think the rays will mind. And it helps us to ensure the transparency and humane operation of our aquaculture facility. In the meantime, keep designing!

Barbara Tetas wins this round with her 'Rustic' design that stoot out amidst the rainbow of designs submitted in this round.The jury applauds the timelessness of the design.

We delivered this dragon leopard sneaker pair to a celebrity who's name we cannot mention. Don't be surprised if these appear in a concert hall near you soon!

Did you know American Indians used every part of the Buffalo's they hunted? Likewise, at Rayfish Footwear we use every part of the Stingrays we breed. The skin is turned into leather sneakers. The meat is donated to our employees. We even put the skeletons to use! Want to know more. Check our blog.

http://rayfish.com/index.php?chapter=blog

New Winner! Julie Davis, aka Goddess, won a pair of bio-customized sneakers of her conceptual and stylish 'Earth' design.

Suzanne Martin was the winner of the second round with the original and classy golden dalmantian design. Good to see the happy owner with her shoes. Congratulations Suzanne!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n43DohUH_4E

Rayfish Winner - Golden Dalmantian Suzanne Martin is the winner of the second round with the original and classy golden dalmantian design. Thanks for sending us the video of your design Suzanne!

Welcome new fans! Did you know we have been making genuine stingray leather shoes for decades? Here is one of our vintage models. All hand made!

For those who find our technique so utterly fantastic they couldn't believe it to be true.. Do read about the science behind it.

HOW TO ENGINEER A RAYFISH While legend provides us with fanciful answers for how the leopard got its spots, science has another answer: Those spots and stripes come from a biological mechanism that acts just like a reaction-diffusion equation.

Picture of the Flamingo Zebra sneakers, designed & won by Daniela Fernandez.

Daniela Fernandez was the first winner of our design-contest with her flamingo zebra design. After receiving her pair, she was so kind to send us a video of her wearing the shoes

Rayfish Winner - Flamingo Zebra

BioAsia special award acceptance speech from Dr. D.S.Brar-Chairman on the enormous impact of biotechnology on our lives and planet. This makes us proud.

BioAsia Special Award Speech

http://www.rayfish.com/index.php?chapter=blog

A message concerning the breeding of our stingrays Over the last few days, Rayfish Footwear has received hundreds of comments about our product – some excited, some upset. Read the response from our CEO Raymond Ong responds on some of the common misconceptions about our company and the way we produce our stingrays.

Sneak preview of a happy pair of zebra pigmented baby stingrays in our lab.