With U.S. clothing prices slated to skyrocket in accordance with cotton prices, fashion designers have their own solution: clothes made from nutria. Unlike the “Naugahyde”, the “nutria” is a real animal species--more specifically, it’s a very large rat and New York fashion designers plan to make the nutria into “Mad Men” style clothing. A group of Brooklyn, NY, clothing designers plan to stage a fashion show dubbed “Nutria-palooza”—and it’s not going to be a festival, at least for the animals involved. Slated for Brooklyn runways, the newest clothing designs are spotlighting clothes made of the large rat pelts. So where are those rats’ pelts coming from? Not quite where you’d expect—if you’d ever expect clothing made from rats. It seems like New York might be a prime source for rats: the state’s got plenty of ‘em and doesn’t exactly seem to have constraints on color, size or quantity—but, as it turns out, those rats are going to actually be imported. The “nutria” rats have overrun parts and marshes of Louisiana state, so apparently those “excess” rats are being shipped out-- to “needy” fashion designers of the City. While the “nutria” species of giant rodents has been extremely busy in populating parts of Louisiana, it seems that industrious fashion designers have their own ideas for controlling that population. The Brooklyn “Paper” reports that runway-featured clothes and styles will include the work of two dozen designers and “ ‘Mad Men’-era cocktail wraps, wintery coats, and even a fur-lined dress.” The “Mad Men” angle is interesting—maybe fashion designers believe it could spark more interest in the “ratty” clothing. Creators of the hit tv show probably didn’t have rats in mind when outfitting their cast. It's dubbed the 'Righteous Fur Fashion Show' and may be coming to a block near you, with two previously sold out shows--a new "Nutria-Palooza" show is scheduled November 21 at the "House of Yes" in Brooklyn, NY.