Forget donating your body to science or medicine: Thanks to a new trend in the cosmetic surgery industry, fat from donated dead bodies is being used as filler for breasts, buttocks, and more.
On the latest episode of Vogue’s podcast The Run-Through, the outlet’s editor-in-chief Chloe Malle was chatting with actor Dakota Johnson when their conversation turned to the bizarre procedure. Johnson’s recent film Materialists included a plotline centered on leg-lengthening surgery, a real (and controversial) elective surgery that got the duo thinking about other out-there developments in the cosmetic industry, including, as Malle put it, “a new trend of using cadaver fat for implants because it’s more organic.”
Malle was referring to products like alloClae, an injectable that uses donated human fat tissue for body sculpting. It takes less than an hour to inject, requires just a few days of downtime post-procedure, and is made entirely of organic material sourced from cadavers. alloClae’s website touts its many use cases, including “breast contouring” and “gluteal shaping.”
Malle said she’s eager for a Vogue reporter to do a deep dive on the trend, including potentially having cadaver fat injected in their forehead or under their eyes. Johnson, however, wasn’t as gung-ho about the concept. “Like, somebody’s dead body thigh is going in your face?” she said. “It makes me feel really bad about humanity.”
“I think it’s like recycling,” Malle said. “I’m sort of into it.”
Dakota Johnson discusses one of the craziest cosmetic surgery trends in Los Angeles: using cadaver fat for implants.
it’s supposedly “more organic.”
Johnson immediately wanted a deep dive, asking where the fat would actually be used.
The interviewer explained that it could… pic.twitter.com/G296pIV9yu
— 𝓢𝓵𝓪𝓶 👁️⃤ (@slamwontmiss) September 26, 2026
Johnson and Malle’s conversation brought more attention to the idea of cadaver fat being used for filler, with one post on the topic garnering more than 768,000 views on social media.
Some commenters said the injectable sounds straight out of films like Death Becomes Her and The Substance, horror movies that offer twisted takes on extreme cosmetic surgery. Others said they’d heard the procedures being called “zombie BBLs.”
Inside the alloClae trend
Despite its macabre origins, alloClae is only increasing in popularity. As of July, alloClae’s parent company Tiger Aesthetics reported that more than 2,000 patients had been injected with the material since May of 2025.
But where exactly does the cadaver fat behind the product come from? One commenter on social media fretted that if they donate their body to science, it could end up being used by brands like alloClae. “That’s not chill,” they summed up.
But representatives for alloClae stress that no one’s body is being used for cosmetic surgery without their consent, albeit indirectly. Caroline Van Hove, president of Tiger Aesthetics, told CNN that the company only works with tissue banks connected to the Association for Advancing Tissue and Biologics, a non-profit dedicated to improving the quality and safety of donated human tissue. Donors through those tissue banks “have to complete a very extensive dossier releasing their consents,” Van Hove said, ensuring they’re open to uses beyond science and medicine.
“Obviously the form does not say ‘Do you want to donate your organs or tissue to alloClae?’” she said. “But it allows the donor to really indicate whether or not they want it exclusively for investigative research, medical research or if they’re also allowing for-profit purposes and so on, or if they have no restrictions at all.”
