The development of cutaneous pharmacology increases the need for experimentation on human skin. For ethical reasons most experiments have to be done i «viiro. However, even in vitro, human skin remains a highly complex organ whose components are not fully defined. In an effort to develop better controlled systems, the reconstruction of skin in vitro may be of interest. A dermal equivalent (Bell, Ivarsson & Merrill, 1979) and a simplified skin equivalent (Bell et al. y 1983) have been previously described. The principles of fabrication of this simplified skin can be summarized as follows.