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From a Vat of Green Tea, Grows Gross Green Fashion called BioCouture
Bio Bomber Jacket, grown from a vat of green tea. Image courtesy of Suzanna Lee
Vegetable Leather Grown from a Vat of Green Tea
Is it possible to "grow a frock from a vat of liquid" using cellulose-spinning bacteria?
This is exactly what fashion designer Suzanna Lee asked before she began BioCouture, a research project based at Central Saint Martin's College in London.
From a vat of sugary green tea, she grew a textile biomaterial, resulting in seamless clothing that has the look and feel of vegetable leathe
The process uses a sugary green tea recipe, to which, a bacterial culture is added. It takes about 2-4 weeks to grow a sheet that is thick enough to use.
Sheets are then dried down; either shaped over a wooden dress form--like the ghost dress and ruff jacket [images, below]--or sewn together conventionally. Depending on the recipe the material can either feel like paper or--more desirably--like a vegetable leather.
In testing with dyes we found no need for mordant [a substance used for dyeing fabrics] and an incredibly small amount of dye goes a long way so it's eco-credentials go through the entire process. We also recycle a percentage of the fermentation liquid.
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Bio Bomber Jacket, grown from a vat of green tea. Image courtesy of Suzanna Lee
Vegetable Leather Grown from a Vat of Green Tea
Is it possible to "grow a frock from a vat of liquid" using cellulose-spinning bacteria?
This is exactly what fashion designer Suzanna Lee asked before she began BioCouture, a research project based at Central Saint Martin's College in London.
From a vat of sugary green tea, she grew a textile biomaterial, resulting in seamless clothing that has the look and feel of vegetable leathe
The process uses a sugary green tea recipe, to which, a bacterial culture is added. It takes about 2-4 weeks to grow a sheet that is thick enough to use.
Sheets are then dried down; either shaped over a wooden dress form--like the ghost dress and ruff jacket [images, below]--or sewn together conventionally. Depending on the recipe the material can either feel like paper or--more desirably--like a vegetable leather.
In testing with dyes we found no need for mordant [a substance used for dyeing fabrics] and an incredibly small amount of dye goes a long way so it's eco-credentials go through the entire process. We also recycle a percentage of the fermentation liquid.
.
