Howdo yougrowa jacket?
I
magine leather that grows ina lab into the formof
adress, or sportswear that neutralisesodours.
From lab-grown leather tomicrobial cellulose
material grown in vatsof green tea, andfibres
producedwith inherent anti-microbial properties,
luxury fashionhousesare interested in thepotential ofmaterials
manufacturedusing living systems–andSuzanneLee isconnecting
thedotsbetweenhigh-end fashionandcutting-edge research.
Lee is the founderof BioCouture, theworld’sonly living-
materialsconsultancy, bringing livingandbio-basedmaterials to
fashion, sportswear, and luxurybrands. “We turn today’s science
fiction into tomorrow’s reality,” she says.
Lee’s interest in theworldof livingmaterialshas its roots inher
workas a fashiondesigner and researchconsultant for someof
theworld’smost technology-driven fashionhouses.Most
notably, shehasworkedwithHusseinChalayan,who
found famebyburyinghis graduatecollection ina
backyardand thenexhuming it.
In2007, Leepublished
Fashioning the
Future: Tomorrow’sWardrobe
, inwhich
shepredicted today’sobsessionwith
wearable technology. “Iwas looking
at the futureof fashion–not in
termsofwhatwemight bewearing
next season, butwhatwemight
bewearing infiveor ten years.”
Aconversationwithabiologist
duringher research led to the
realisation that “harnessing
living systems is theanswer to
amore sustainable future,”
andBioCouturewasborn.
BioCouture is aboutmore than fashion, andalsoworkswith
companies interested in livingandbiomaterials for furniture,
automobiles, architectureandconsumerproducts. “Oneof the
companiesweworkwith,”Lee says, “growsbricksusingbacteria.”
Someof thesebiomaterials are already ineveryday use. If you
order aDell computer, thepackaging ismade frommushrooms
andwastecropmaterials rather thanoil-based Styrofoam. But
fashionistas eager towear ethically produced leather still have
a few years towait beforebiomaterials find theirway tohigh-
street boutiques. Andwhen they finally domake an appearance,
thesematerialswon’t becheap.
“Aswith any new technology, itwill beexpensivewhen it
first enters themarket,” Lee says. “But, obviously something
produced thisway shouldbecheaper, as you’re savingon very
complex supply chains, and theeconomy of scale should give
us better performancematerials at a lower cost, but
thatwill take time.”
Tohelp speed theprocess, BioCouture
is holding theworld’s first conference
in the area of living andbiomaterials
inNew York at the endof the
year. “It’s awhole new industry,”
says Lee. “Wewant tohelp
people navigate this emerging
landscape.”
biocouture.co.uk
NorwegianfliestoNew
York fromOslo,Bergen,
Copenhagen,Stockholm
andLondon.Bookflights,
ahotelandarentalcarat
norwegian.com
The futureof fashion, according todesignerandresearcher
SuzanneLee, isbeinggrown in laboratoriesaround theworld
Photo
⁄
Gary Wallis
“BioCouture
turns today’s
science
fiction into
tomorrow’s
reality”
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n
A
TheBioBomber ismade
fromacellulosematerial
grownbyBioCouture
