In the last decade we have focused on the search for materials that give us the possibility of finding more sustainable solutions to the current ones. This is the case of bio fabricated materials or bio textiles. We will tell you a little more about bio fabrication as well as the work of the pioneer in this work Suzanne Lee.

What is bio fabrication?

The concept of bio fabrication proposes that living organisms (bacteria, fungi, and yeasts, among others) function as if they were textile fiber factories.

They are created through fermentation processes and laboratory cultures and can be genetically modified or not.

Suzanne Lee

Suzanne Lee is a fashion designer based in Brooklyn, New York who works in fashion and future technologies.

She is known for being one of the pioneers in the creation of bio textiles. Her first explorations stem from a contact with a biologist, developing experiments from green tea or kombucha.

This experiment consisted of a recipe based on kombucha and green tea that included bacteria, yeast and other microorganisms that produce cellulose during the fermentation process.

This process allows the creation of a layer on the surface. After 2 to 3 weeks, it achieves a certain thickness.

Once this is achieved, it goes through a drying process to achieve a texture like a vegan leather, a material from which it is possible to extract pieces and finally a garment.

However, this first test is not marketable because, being a living organism, if it encounters water or liquids, it reabsorbs them, losing its consistency and shape.

These explorations led to the beginning of a long career for Suzanne Lee. Today she is a senior research fellow at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design, director of the Bio Couture research project and creative director of Modern Meadow.

Materials such as bacterial cellulose are already in use in medical processes. With synthetic biology the possibilities expand to think not only in creating new materials but in manipulating bacteria to create new materials from the characteristics that we want in it, being able to affect its color, shape, transparency, and others.

Biomaterials raise new possibilities, and we are moving forward so that this becomes one of the great options to walk towards a more sustainable world using waste, creating biodegradable materials and products and manufacturing only what we require.

At Creamodite we continue working to join innovative proposals that allow us to continue to trace a path of rethinking in the creative industries.

Therefore, as part of our lines of work we integrate sustainability, an example is our Fashion Alive contests with proposals such as Zero Waste.

If you want to be part of this initiative you can write us at info@workef.com

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