Green Tea Cellulose-Spinning Bacteria = Fashion!
Saw this about a year ago and ashamed I am posting so late, but better late than never.
British designer, Suzanna Lee, ( of BioCouture )worked with two scientists at Imperial College London to produce a green textile that emulates a thin leather, but—get this—it’s derived from a vat of green tea containing a cellulose-spinning bacteria to produce the bio-material. It’s gross and amazing.
The process is as follows:
“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.”-Suzanna Lee
Check out some of the designs produced. And then buy me the faux denim coat. K, thx, baiiiiiiii.
via TreeHugger.
