Biomimetic Fashion
Step aside cruelty, the future of fashion is here and it’s inspired by nature and compassion. Several startup companies are pioneering biomimetic fibers that will change the fashion space forever. I can’t say it any better than Parsons fashion instructor Joshua Katcher, so I’ll simply quote him:
“Enter Bolt Threads, BioLoom, Modern Meadow, Biocouture, Pembient, and BioFur. They are among the existing and emerging synthethic biology companies who are redefining agriculture, textile manufacturing and the fashion industry in general through innovation on a systems level. Bolt Threads has already developed an exact replica of spider silk without spiders, as Bloomberg recently reported. Modern Meadow is developing lab-grown leather and designer Ingvar Helgason is developling BioFur, which is lab-grown pelts. Pembient has grown Rhino Horn in the lab, and will soon take on elephant ivory, while Biocouture developed a leather-like cellulose and now is a biofabrication and design-application consultancy and BioLoom has made lab-grown cotton. The exciting thing about these companies is that this is just the beginning. This is a field of development and production that will be endlessly customizable, increasingly high-performance and efficient, and inherently more sustainable and less cruel than raising animals to kill them.”
Katcher goes on to talk about a similar movement in the food industry, with plant-based alternatives set to make meat and dairy products obsolete. I guess I was right when I said that biomimicry is the future of business; more and more industries are showing that it’s not only possible, but profitable and chic.
Biomimetic fashion startups are creating synthetic, cruelty-free fibers by mimicking the spider, the silkworm, and other organisms.