"We are investigating the use of bacterial-cellulose, grown in a laboratory, to produce clothing.Our ultimate goal is to literally grow a dress in a vat of liquid..." This is a photo of a jacket that has been made using methods developed by the group BioCouture. The piece is made from sheets of sugary 'biofilm' produced by the microbes that ferment green tea. It is grown in bathtubs, moulded to fit, and then dried. The photo doesn't fully highlight this materials' qualities; it is in fact a beautifully semi-sheer fabric that has a similar texture to leather almost. The colour comes from the tea solution that the material is 'grown' in. The major benefit in pioneering this concept is that once it has 'worn out' it can go straight on the compost heap. Polyester currently represents around 60% of the fibres that we use and, whilst it is cheap to produce and buy, it is near about impossible to break down and fully recycle. However, this material still has a long way to go before it is a realistic one for making clothes as it absorbs 80% of its own weight when exposed to water and therefore in the rain just goes to a jelly-like consistency. Alexander Bismarck at Imperial College London is investigating adding water in the making process so as to repel the molecules and stop the problem of jelly.
This is the 'knit to fit' design by Sandy Black from London Collage of Fashion. This is an innovative technique that uses a 3-dimenisonal body scanner in order to take personal measurements; these measurements can be taken in just 6 seconds by the specially made camera. An electronic eye replaces the tailors tape measure. With this information, once transmitted to a computer run knitting machine, a seamless, customised garment can be created there and then made to ones exact style and fit needs.
Given that every piece is made on the spot to only one person's needs, there is no wastage due to unsold or garments. Furthermore, this process benefits from the garment being made from just one whole piece of yarns, therefore there is no wastage in this respect either. However, there are some disadvantages in that this is not a viable design to be produced on a mass level due to the personal contact the consumer has to have with the making process. This concept simply can't be applied on a 'mass customisation' level and in this way it is quite costly and not very sustainable in our consumer-driven society that so often values price and ease over quality and sustainability.
This is the 'knit to fit' design by Sandy Black from London Collage of Fashion. This is an innovative technique that uses a 3-dimenisonal body scanner in order to take personal measurements; these measurements can be taken in just 6 seconds by the specially made camera. An electronic eye replaces the tailors tape measure. With this information, once transmitted to a computer run knitting machine, a seamless, customised garment can be created there and then made to ones exact style and fit needs.
Given that every piece is made on the spot to only one person's needs, there is no wastage due to unsold or garments. Furthermore, this process benefits from the garment being made from just one whole piece of yarns, therefore there is no wastage in this respect either. However, there are some disadvantages in that this is not a viable design to be produced on a mass level due to the personal contact the consumer has to have with the making process. This concept simply can't be applied on a 'mass customisation' level and in this way it is quite costly and not very sustainable in our consumer-driven society that so often values price and ease over quality and sustainability.
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