Do you remember that leathery looking dress made from wine last year that was a weird mix of art and science? Well that crack pot sounding invention has led to something even better. Home grown Perth scientist, Gary Cass has taken his amazing process of growing cotton-like fibres from alcohol to a whole new level with his latest creation, the beer dress.
The Beer Dress design is the essence of summer; frothy layers of material tumble down in clouds of white, so cool and chic. This unique bacterial fermented dress is made from beer. Itis the next evolutionary step in the technology of fabrics fermented by living microbes. The new and improved material is very delicate, white and inscribed with random biological etchings
“We are very confident that the Beer Dress with its new improved material is showing great potential to being commercialized.” Seventy-five years after nylon was introduced at the World Fair in New York, the Beer Dress will introduce, Nanollose Microbial Cellulose, the newest fabric to the fashion world at World EXPO 2015 in Milan.
“From my backyard shed in a Perth suburb to the World EXPO in Milan, the Beer Dress is another example of Australian ingenuity and innovation.” Cass said, “With 20 million visitors expected at the World EXPO, we have created a dress that will hopefully impress the world and may indeed even enter the $330 million per annum Australian textile manufacturing industry.”
The current global requirement for cotton agriculture is causing a massive negative impact on the Earth’s environment. With the rapid reductions of the world’s arable land and fresh water for irrigation, current global production of cotton is unsustainable.
Because microbial cellulose is produced from a fermentation process, it can be made on an industrial scale without the environmental impacts and expensive inputs and processing of cotton. Moreover it can be “grown into any shape” enabling one-piece seamless garments with no stitching, a valuable innovation to the fashion industry.
Creative Scientist, Cass’ continuing research into microbial cellulose has resulted in the establishment of a start up company, Nanollose Pty Ltd based in Perth. “Nanollose can potentially change the way we produce and wear textile products.” Cass said
The design was created by Perth visual artist, Donna Franklin, who was inspired by the flower of the hop plant, Humulus lupulus, used in the fermentation of beer. Features allude to the Art Nouveau and late Art Deco periods in history, a return to the acknowledgement of nature in light of increased mediation, abstraction and pollution of the natural world via globalised industrial processes.
Franklin states that the project challenged conceptions of clothing and explored the implications of fermenting fashion from bacteria dealing with the actuality and ethics of the medium a reaction to the ‘green washing’ campaigns sometimes present in corporate systems.“This material looks at the evolution of future fashion and how garments can change,” she said.
According to Cass, the ultimate goal will be to further improve the flexibility and strength of the Nanollose material and he hopes that one day, this newest of textiles will become an environmentally sustainable fabric.
Stay Curious – C.Costigan
