What If Garments Could Be Grown in the Future?
Introducing Manuel Arias Barrantes.
I’m Manu, a student from the MA in Creative Sustainability programme. I am passionate about the topic of sustainability, but materials and the textile industry is what drives me to find new ways to disrupt current manufacturing processes by thinking on new methods of production and the creation of new materials through experimental processes.
Description of research:
What if garments could be grown in the future? While most of us think of fungi as food or something hazardous, mycelium (the roots of a mushroom), has the potential to change how clothing could be made in the future. In this master’s thesis work, material fabrication is explored by growing fungal mycelium. Guided and defined merely by its own genetic information and culturing conditions, these biodegradable materials could offer in the future a more sustainable alternative to current textiles and animal leather. This interdisciplinary project has been done entirely in collaboration with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.
