Grow Me a Wardrobe

With the world in a state of climate emergency, fashion faces significant challenges due to its massive environmental and cultural influence. Clothing accounts for over 60% of textiles, with production doubled whilst use has declined by 40%(Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017). Existing linear supply chains leave significant ecological impacts, with waste being a predominant factor. Rissanen (2013) estimates that 15% of fashion waste occurs during garment assembly. Given the complexity of textile and fashion industries parallel to rising environmental degradation, multilevel solutions are crucial to ease environmental strain. This study aims to bridge the gap between fashion and textiles by employing bacterial cellulose growth patterns to create textiles imbued with fashion attributes, focusing on form as the main designable quality. Fabrication is recorded and evaluated through contextualisation during body-artefact juxtaposition in workshop contexts, aided by visual and written documentation. The output consists of two artefact series illustrating proposed biofabrication methods bridging fashion and textiles, augmented by a revised methodological flow informed by resulting design process and material outcomes. Contextualising biofabrication in practice and prolonged interaction expands possible ways of making, dressing and embodying unconventional aesthetics, resulting in more prosper forms of fashion.