Fermented Fashion

Now this is a story we like to hear: Science at the pub. Agricultural researchers at the University of Western Australia have found a way to make clothing from wine.

The idea came to project director Gary Cass while he was helping a friend at a vineyard in southwest Western Australia. He noticed that one of the vats had become contaminated with the bacteria Acetobacter, which had turned the wine into vinegar and left a mat of cellulose floating on the surface of the vat.

Acetobacter are extremists of the microbe world, invulnerable to pH levels that are very, very acidic. They’re also commonly found on fruits and vegetables. As they convert alcohol into vinegar, they produce a byproduct of cellulose microfibrils woven into a mat that resembles tissue paper on first glance. 

Cass contacted textile artist Donna Franklin, who had previously collaborated on science-art projects, and out of this came the ultimate biological dress. “Over the last few years I have worked as a scientific collaborator with SymbioticA – the art and science collaborative research laboratory at the University of Western Australia” said Cass. During their conversations about textiles and cellulose mats, Franklin and Cass came up with the idea of the bacteria weaving together a garment. “Or,” Cass recounts, “it may just have been the copious amounts of wine we drank!”

When the material comes out of the vat it’s slimy, sludgy and similar in texture to seaweed. It’s flexible enough to be molded into any shape imaginable. The research team christened the bacterial vat-mat Micro‘be’.

So how does one go from a sludgy sheet of seaweed to a fully formed garment? It’s an interesting story. To get the shape of a dress, they lift the layers of slimy cellulose off the vats and lay them over an inflatable doll. After the dress forms they deflate and remove the doll, leaving the dress intact. “It’s the bacteria that are weaving all these fibers together,” explains Cass. “We’re not using sewing machines.”

And when will we be able to see Micro‘be’ fashion on display at our local boutiques? “Limitations at the moment [are] that the fabric lacks flexibility which leads to problems in wearability” says Cass. “With further experimentation in culture techniques we are hoping to get the Acetobacter to weave a complete seamless garment that we can pull straight from the vat.”

And what all good fashion types want to know – when will Micro‘be’ be available in all the season’s colors? Well, as long as the fermented mixture remains acidic during the process the material will come out dark red – not too shabby. But going to a more alkaline pH turns the product blue. Translucent cloth – for the risqué - can be attained by using white wine or beer as the starter liquid. Oh, the possibilities.