Suzanne Lee makes clothes out of bacteria

Suzanne Lee, a Senior Research fellow at the prestigious school of arts, Central Saint Martins in London, is experimenting with the concept of growing garments from bacterial cellulose, through her project Bio-Couture. Lee is best known for her book, entitled “Fashioning the Future” that overlooks the merge of textiles and technology to create wearable electronic device in garments and explores a future wardrobe based on contemporary technology. [Not Just a Label]

Using a bathtub mixture of yeast, bacteria and sweetened green tea, designer Suzanne Lee produces extremely thin sheets of bacterial cellulose. When wet, they're pliable, and can be shaped into clothing. The seams are simply "sewn" by squeezing two sheets together. Once dry, you get what ecoutree describes as a "papyrus-like surface"—which doesn't sound so comfortable to wear, but hey, sustainability. [Gizmodo]  

The end product resembles dried animal skin. Suzanne Lee is part of a research project called BioCouture, which strives to address sustainability in the fashion industry by using a laboratory-grown bacterial cellulose. [Trend Hunter]