The Anthropocene now exceeds living biomass, extinction is accelerating, pollution has reached even the most isolated parts of the planet, and 60 per cent of the world’s biodiversity has vanished in the past 40 years.

Yet, while the drivers may be dire, this story focuses on moving forward to reconnect us not just with the natural world but also with our own senses.

Nature essentially becomes a design tool and the key to regenerative processes that protect the future.

Surfaces emulate both the glossy, fibrous and prickly qualities of plants. Patterns creep and entwine with no repeats and scale is a driver with plays on the macro and micro.

Plant was first published in MIX Magazine issue 71, and the following material, pattern and finish directions are explored in more detail in our 2024/25 CMF Directions.

 

Living Colour

 

Anima by Loreto in collaboration with Vienna Textile Lab | BioChromatic | Bacteria dyes | Photo Phillip Küelker

 

Living colour is explored in response to environmental and ethical concerns around synthetic dyes. Anima by Loreto in collaboration with Vienna Textile Lab’s printed fashion collection, BioChromatic is created using bacteria.

 

Maison/0 project, 2022 | Rewilding Textiles, Design for a Generative Epoch | Bio-based printed textile prototypes

 

Maison/0 explore the partnership between bacterial, algae and food waste dyes to create expansive biobased and bio-circular palettes.

 

Jesse Adler | Alchemical Mycology | Pigment-producing fungi | Photo Tom Mannion 2022

 

Jesse Adler experiments with pigment-producing fungi as a renewable alternative; these vivid colourants are used in the make-up collection Alchemical Mycology.

 

Waxy

 

Loewe | SS 2023

 

The naturally waxy sheen of the Anthurium spathe informs finish directions. In fashion, this alien bloom, featured prominently as patent bras and bustiers that wrap around the body in Loewe’s SS 2023 collection.

 

Nicholas Devlin | Two-headed lamp table | Armature, plaster, expoxy | Photo Aleko Syntelis

 

Nicholas Devlin’s anthropomorphic two-headed lamp table achieves a similar gloss level using an epoxy coating.

 

Sprawling

 

Piero D’Angelo | Wetware Couture | Slime mould fabric experimentation

 

The invasive and threatening allure of the plant world inspires patterns that creep and entwine. On a micro level, innovative textile experiments feature the vibrant sprawling network of slime mould as a surface pattern in Piero D’Angelo’s Wetware Couture collection.

 

Zena Holloway | Rootfull | Sea fan root sculpture

 

In Rootfull by Zena Holloway, wheatgrass roots are guided into moulds, crawling into complex, interwoven three-dimensional forms.

 

bioMATTERS | Myco-Alga tiles | 3D printed mycelium, upcycled waste materials | Photo © bioMATTERS, LLC.

 

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