This plastic-free vegan leather can dye itself – and it’s set to shake up the fashion industry

A major new development in the production of sustainable textiles has seen plastic-free vegan leather created from bacteria – and without toxic dyes.

The breakthrough, by researchers at Imperial College London, could have a significant impact on the use of animals in the fashion industry.

And, in addition to not requiring the slaughter of cows, the new vegan leather is also more sustainable.

Synthetic black dyes used in colouring leather- along with other chemical dyeing processes used for textiles – are amongst the most environmentally toxic processes in fashion.

In tackling this problem, the researchers say their self-dyeing vegan, plastic-free leather represents a step forward in the quest for more sustainable fashion.

Science and design combined forces in the development of this plastic-free vegan leather, with the researchers teaming up with designers to create a shoe and wallet from the pioneering new textile.

Plastic-free vegan leather

The production of vegan leather is becoming increasingly prevalent in the fashion industry, due to growing interest in animal welfare and sustainability.

The fashion industry is notorious for its impact on the planet, and the production of leather, and the dyes used in that production, play a notable role in this impact.

This is why the researchers at Imperial College wanted to create an eco-friendly and viable alternative to traditional animal-based leather.

The process published in their research, which was published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, could, progress far beyond the simple black ‘leather’ designs produced so far.

The researchers created the self-dyeing leather alternative by modifying the genes of a bacteria species that produces sheets of microbial cellulose – a strong, flexible and malleable material that is already commonly used in food, cosmetics and textiles.

These genetic modifications enabled the bacteria not only to create the cellulose material but also to synthesise eumelanin, a dark black pigment.

The researchers demonstrated how the bacteria can be engineered using genes from other microbes to produce colours in response to blue light.

The bacteria can be made to produce glowing, coloured proteins by projecting a pattern or logo onto the sheets using blue light.

This means that researchers can cause patterns and logos to form from within the material, by projecting those patterns onto the bacterial cultures as the material grows.

According to texfashion, the process could also be used to ‘make more sustainable alternatives to other textiles such as cotton and cashmere‘.

‘Major achievement’

According to lead author Professor Tom Ellis: “Inventing a new, faster way to produce sustainable, self-dyed leather alternatives is a major achievement for synthetic biology and sustainable fashion.

“Bacterial cellulose is inherently vegan, and its growth requires a tiny fraction of the carbon emissions, water, land use and time of farming cows for leather.

“Unlike plastic-based leather alternatives, bacterial cellulose can also be made without petrochemicals, and will biodegrade safely and non-toxically in the environment.”

Meanwhile, Co-Author Dr Kenneth Walker added: “Our technique works at large enough scales to create real-life products, as shown by our prototypes.

“From here, we can consider aesthetics as well as alternative shapes, patterns, textiles, and colours. The work also shows the impact that can happen when scientists and designers work together.

“As current and future users of new bacteria-grown textiles, designers have a key role in championing exciting new materials and giving expert feedback to improve form, function, and the switch to sustainable fashion.”

Building a sustainable wardrobe doesn’t have to be difficult: find out How to find the best ethical vegan fashion

Featured images © Imperial College London