A new biomaterial made its runway debut earlier this month in Paris as part of a new collection inspired by starquakes—the seismic shifts that take place when a dead star fractures.
Material science company TômTex said its newest biomaterial called BloomCell made its debut during the Paris Haute Couture Week as part of Sonic Starquakes, the newest collection by Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen.
It first appeared as a belt on the Fractal Universe gown, the central look of the collection. The belt was hand-finished with embroidery and beading by the van Herpen atelier, a validation of what science can do for high fashion.
The gown itself was already groundbreaking, which was charged inside a particle accelerator and cryogenically preserved, producing “fractal constellations of light spread across its surface as lightning etched microscopic channels through its structure.” In an Instagram post, Van Herpen called it one of the brand’s most challenging creative processes ever.
The BloomCell was created by fermenting agricultural plant matter into a natural biopolymer using microbes, the company said in a recent statement. This results in a coated material that is entirely bio-based, plastic-free, non-toxic and compostable—with the look, texture, and performance of leather.
“Our goal has never been to create a material that is chosen [just] because it’s sustainable,” said Uyen Tran, founder and CEO of TômTex, in a statement. “It has always been to create a material that designers choose because of its beauty, its performance, and its ability to enable exceptional craftsmanship.”
Starting at a prestigious runway, the material may eventually end in the hands of consumers, as the company prepares for a commercial expansion into the luxury market of accessories, ready-to-wear, and footwear. TômTex said it has secured the manufacturing capacity to support future brand partnerships.
Tran told Sourcing Journal that the company currently has the capacity to produce approximately 100,000 square meters of the material every year, “with plans to scale further based on demand.”
“We operate with low capital expenditure, as our technology integrates seamlessly with industry-standard equipment. This allows us to collaborate with toll manufacturers globally without capacity limitations or the need for significant additional investment in facilities,” she said.
The company is currently in active discussions with brands, which Tran deferred from disclosing until formally announced, on top of several that TômTex is already working with under non-disclosure agreements.
Producing a biomaterial in a lab for runway couture is different from producing it at scale in a factory floor. Majority of biomaterial innovators don’t survive that transition, Ankur Agarwal, head of VC investments at PDS Ventures previously told Pioneers Post. “When they test those materials in a commercial or industrial setup…the results are very different,” he said.
