Fashion-tech and growing materials: challenges and opportunities facing bacterial cellulose

The technological integration in the fashion industry is an issue that is gaining increasing relevance, driven by the renewed demands for sustainability, transparency, and ethical worthiness of consumers. Fabric is the raw material that has the priority role in the environmental impact of the textile sector, and in this context, growing materials - in particular bacterial cellulose - can act as substitutes to enable the achievement of sustainability, both in terms of resources and methodological approach to fashion production, with a holistic circularity perspective. Therefore, this contribution aims to investigate the possibilities of integration and contamination between technology and bacterial cellulose by mapping the opportunities arising from application in the fashion industry. Following an analysis of the reference context and the most relevant examples of biomaterial application in relation to both fashion and technological inclusion, the research focused on experimentation regarding the integration of the technology as much in the production phase as in the final product output. The contribution presents the development path and outcomes of three applications of bacterial cellulose for the creation of an accessory for the fashion world following an optimization approach to resources and production processes. Starting from the evidence gathered, the conclusions outline development strategies for the realization of other effective and functional demonstrators.