‘Imagine leather that’s as lightweight and transparent as a butterfly wing or has the natural stretch of rubber. Or imagine a material with the dynamic responsiveness of the skin of a chameleon.’ Sketching this nearby future of biologically made fabrics is WDCD2012-speaker and Biocouture-founder Suzanne Lee, who took Popular Science on a tour through the labs of Modern Meadow.
At the biotech start-up in Brooklyn, New York, where Lee acts as creative director, she is actually working on growing leather in petri plates. With Modern Meadow Lee has the possibility to accelerate her research into the development and adoption of new biological materials, she tells Popular Science.
Among her visions now also is dynamic clothing that reacts to our bodies like a second skin. Lee: ‘Imagine the garment having a layer of living cells that feed off your dead ones to clean and repair itself. Or it could sense your body temperature, and when you’re cold the cells might reorganize, just as feathers and fur fluff up to act as insulators.’
Read the entire and fascinating story on www.popsci.com
And have another look at Suzanne Lee’s ever so fascinating talk at www.whatdesigncando.com