Spotted: Leather is one of the most energy-inefficient and destructive textiles. In addition to animal wealfare concerns, leather production involves large amounts of energy, land, and water, alongside the use of harmful chemicals – leading to deforestation and pollution. One way to reduce the environmental impact of the textile industry is to introduce more circularity into the production process. And this is exactly what startup ALT.Leather has done.
Unlike some other alternative leathers, bio-based ALT.Leather is not made from fossil fuel-based materials like PVC. Instead, the company used agricultural waste to develop a unique fibre with a structure that mimics the 3D webbing of animal leather, which helps to make the final product durable and strong.
The company’s founder, Tina Funder, told Springwise: “Our product contains zero petroleum plastic, zero animal products and is ethically made.” The Australian company also uses 100 per cent Australian ingredients, reducing emissions from transportation.
ALT.Leather recently closed an oversubscribed seed funding round, raising AU$1.1 million (around €667,000), exceeding the initial target of AU$750,000 (around €455,000). The round was led by investment firm Wollemi Capital Group.
Springwise is spotting more and more innovators making use of bio-based materials and textiles. These include a bio-based approach to leather recycling and textiles made from pineapple waste.
Spotted: While statistics illustrate that a majority of US consumers still consider it morally acceptable to wear fur, there has been a notable shift away from its use in the fashion industry. Prada, Phillip Lim, Macy’s, Chanel, Burberry, and Net-a-Porter Group have all removed real animal fur from production and sales floors.
Today, vegan alternatives are available, but many fur substitutes are made from petroleum-based synthetic fibres, which are unsustainable, even if they are animal-free. Now, New York and Paris-based bio-materials startup, BioFluff has pioneered a luxury collection based around its plant-based alternative to fur.
The collection, dubbed Savian, featured artificial fur crafted from natural plant fibres using proprietary methods. The line includes fur, shearling, and fleece-like fabrics that are vegan, GMO-free, and incorporate natural- and mineral-based dyes. The materials both look and feel natural.
Savian is the first materials brand created by BioFluff, which recently secured $2.5 million (around €2.3 million) in a seed round led by Astanor Ventures, a leading name in agrifood tech impact investing. This follows a 2022 pre-seed round that raised $500,000 (around €457,000). The company aims to expand into developing plant-based interior designs, packaging, and even toys.
Plant-based materials are slowly replacing petroleum-based products in many areas. Recent innovations spotted by Springwise include clothing made from seaweed and all-natural sneakers.
Dutch design studio Loop Loop has pioneered a process of adding colour to aluminium using pigments made from plants rather than petroleum.
Odin Visser and Charles Gateau, founders of the Rotterdam-based studio, claim to have created the “world’s first plant-based aluminium dying process”.
They have produced four bio-based pigment solutions that can be applied to aluminium through anodising, a surface treatment process that typically uses petroleum-based pigments.
Loop Loop has developed four plant-based pigments for anodising aluminium
Visser told Dezeen it was “the most complex issue” that Loop Loop had ever tackled.
“Natural pigments are being used more and more, but most of them are absolutely ineffective in the context of anodising,” he explained.
“We had to take a deep dive into chemistry, using resources from research papers to AI chatbots in order to understand the underlying principles that decide if a pigment is going to work or not.”
The colours include a warm purple derived from dyer’s alkanet flowers
Visser and Gateau are on a mission to make the process of aluminium anodising more accessible to designers, makers and small-scale manufacturers. Currently, it is largely only used in mass production.
The long-term aim is to make their designs and recipes open source, so anyone could set up a production facility.
Their journey began with the Magic Colour Machine, unveiled during Milan design week in 2022. This mobile, custom-built machine was designed to allow anyone to apply colour gradients to aluminium components, wherever they are.
Different effects can be achieved by applying the pigment in different ways
This new project, titled Local Colours, explores how the process could be made more sustainable.
“To find a way to produce the pigments for our Magic Colour Machine ourselves in a plant-based way helps us to further close the loop,” said Visser.
The four dyes developed so far include a warm purple derived from dyer’s alkanet flowers, a mustard yellow created with dyer’s rocket flowers, a deep pink made using madder root and a bright gold produced with red onion.
Loop Loop has explored different techniques for applying these colours to metal with different effects.
As well as smooth gradients, the pigments can be used to create textural finishes.
“The finish depends on how the pigments are applied,” explained Gateau, a Design Academy Eindhoven tutor with a background in material science.
“We can follow the standard practice of anodising and dip our pieces in a dye to obtain a uniform colour finish. In that sense, it is impossible to distinguish it from the industrial pigments,” he told Dezeen.
“It is also possible to press plant parts directly onto the surface we wish to dye; all sorts of patterns can emerge.”
A press effect results in varied textural patterns
The anodising process involves using an electric current to apply a thin aluminium oxide layer on the outer surface of the metal.
Loop Loop’s tests suggest that plant-based anodising finishes behave much the same as petroleum-based finishes, meaning they can be just as easily removed as added.
The main difference is that the colours react when exposed to direct sunlight.
“This is due to the molecular structure of the dyes, which is way more complex and diverse in the case of natural-based substances,” said Gateau. “The colours have a life of their own.”
Smooth gradients can be achieved using the Magic Colour Machine
Visser and Gateau have been growing their own plants for the dyes, supporting their commitment to localised production.
Once the recipes are made open source, they hope to encourage others to do the same. The ambition is to launch a platform that makes this possible in 2024.
“It’s still at an early stage, but we envision an ecosystem of designers, researchers and makers sharing the outcomes of work in the field of circular products and service systems,” added Visser.
Other designers exploring the possibilities of plant-based pigments include Nienke Hoogvliet, who has launched a brand working with seaweed-based textile dyes, and Studio Agne, which has created textile dye from biowaste.
Spotted: According to the UN, the Earth’s population will likely reach 8.5 billion by 2030. At the same time, climate change is going to make it more difficult to grow food, requiring a rapid and collaborative approach to the global food industry. For startup, The Live Green Company, the answer can be found in plants. The company has developed a way to use biotechnology and machine learning to replace animal, synthetic, and ultra-processed foods with precise plant-based alternatives.
Live Green’s platform, dubbed Charaka, uses machine learning to analyse data about thousands of plants and find appropriate plant substitutes for animal-based and artificial ingredients. Charaka’s algorithms analyse complex data about the phytochemical compounds, bioactive molecules, and nutritional profiles of various plants. The company claims that the platform can “uncover hidden and non-linear relationships and predict innovative functionalities and uses” of different ingredients to find a perfect plant-based substitute.
Developing these substitutes involves creating blends of natural plant ingredients like sunflower protein, banana, and flax meal without changing the taste, texture, or mouthfeel of the finished product. In addition, Live Green’s platform also identifies more sustainable local alternatives to vegetarian ingredients like avocado. From the idea stage to putting a new all-plant product on the shelf can take as little as 90 days.
Live Green has thus far piloted several product lines – including burger mixes, baking mixes, frozen burgers, ice-creams, and protein bars – that are plant-based and free of additives, allergens, gluten, cholesterol, and trans fats.
Other recent food and drink innovations spotted by Springwise include fungal fermentation for natural food colourings, protein and umami extracted from cabbages, and microbial protein for people with modified diets.
Spotted: Plastic is everywhere. In fact, as microplastics are found in more and more places – the bottom of the ocean, the food chain, and inside our bodies for example – concern over the use of plastics is growing. However, there are few products that can replicate plastic’s usefulness, especially as a topcoat on products such as leather and flooring. Until now, that is. Sustainable materials brand von Holzhausen has recently announced a new plastic-free topcoat that could replace the use of petroleum-based materials.
Called Liquidplant, the new customisable product is 100 per cent plant-based, petroleum-free, and completely biodegradable. The product is designed for use as a coating on products such as traditional and synthetic leather, paper, wood, plastic, and fabric.
The coating is made from sustainably grown materials, including corn sugar, castor oil, and flaxseed oil. It has similar qualities to traditional topcoats, including being flexible, as well as stain-, scratch-, and water-resistant. The company says Liquidplant can be used on its own or paired with von Holzhausen’s Terra Backing material. And at the end of its usable life, the products can be recycled into more Liquidplant.
Founded by former automotive designer Vicki von Holzhausen, the company has developed a number of vegan materials, including a bamboo-based leather, and leathers crafted from recycled consumer plastic. The company states its mission as replacing “all the animal leather in the world with non-animal leather. [It believes] in the power of plants and in transforming discarded materials into remarkable ones.”
Vegan leather is everywhere now, and its use is growing as the products become more sophisticated and luxurious. Springwise has spotted leather substitutes made from products as diverse as mycelium, fruit waste, and flowers.
Spotted: It is no secret that a vegan diet is better for the planet. In fact, if the world went vegan tomorrow, greenhouse gas emissions would be cut by up to two-thirds. People are often put off by a vegan diet, though, for its lack of umami: one of the core tastes that usually corresponds with meaty flavours. This is why the Finnish food technology startup The Nordic Umami Company has developed sustainable umami flavours from circular ingredients, hoping to speed the transition to a fully sustainable food system.
To generate momentum towards delicious, upcycled food, the Nordic Umami Company has uncovered a ground-breaking way to extract umami flavour from plant-based products that would otherwise be wasted. The company now hopes to scale its fermentation-based technology into an industrial-sized pilot plant while expanding its impact with new creations. The company’s umami products include bouillons, sauces, and salts.
The startup’s CIO and co-founder Reetta Kivelä explains that “we found the original idea for natural umami through a real-life problem. We realised that the options for bringing umami to plant foods were limited. All alternatives had health, naturality, or sustainability challenges. However, vegan food must also have the fifth basic flavour, umami.”
In December 2022, the young company raised €1.8 million in a seed funding round led by the Nordic Food Tech VC.
Springwise has previously spotted other innovations that aim to widen vegan choices, including a gut-friendly vegan cereal startup and a startup that hopes to put upcycled fish alternatives on the menu by 2023.
Springwise: Some favorite foods, including staples such as pancakes, hummus, and guacamole, are relatively simple to make at home. However, it does take a bit more time to assemble all the ingredients and do the work than it does to open a container and enjoy something immediately. Non-dairy milks are another popular foodstuff that is fairly easy to make. They require a nut or seed, water, and a blender. Despite the ease, though, many of us just don’t have the time, inclination or ingredients to make these by hand.
Step in GROW UP, a sleek, countertop milk brewer designed to produce fresh, non-dairy milk within minutes. Users choose from a range of up to 10 different ingredients, including nuts, oats, coconuts, and hemp seed. All it takes to make a glass of fresh milk is one cup of the chosen ingredient, plus water, added to the top of the brewer. With the push of a digital button, the device makes fresh milk in less than six minutes.
There are two colours available – black and grey – and parts of the machine are dishwasher safe. GROW UP also does not use single use packaging, and the machine includes a self-cleaning function. The machine is currently available for pre-order with a $50 (around €46) deposit and is scheduled to be shipped in spring 2023.
As well as milk, recent innovations in non-dairy products that Springwise has spotted include vegan cheeses, lab grown egg whites, and bacteria-based whipped cream.
Fluff Stuff is a textile filling created from plants cultivated on rewetted peatlands in Finland, which has been designed by students at Aalto University and was on display as part of Helsinki Design Week.
Co-founded by engineer Lukas Schuck and designer Tea Auramo, who are currently studying master’s degrees at Helsinki’s Aalto University, Fluff Stuff is a range of prototype soft homeware and clothing.
Fluff Stuff includes clothing stuffed with plant filling
These products include various colourful cushions and duvets as well as jackets, bags and a hooded hat that are stuffed with cellulose fibres.
The pieces are filled with typha latifolia, a type of plant commonly known as broadleaf cattail, which is defined by its long cigar-shaped seed heads and is typically found in Finnish peatlands – a type of wetland.
The products include cattail plants extracted from rewetted wetlands
Each product is stuffed with plant fibres instead of traditional, carbon-intensive down filling. According to the Fluff Stuff team, cattail absorbs 66 per cent less water than down and dries twice as fast.
“Typha fibres are naturally coated by a wax layer, making them highly hydrophobic,” they explained.
Currently, the plants are harvested from rewetted peatlands in Finland using the team’s first prototype device – a handheld machine that abstracts the cattails through suction.
Fluff Stuff is currently a range of prototype products
“Drained peatlands account for 50 to 60 per cent of agricultural emissions in Finland,” said the Fluff Stuff team, explaining that the project aims to restore rewetted peatlands while also providing a more sustainable solution to creating textile filling.
“Fluff Stuff rethinks Finnish peatland management and the Finnish textile industry by connecting bio-based material innovation with regenerative agricultural practices,” the designers added.
Designer Auramo explained that the team is currently using textiles it has sourced for the project, but in the future, it plans to make its own textiles in which to use the filling, as Fluff Stuff has plans to become a commercial range.
“We chose colours [for the textiles] that would fit with our own dyed colours, so you can see beige and blues and red tones so that they will fit later when we do more prototypes,” the designer told Dezeen.
She also explained that they chose green as a colour for some of the products, due to its “fit in more modern homes”.
“We also chose a more modern colour – lime green,” said Auramo. “We definitely aren’t just serving hippies. We want to speak to different customer groups.”
The project intends to find a sustainable solution to down
Other recent similar student projects include fabrics created from plants grown in seawater and dissolvable ramen packaging that turns into edible sauce.
The photography is by Aalto University, Mikko Raskinen and Anna Berg.
Helsinki Design Week took place from 1 to 11 September 2022 in Helsinki, Finland. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
Spotted: Aggressive and unsustainable farming methods, greenhouse gas emissions, and loss of biodiversity. These are some of the negative impacts associated with the seafood industry. In response, the global plant-based fish market is projected to reach a valuation of $1.3 billion (around €1.2 billion) by 2031.
Against this backdrop, UK-based food-tech company Better Nature has secured a £350,000 (around €410,000) grant to develop plant-based fish made from food by-products. The company aims for the new range of sustainable seafood products to be nutritious, delicious, and environmentally friendly.
The grant, which comes from the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK, will enable Better Nature to build on the company’s proprietary fermentation methods, which are inspired by tempeh – a protein-rich plant-based food originating in Indonesia. This traditional Indonesian delicacy is made by fermenting soybeans.
The new fish alternative will be low in fat and cholesterol, but high in protein and omega-3 fatty acids. Better Nature’s products are not only good for health – they also have a positive impact on the environment. Traditional seafood farming is often damaging to ecosystems, but Better Nature’s products are produced in a way that minimises environmental impact. In addition, their products are completely free from antibiotics and other chemicals often used in conventional seafood farming.
The project aims to have upcycled vegan fish on the table by 2026.
Recent years have seen a revolution in plant-based food. Springwise has recently spotted a protein-rich food additive made from duckweed, animal-free proteins and preservatives, and alternative fats produced through fermentation.
