‘Bacterial cellulose’ in fashion

‘Cellulose’, which is obtained from bacteria and can be used in different fields, especially in the food and beverage industry, since it is not harmful to human health, has also inspired fashion. Filiz Özbengi Uslu, Gözde Damla Turhan and Selen Çiçek from Izmir University of Economics (IUE) Faculty of Fine Arts and Design prepared a special collection of clothes and accessories using ‘bacterial cellulose’. After meeting with the visitors in the category of ‘invited projects’ at the ‘İyi Tasarım İzmir/Good Design İzmir’ event held for the 7^th time this year at Izmir Kültürpark, the designs started to be exhibited on the IUE campus as well. Using bacterial cellulose, which is also used in the production of the 2,500-year-old Kombucha drink, called the ‘health elixir’ in the Far East, in their designs, the team from IUE attracted great attention and appreciation with their extraordinary work.

Research Assistant Filiz Özbengi Uslu from IUE Department of Textile and Fashion Design, and Research Assistants Gözde Damla Turhan and Selen Çiçek from IUE Department of Architecture, completed their design in approximately 2 months. 5-piece collection of clothes and accessories came to the fore with its environmentally friendly feature, being easily produced and durable.  

IT WILL RAISE AWARENESS

Stating that they started to work on designing new products from cellulose, Turhan said, “The purest form of cellulose, known as a kind of organic component found in the cell structure of plants, is actually obtained from bacteria. The cellulose we're working with was also obtained from bacteria. It has no harm to human health, it is a substance that can be produced and dried and consumed. So far, we have seen designs made from this cellulose on a small scale, such as pencil cases, bags or wallets. We, on the other hand, focused on the idea that we could make clothing and accessory products from cellulose and started working. We were very excited that the material formula, production and sewing techniques we used were a first in the world. As a result, we can say that we have designed a successful collection. Cellulose is one hundred percent natural and can quickly mix into the soil. We think that we have designed an awareness-raising collection in terms of being an environmentalist step in other fields such as fashion and product design.”

SUITABLE FOR WINTERWARE

Turhan stated the following: “The most important technical feature of the clothes we have designed is that it is waterproof due to the high liquid holding capacity of cellulose. It is quite possible to produce collections suitable for autumn and winter, such as raincoats, using cellulose, as well as to design waterproof products for adverse weather conditions. We will focus on such projects in the coming period. We also have an idea to develop this idea with the support of TUBITAK and commercialize our project. We want to realize this. The positive responses we received made us very happy and increased our motivation. Many thanks to everyone who supported us.”