BIO IRIDESCENT SEQUIN

W I N A C O P Y O F THE ALMANAC 2020

To help you tune-in to the seasons over the next year, we’re offering you the chance to WIN one of five available copies of The Almanac 2020.

To enter, all you have to do is visit seedlipdrinks.com and fill in the online competition form. T&Cs apply. Ends 14 th March 2020.

THE ALMANAC: A SEASONAL GUIDE TO 2020

byLia Leendertz

Published by Mitchell Beazley. £10 Illustrations by Julia McKenzie

B I O I R I D E S C E N T SEQUIN

with

ELISSA BRUNATO

In the last few years a spotlight has been firmly fixed on the impact human activity is having on the environment. Excessive amounts of waste and plastic has dominated headlines and many companies have come under fire, including those in the fashion and textiles industry. Cheap, fast fashion has created a linear model of make, use, dispose; leading to an estimated £140 million worth of clothing going into landfill each year.

Sewn into this throw-away clothing are embellishments such as beads and sequins, industrially made from petroleum-based plastic or synthetic resins. These also sit in landfill and then enter the environment through various waste streams as microplastics, which are incredibly difficult to get rid of. Thankfully, there has been a huge response from innovative designers who want to rethink these harmful, outdated production processes.

Shining a light on the environmental impact of the use of petroleum - based sequins is design student Elissa Brunato. Through her research of bio technologies, technology that utilises living organisms, Elissa has created a Bio Iridescent Sequin that is as lightweight and as strong as plastic, and as vibrant in colour as a traditionally made sequin, but is compostable and non-toxic. The sequin is made from the crystalline form of cellulose. A wood - originating matter that can imitate the alluring visual aesthetics of beetle wings and peacock feathers. The structural colours found in the cellulose don’t fade in sunlight and can refract light, giving the end product a natural shimmer free of added chemicals or pigments. But it’s not only wood that produces cellulose. This naturally abundant material can originate from fruit peel, algae, used denim and wastepaper.

Elissa has re-thought the production process too. In the current system, sequins are stamp cut in sheets, which creates a lot of waste material. Elissa’s sequins are lab grown in different shaped moulds and then sewn on to fabric individually, avoiding any waste produced from off cuts.

Working alongside material scientists Hjalmar Granbery and Tiffany Abitol from the RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, and Claire Bergkamp, Worldwide Sustainability and Innovation Director at Stella McCartney, Elissa has completely re-built the structure of a sequin. Inspired by the way nature makes and remakes in an entirely circular way Elissa has created an opportunity for the fashion world to make bio-sustainable occasion wear that can be disposed of at the end of its life without becoming a burden on the planet. {beasley}

USEFUL INFORMATION

Elissa’s award-winning Bio Iridescent Sequin is a material research and design project for the MA in Material Futures at Central Saint Martins.

You can read more about Elissa and her project at elissabrunato.com

She can be found on Instagram @elissabrunato.