Words by: Alexi Freeman

Right now, there’s a new wave of environmentally conscious designers redefining the narrative of take-make-waste towards circularity. From Melbourne to Zaandam, product-based design brands vie for evidence-based validation, including the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s Higg Index and the globally sought after B-Corp certification.

Both quantifiable measures demonstrate eco-conscious accountability. But lurking behind the facade of green marketing campaigns, are most brands truly driven by planetary passion or merely by chasing profit margins?

In this article, we spotlight design brands that are actually prioritising the Earth over their bottom line. Three brands at various stages of the sustainable design ecosystem are biomaterials startup ALT. Leather, eco-designers Studio Klarenbeek & Dros and green shoe brand Vivobarefoot.

All demonstrate similar attributes – their innovative products are researched and developed through evidence-based collaboration between industry and academia.

ALT. Leather

Tina Funder is the visionary founder of ALT. Leather – a local biomaterials startup based at CoLabs in Brunswick. Born from a desire to find a post-petrochemical and cruelty-free material to fabricate her ethical handbag line, Funder is collaborating closely with material scientists to metamorphose plant-based agricultural waste into a captivating crocodile-skin-esque biomaterial.

Funder said that to create a truly circular economy “we need to radically change our environmental relationship. ALT. Leather uses waste and regenerative plants to provide a more sustainable solution to animal and petroleum-based synthetics. Our small contribution to a $500 billion problem.”

ALT. Leather's 100% plant-based biomaterial fabricated from agricultural waste is a shining example of the innovation of necessity and a testament to the potential eco-benefits when advertising acumen, material science and sustainability are seamlessly interwoven.

Currently, in its pilot-testing phase with its scientific research partner Monash University, Funder’s innovative approach holds promise for textile applications in garments, accessories and the automotive industry, eyeing a March 2024 launch for its inaugural biomaterial products.

ALT. Leather’s approach follows in the footsteps of Perth-based biomaterials company Nanollose, paving the green road with their tree-free and forest-friendly fibre. First developed in partnership with Deakin University's Institute of Frontier Materials, their food-waste-fuelled Nullarbor fibre was purchased by textile leviathan Aditya Birla Group to industrialise and commercialise their innovative process – a trajectory illuminating the path from biomaterials startup to real-world mainstream consumption.

Studio Klarenbeek & Dros

Dutch designers Eric Klarenbeek and Maartje Dros began their collaboration in 2004 before founding their Zaadam-based Studio Klarenbeek & Drosin in 2014. Since then, the duo have straddled academic research whilst creating cutting-edge products that consistently extend the vernacular of discursive design, green materials and technology-based fabrication methodologies.

The ethos behind the realisation of these ambitious design artefacts is to explore “the future of new ways of fabrication through materials that replace fossil, remediates ecology, addressing and breaking with the current destructive materials we use daily.”

Noteworthy among their projects is The Vegan Dress, a sustainable haute couture piece embodying circular principles made in collaboration with Iris van Herpen. Utilising a waste stream sourced from their chocolate-making neighbours – an innovative recipe of algae, sugars and cacao bean shells – the dress showcases a fully organic, locally embedded production cycle of biobased polymers.

Their contributions to the greener good further extend to a biofabricated Algae-Based Biopolymer Dress - also a commission for van Herpen – presented at Paris Fashion Week; a biobased remake of the iconic Garden Egg Chair (1967) of Peter Ghyczy by 3D printing seaweed polymers shown at the Vitra Design Museum; and experimentation with 3D printing living mycelium since 2011 (a world first) - a design process resulting in a negative carbon footprint.

Vivobarefoot

Vivobarefoot is also prioritising the planet over profits. Galahad Clark, seventh-generation cobbler, co-founder and CEO describes Vivobarefoot as “a purpose-driven company with a sustainability philosophy as its foundation.” Their shoe range demonstrates “natural, biosynthetic and recycled material products of super minimalist design.”

By developing their eco-design products in partnership with universities (including Harvard), Vivobarefoot waves the green flag through a combination of recycled plastics, plant-based materials including hemp and algae and ethically sourced leather.

Vivobarefoot is increasing reuse and repurpose programs, collaborating with chemical and mechanical recycling partners to eliminate virgin plastics and make planet-positive footwear.

Moving towards circularity, Vivobarefoot partners with BLOOM, incorporating algae-based EVA foam that “revitalises and maintains healthy waterways. Production removes harmful algae blooms caused by chemical run-off. Extraction process replenishes waterways with clean, fresh water, stimulating greater biodiversity.”

Vivobarefoot expresses its eco-commitment to mitigating the impact of plastic waste through the transformation of plastic waste into “lightweight, flexible and durable yarns and materials suitable for performance footwear.”

Opting for 'Wild Hide' leather sourced from herds that spend their whole lives roaming freely outside, Vivobarefoot boycotts highly industrialised and non-regenerative farming methods practised by the incumbent majority of leather producers. Instead, they only support independent smallholder farmers who adhere to​​ European environmental practice standards.

As we delve into these local and global endeavors, we observe that in some pockets of the design community, sustainability is more than an overused buzzword bandied around by marketing execs – but a term embodying a deeply motivating driver for mitigating the impacts of the climate emergency.

From reimagining leather production with agricultural waste, biofabricating sneakers from algal blooms and 3D printing artefacts with living mycelium – these innovators inspire us to envision a world where every product embodies the essence of the greener good and a more sustainable and compassionate future.