Polybion announced its showcase at the Copenhagen Fashion Week, in a revolutionary collaboration with Danish fashion-brand GANNI.

In the ‘Future, Talent, Fabrics’ exhibition hosted by GANNI, Polybion celebrated the intersection of creativity, biology, and sustainability, using its vegan leather alternative, or ‘Premium Cultivated Cellulose, Celium™ in four bespoke high-fashion pieces: a crop top, miniskirt, and signature Bou bag.

While Polybion’s leather alternative is remarkably similar in terms of functionality to that of animal-leather, the materials cannot be directly compared, rather viewed as a completely new material. Created using industrial fruit waste, the material is plastic-free in its organic form and is created by feeding the fruit waste a special type of bacteria, causing the material to form a slime-like substance. After being sent to the tannery it is treated with green chemistry to produce a final material that has a waxy-feel and marble pattern.

We can, however, compare the materials from an environmental standpoint. Here we see Celium™ offer a significantly lower carbon footprint to that of animal leather. In fact, an initial life cycle assessment found Celium™ to produce less than 10% of the carbon emissions of cow’s leather. And if you consider the fact that fruit waste is prevented from reaching landfill – the material could even be considered carbon negative.

The next challenge for Polybion is to scale up this innovation and for GANNI to communicate it to customers. Stay tuned for Autumn 2024, when GANNI plans to launch its first commercial products using Celium™.

This collaboration sure signals a significant process in Polybion’s journey, as they continue to redefine luxury with sustainability at its core.

Read more about Polybion in British Vogue: Would You Wear Bacteria-Grown Leather? | British Vogue

More here: Revolutionizing Fashion: Polybion’s Celium™ Collaboration with GANNI at CPHFW