LVMH, Fendi, Central Saint Martins and Imperial College London to prototype new bio-textiles

LVMH, Fendi, Imperial College London and Central Saint Martins have announced a new strategic collaboration to leverage the potential of design-science academic research to prototype new bio-textiles.

The two-year research initiative will develop new lab-grown fur fibres for luxury fashion, with keratin as the focus of a study to develop a fibre capable of mimicking a range of luxury materials including fur.

In its press release, LVMH stated the importance of learning from the biological world and exploring new ways of working with micro-organisms to sustain and regenerate the environment.

The new partnership also brings together the expertise of Imperial College London's Professor Tom Ellis in synthetic biology and Central Saint Martins’ Professor Carole Collet in biodesign. The partnership will focus on growing novel functional biomaterials for luxury and to develop research in regenerative luxury.

Serge Brunschwig, Chairman & CEO of Fendi said: "Ever since its foundation in 1925, Fendi has been at the forefront of experimentation, pioneering on traditional and innovative workmanships, providing our clients with the best sourced materials according to their personal choices. Today we are actively and constantly engaged in the research and development of new resources that can offer even more sustainable options and we are proud of this new step alongside these globally renowned institutions and LVMH."

Tom Ellis, Professor of Synthetic Genome Engineering at the Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London added: "In the last decade, our understanding of biological materials and how they are made by nature has increased dramatically. It is now the perfect time to initiate the idea of designing fibres for fashion made sustainably from microbes. It’s exciting to begin this new collaboration with luxury leader LVMH and globally recognised fashion brand Fendi, and a world-leading expert in biodesign, Professor Carole Collet at Central Saint Martins."