High-end bio fashion platforms could become profitable with higher margins/less pressure on economies of scale.
We’ve been witnessing a groundswell of people talking about the convergence of design and biology. Neri Oxman is at the forefront of the field making hybrid living materials, glass 3D printing, cultivating bacteria in people’s last breaths. She runs a business putting together different bio-inspired installations. Suzanne Lee is another person in the field who has been making materials from bacteria for the past 20 years. She also runs a conference on biodesign, Biofabricate. Although biodesign installations aren’t inherently scalable, a shop that can more quickly prototype designs and high-end products could potentially be a large business.
A special blend of designers and biologists would need to be coordinated here with expertise in biomanufacturing, fashion, clothing assembly, and marketing/brand building. The products developed would likely come from a central tech advancement, like Ecovative has many products around its mycelium technology. Brand and market building around the products would be required by activating well-known figures in the fashion community.
‘LVMH for bio’ phrasing was developed by Mike Dempsey. He also introduced Shelby to the work of Neri Oxman.