4 collaborations where biology met design in 2025

Which partnerships caught our attention this year?

Collaborations between brands and biomaterial companies continued in 2025, bringing biology into fashion through fibers, dyes, and components. So which ones caught our attention? Here are four that stood out for their partnerships, material innovation, or what they brought to market.

1. Spiber × The North Face = Brewed Protein™ capsule collection

What is it? The North Face partnered with Spiber to release a capsule collection made with Brewed Protein™, a fermentation-produced protein fiber designed to mimic the structure and performance of traditional textiles.

Who’s involved? Spiber brought molecular and material engineering. The North Face contributed product testing, design constraints, and global consumer reach.

Can I buy it? The collection launched in Japan and includes outerwear and apparel built for real wear and performance.

Why it stood out A global outdoor brand integrated a biobased material into garments designed for durability and function. It’s a sign that fermentation-based fibers are moving beyond limited drops and into products built to perform in real conditions.

2. Collina Strada × TômTex = biobased accessories at NYFW

What is it? At New York Fashion Week 2025, Collina Strada introduced a line of accessories made with TômTex’s biodegradable, bio-based material, including handbags, purses, scrunchie bags, and sculptural shapes.

Who’s involved? TômTex offered a versatile material with a distinct texture. Collina Strada pushed its visual and structural possibilities on a major fashion stage.

Can I buy it? The accessories debuted on the runway in February 2025 as part of Collina Strada’s FW25 collection.

Why it stood out This collaboration treated biotech-derived materials as a creative medium rather than just a responsible alternative. TômTex became part of the design language, showing that biobased materials can carry aesthetic identity alongside environmental value.

3. Citizens of Humanity Group × Pili × Orta = Eco-Indigo denim

What is it? Citizens of Humanity and its sister brand AGOLDE partnered with denim mill Orta and biotech dye maker Pili to launch denim dyed with Eco-Indigo, a biobased, petroleum-free indigo dye produced through fermentation.

Who’s involved? Pili developed the dye. Orta adapted it for mill production. Citizens of Humanity brought it to market.

Can I buy it? The denim launched exclusively on Net-A-Porter in January 2025 as part of the brands’ Spring collections.

Why it stood out Indigo dyeing is one of fashion’s most widespread and polluting material processes. Seeing a major denim group adopt a biobased dye at commercial scale points to real potential for cleaner chemistry in everyday mainstream garments.

4. Papinelle × Uluu = seaweed-based PHA buttons

What is it? Papinelle collaborated with Uluu to replace plastic buttons in its sleepwear collection with buttons made from PHA fermented from sustainably farmed seaweed.

Who’s involved? Uluu supplied a compostable, seaweed-derived material. Papinelle applied it to an everyday garment detail.

Can I buy it? The collection launched in September 2025 with turquoise gingham pajama sets featuring approximately 4,000 seaweed-based buttons.

Why it stood out Fashion uses billions of petroleum-based plastic buttons every year. Innovation isn’t always a headline fiber—sometimes it’s a component swapped at scale, where small changes add up across the industry.

What’s next

These collaborations show biology working in fashion today—across fibers, dyes, and components already in real products. What they don't answer yet is how these materials hold up over time, how easily they fit into existing supply chains, or how the economics shift as production grows.

As this work carries into 2026, those are the questions we'll be watching for.