October biotextile round-up: runway cellulose, algae black, and Brewed Protein

Polybion's Celium at New York Fashion Week, a TIME-recognized algae pigment, and Brewed Protein going mainstream.

Three stories and more from the biotech fashion world that caught our eye this month.

Bacterial material on the runway

Designer Patricio Campillo used Polybion's Celium in three looks from his Spring/Summer 2027 collection, shown at New York Fashion Week. Celium is a bacterial cellulose material grown using nutrients recovered from fruit waste. The bacteria produce a network of cellulose, which is harvested and finished into sheets that can be cut and sewn.

Polybion has scaled up to a production facility that can produce 1.1 million square feet of material per year at full capacity, which is the part we find most interesting. A runway moment is great, but capacity like this is what lets a material go beyond one-off looks.

Living Ink's algae black is one of TIME's best inventions of 2026

Most black ink and pigment is made from carbon black, which comes from burning petroleum. Living Ink makes Algae Black, a black pigment made from discarded algal biomass, and TIME has named it one of the best inventions of 2026. The pigment is carbon negative, since it locks in the CO₂ the algae absorbed while growing. Stella McCartney has used it in recent collections, and Patagonia and New Balance are among other brands that have used it.

We like that this one starts from waste and ends up somewhere very ordinary: plain black, the most-used color there is.

Brewed Protein is back at Untouched World

New Zealand company Untouched World is using Spiber's Brewed Protein in a second collection. Brewed Protein is a fiber made from sugarcane through fermentation.

What excited us most about this story is how ordinary it is. This isn't a new launch or a special collection, just basic clothing: sweaters, singlets and tees. Maybe this is a signal that biotech materials are on their way from specialty to standard clothing component.

Other cool stories

• Munich trade fair for functional textiles showcases bio-based materials. PERFORMANCE DAYS took place on October 13-14.
• Colorifix launches "Sunlit Clay." The British biotech company's new bacteria-based dye is a warm, earthy shade for wool.
• Issey Miyake releases a knitted bag made with Spiber's Brewed Protein. The Protein Cotton Konbu from ISSEY MIYAKE is a seamless knit bag that blends cotton and nylon into Brewed Protein, in small and large sizes.