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Guess what, the cool jacket is made from vegetable leather that is grown from a vat of green tea! That’s really incredible, but that’s just what the fashion designer Suzanna Lee has created in the “BioCouture” research project based at Central Saint Martin’s College.

Continue reading for a further explanation offered by Suzanna after the jump.

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“The process uses a sugary green tea recipe, to which, a bacterial culture is added. It takes about 2-4 weeks to grow a sheet that is thick enough to use. Sheets are then dried down; either shaped over a wooden dress form–like the ghost dress and ruff jacket [images, below]–or sewn together conventionally. Depending on the recipe the material can either feel like paper or–more desirably–like a vegetable leather.

In testing with dyes we found no need for mordant [a substance used for dyeing fabrics] and an incredibly small amount of dye goes a long way so it’s eco-credentials go through the entire process. We also recycle a percentage of the fermentation liquid.”

Designer: Suzanna Lee