Jess Redgrave (Clima Fibre)
I’m a recent graduate of the MA Material Futures Course at Central Saint Martins, London and have nearly ten years experience designing for the fashion industry. ClimaFibre was created as part of my final thesis, in which I developed fibre for textiles, natural dyes and a hydropic coating made entirely from sunflowers.
I developed a unique process to isolate cellulose fibres from sunflower stems using enzymes derived from bacteria and fungi. The hydrophobic coating is made from a by-product of the sunflower oil industry and provides water-resistant protection for natural fibres without the use of harmful chemicals. This coating allows the fabric to maintain its breathable qualities with minimal alteration to its aesthetics or hand feel. I also extracted pigments from various parts of the flower for use as alternative textile dyes and printing. You can see more about the project here: https://jessredgrave.com/
- Listing ID: 3177
- Contact: Jess Redgrave
- What are your aspirations and plans for the future?: I hope to develop my products to a commercial level. To commercialise, I need to scale up the process from the lab to create enough fibre to spin and weave into a fabric for industry testing, which would then put me in a great position to secure investments to produce sunflower fibre at scale. The enzyme scientist I worked with to get the fibres has said she expects that the process can be optimised and scaled within 6-12 months, which is really exciting! I believe that sunflower fibre could provide an additional plant fibre source that can be grown within the UK. I hope the enzyme infrastructure needed could also process hemp and flax, promoting the resurgence of the UK textile industry. Alongside this, I aim to further develop and scale the hydrophobic coating and dyes to eventually combine all of the products to make a raincoat entirely from sunflowers.
- What type of experience are you hoping to gain through Future Fashion Factory?: I’m looking for support and advice on development, access to R&D funding opportunities and future collaboration with other members.