Material World is a weekly roundup of innovations and ideas within the materials sector, covering news from emerging biomaterials and alternative leathers to sustainable substitutes and future-proof fibers.
Spiber
Spiber and Dutch high fashion designer Iris Van Herpen brought science and style to Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2025.
Both collaborators take inspiration straight from the source: nature (they were both founded in 2007, too). While Van Herpen channels the natural world’s forms and rhythms for her designs, Spiber looks to protective efforts—like silk cocoons and spider webs—to engineer new proteins.
“Biomimicry is ever-present in Spiber’s approach and that is truly similar to our own methods,” Van Herpen said. “Fusing the organic with the innovative, recreating nature’s way of making a material, starting with a protein.”
Spiber translated this complex technology to meet designer needs and create something truly wearable; something the futuristic designer said is a rare quality.
“At Spiber, we believe in the expressive power of materials—their ability to tell stories, to inspire emotion, and to redefine our relationship with nature,” said Kazuhide Sekiyama, Spiber’s co-founder and representative executive officer. “Working with Iris Van Herpen, whose designs go beyond the physical to evoke the beauty of life’s complexity, has resulted in an extraordinary manifestation of our mutual values.”
The Japanese biotech company’s engineered protein formed the foundation of the haute couture bridal look, which comprised sheer organza cut in “gradient-sized moon-shapes” and heat-bonded to the laser cut Brewed Protein fabric boning, the partners said, before “hundreds of white coral petals” were stitched upward onto a nude illusion tulle, spiraling down into a transcalent, or heat-permeable, twisted train.
“I feel Brewed Protein fiber brings a lightness and a softness that I’m looking for, resulting in fabric that floats around the skin. It has a very attractive, organic, natural presence that’s embodied in the whole look,” Van Herpen said. “The Spiber team and I share the same attention to detail and texture—the sensorial qualities of the material.”
The feeling was mutual. With a shared ambition to keep pushing material boundaries, the teams also believe cross-disciplinary collaboration is “essential” to address the complex challenges facing fashion and the environment.
“Brewed Protein was born from the same curiosity that drives Iris’s work: a desire to explore the boundaries of what is possible when we look to nature for questions, without focusing solely on answers,” Sekiyama said. “This collaboration reflects a vision of fashion that is both sensorial and systemic, where fabrics are not just worn, but experienced—and where innovation arises from a deep sensitivity and curiosity toward the living world.”
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Södra
Forestry cooperative Södra is combining artificial intelligence and automated data with nascent working methods to keep members in the loop with an updated forest management plan toolkit. The largest forest-owner association in Sweden partnered with AI company Terra Labs to launch the initiative.
“We are now on the brink of a technological leap that will give us access to automated forestry data in a new way,” said Peter Karlsson, head of Södra Skog. “Empowering our members in their forest ownership and decision-making is a key part of our mission and we aim to create even better decision support for forest owners.”
That breakthrough includes streamlining efforts using automated forestry data to reduce the need for field measurements, among other efficiencies. Södra is developing its own Planner App, used on a tablet in conjunction with new remote sensing data, the company said.
To do so—aka develop planners’ tools using remote sensing and “next-generation AI” technology—Södra tapped the Swedish startup that inventories and analyses forests, in real-time, to enable the industry’s next significant tech shift. The long-term partnership will ensure “stable access to highly accurate and frequently updated data,” the joint development said, with collaborative efforts to adapt and train the AI model now ongoing for several months.
More specifically, Terra Labs “develops software using satellite data and AI for monitoring and analyzing land and related activities from a spatial viewpoint,” according to Crunchbase. The platform also reported that Terra Labs received seed backing from Norrsken VC, a European impact investor that participated in Syre’s $100 million Series A funding round in May 2024.
“We’ve contributed various perspectives to the development process and have now found solutions that provide us with very high-quality forest information,” Karlsson said. “We are leading the market here and will soon be able to offer Södra’s members the best possible information about their forests, which we hope will enhance the member experience.”
The app for forest planners is expected to launch this fall. In parallel, the forest management plan will be developed as a product. Ideally, Södra will make more information accessible via Min skogsgård, the OnceMore developer’s membership portal that roughly translates to “my forest farm.” In turn, users can plan with the reportedly dynamic tools that will give members “greater opportunities to actively engage” with forest management plans.
Rheon Labs x Decathlon
Global sports brand Decathlon has partnered with British materials technology company Rheon Labs to bring advanced material science to the everyday athlete.
“Decathlon’s belief that innovation should serve everyone aligns perfectly with our own,” Stephen Bates, CEO at Rheon Labs, said. “Rheon started in elite sport; now, this partnership will unlock that same level of performance for millions more.”
The collaboration equips the sporting goods retailer with access to Rheon’s full technology platform—including current and future efforts in strain-rate sensitive materials—to develop apparel that bolsters control, comfort and performance during physical activity. Strain-rate sensitive means that Rheon’s patented polymer strands remain soft and flexible during everyday movement but stiffen up in response to impact.
“Innovation truly matters when it empowers everyone,” said Aurelien Corbier, Decathlon’s textile innovation leader. “By partnering with Rheon Labs, we’re taking materials designed for athletes and making them accessible to all. This aligns perfectly with our focus on providing excellent products for everyone, leading to better comfort, control and performance.”
The partnership’s first project, a Kiprun running tight, was designed to focus on energy and reduce muscle movement. Additional developments are underway across other categories, with the first few technologies set to drop in 2026.
Altri x AeoniQ
Portuguese cellulosic pulp producer Altri will acquire a majority stake in AeoniQ, a Swiss-based cleantech spin-off of HeiQ Materials. In turn, the partners will build a commercial-scale plant to produce the “climate-positive” cellulosic yarn.
Altri’s investment, including a capital increase, will build out the commercial-scale AeoniQ production capacity, in line with the spin-out’s desire to diversify into high-value, low-impact cellulosic applications.
“This agreement gives concrete form to Altri’s strategy of moving up the value chain and investing in next-generation materials,” said José Soares de Pina, CEO of Altri. “We are scaling a game-changing innovation that aligns perfectly with our commitment to build a more renewable world.”
Per that agreement, the industrial plant will be constructed at Altri’s Caima dissolving pulp mill in Constancia, Santarem. Construction is expected to begin in 2026 with an initial capacity of 1.750 tons per year.
On top of the already-existing pilot lines in Austria, a pre-industrial plant in Portugal is expected to launch in early 2026 to accelerate prototyping, partnerships and capsule collections. Hugo Boss has used AeoniQ’s yarn in four capsule collections, while Lameirinho’s “vegan silk” bed linen line was presented at Heimtextil 2025.
The venture will “benefit from the vertical integration of eucalyptus-based pulp to finished yarn,” the duo said, before later expanding to incorporate recycled feedstocks, considering inputs like cotton textiles waste and agricultural waste as well as bacterial cellulose derived from food waste.
“Altri’s investment transforms AeoniQ from a market-proven innovation into a full-scale global production platform. Together, we are offering a market-ready solution to one of the planet’s most polluting industries: Textiles,” Carlo Centonze, CEO of HeiQ, said. “The joint venture brings together Altri’s industrial expertise and HeiQ’s innovation prowess to deliver a European-made, sustainable, high performance and plastic-free textile.”
The acquisition’s completion is subject to the fulfillment of closing conditions, as is standard in transactions of this nature, the strategic partners said, with expectations to wrap up the process during 2025’s third quarter.
Carbitex x Hypetex CAM
Flexible carbon fiber composites company Carbitex collaborated with Hypetex Coloured Advanced Materials (CAM) on a new generation of production-ready colored composites.
“While we’ve explored colorization in the past, our core expertise lies in engineering flexibility. By working with Hypetex CAM, we get the best in color while focusing on continuing to evolve our technology. The request for color is a regular occurrence, but we wanted to wait until we knew we had a solution that met our quality expectations—Hypetex does that,” said Junus Khan, founder and president of Carbitex. “OmniFlex with Hypetex colored carbon is striking and beautiful. This collaboration will expand our material offerings into compelling new product ranges.”
The collaboration debuts with Carbitex’s carbon fiber textile technology that helps athletes harness the high tensile strength and no-stretch characteristics of carbon fiber in a flexible and lightweight form. For the first time, Carbitex’s technology is available in colorways other than traditional black, including shades of Oak Twill and Titanium Twill, among six other distinctive options.
The Hypetex colored OmniFlex materials are available now, intended for integration with products in sport and lifestyle segments, with inaugural efforts in the travel and accessory categories on the horizon.
