Renewcell’s bankruptcy. Syre’s $600 million injection. TômTex named a Time Best Invention of 2024. Spinnova’s entire year. The fashion industry’s next-generation material space saw a lot of change throughout the past 12 months, including the shuttering of next-gen think tank Material Innovation Initiative (MII) in September and Rubi’s nearly $1 million government grant to scale its carbon-to-cellulose platform in December.
Suffice it to say—sure, the lows were low. But the highs? They were high.
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The biggest issue the biomaterials space continues to face is growth—not just the petri dish kind. Securing funding, entering product trials, producing capsules and locking in brand partnerships are individual, complex steps material innovators must take to navigate the hype cycle. There’s no one-size-fits-all formula for how to leave the lab and enter the production floor.
However, here’s a handful of the feats fêted by the next-gen space during 2024, organized by stage.
Phase I: Capital Investment & Commercial Introduction
These are the material innovators who raised funding to scale their next-gen fibers as well as those that hit the market.
Another Tomorrow
In March, Swiss-based early growth impact investment manager Una Terra invested $2 million in Another Tomorrow, a B Corp focused on sustainable luxury ready-to-wear, as part of its Series A financing round. Another Tomorrow said the funding from Una Terra underscores both B Corp’s “unwavering commitment to progressing innovation in the service of scaling circular economy solutions addressing biodiversity loss and climate change.”
Spiber
In April, Japanese biomanufacturing startup Spiber announced the completion of a fundraising round totaling over 10 billion yen (roughly $65 million). This funding, which includes additional investments from existing shareholders, will allow the company to ramp up the mass production of its Brewed Protein materials and expedite global sales.
Sparxell
In April, Sparxell, a UK-based developer of sustainable and plant-based pigments, announced it raised $3.2 million in various funding rounds. This funding—raised from seed investments, grants and awards—will ramp up the development and commercialization of products without synthetic chemicals from colorants for markets including fashion and cosmetics.
Mycocycle
In May, Mycocycle announced an oversubscribed $3.6 million seed extension funding round, bringing the total funding raised by the biotechnology company that uses mushrooms to create new materials to $7.3 million. Closed Loop Partners’ Ventures Group led the round with follow-on investment from the Telus Pollinator Fund for Good and participation from U.S. Venture, Inc. and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Invent Fund.
Beyond Leather Materials
In May, Beyond Leather Materials, the Danish producer and supplier of Leap—an alternative material to traditional leather crafted from apple waste—announced a significant expansion in its manufacturing capabilities: the launch of the Copenhagen-based company’s first full-scale roll-to-roll production line in Germany. This development marks the commercial introduction of Leap.
Polybion
In June, Polybion’s Celium made its world debut. Following the operational success of its solar-powered bacterial cellulose manufacturing facility in Central Mexico, the material science company’s leather alternative became globally available.
Qorium
In October, cell-cultured leather company Qorium teased its latest sample of lab-grown leather. Measuring just over a foot in length and height, the material was made using the firm’s newly scaled-up tissue bioreactor, which serves as a proof of concept for full-scale commercialization of the production process.
Phase II: Capsules & Proof of Concept
These material innovators got their fibers out of the lab and onto a product line or trial runs with their material innovations.
BASF x Inditex
In January, BASF joined hands with Inditex on Loopamid, a polyamide 6 (PA6)—also known as nylon-6—made from 100 percent textile waste. Zara created a jacket with Loopamid following a “design for recycling” approach: all elements, including zippers and buttons, were made from the polyamide material.
Everloop
In February, PDS Ventures, Positive Materials and Petratex revealed a “first-of-its-kind” partnership at Première Vision Paris: Everloop, a capsule collaboration co-designed between six material innovators. Featuring Amphico, Materra, Pact, Ponda, Savian by BioFluff and Nature Coatings, the collection celebrates products made with regenerative and circular materials. The collective aims to create a collection that “goes beyond traditional fashion” and inspires the next generation of designers while challenging the industry’s status quo.
Evrnu
In March, Evrnu took another step toward reaching its goal of creating an eco-conscious fashion industry. The textile innovations company launched its first direct-to-consumer product—the 360 Hoodie—made from NuCycl, a 100 percent recyclable lyocell material made entirely from cotton textile waste.
KZ_K Studio x Ambercycle
In June, slow luxury label KZ_K Studio joined forces with Ambercycle to reinvent the ready-to-wear brand’s 15-year-old Techno Jacket and launch the Techno Trench_1.0. Both prototypes were crafted from the Los Angeles-based material innovator’s regenerated polyester, Cycora, later unveiled during a live visual arts performance at the Knitting Factory in NYC’s East Village.
Modern Meadow
In July, Modern Meadow and Australia-based brand Earthletica teamed on the Bronte Jacket, named in recognition of Earthletica’s founder, competitive swimmer and dual Olympic gold medalist, Bronte Campbell. The first-of-its-kind jacket features Bio-Alloy Shield, a breathable and waterproof membrane developed by the biofabrication company. Campbell showcased the jacket when competing at the 2024 Australian Olympic Swimming Trials in the lead-up to the Paris Olympics.
MycoWorks
In July, MycoWorks announced that Sollei, Cadillac’s latest concept car, became the first automobile to incorporate a mycelium biobased material, developed in collaboration with General Motors. MycoWorks’ Fine Mycelium material was used in the charging mats on the console and the door map pockets, unveiled at the Cadillac House at Vanderbilt in Warren, Michigan.
Ganni x New Balance
In August, Ganni announced a special collaborative collection based on New Balance’s T500 sneaker. The project hopes to elevate and support emerging talent within the Copenhagen fashion community; the two brands invited four creatives—Masculina, Bonnetje, Camilla Skov and Ojuna Njama Petersen—to co-create the T500 silhouette, using the shoe as a “blank canvas for creative interpretation.”
Arda Biomaterials
In August, London-based Arda Biomaterials and sustainable accessories brand Been London announced the launch of the first product from their partnership: a snakeskin handbag crafted from brewers’ spent grain, sourced from London’s “Beer Mile” in Bermondsey. This first-of-its-kind purse—a version of Been’s Millais bag—marks the debut use of Arda’s leather-like material, New Grain, in an external product. New Grain is made from spent grain, a byproduct of the beer brewing and whiskey distilling industries. By leveraging a “globally abundant” source of plant proteins, the material innovation firm can replace plastics and mimic the structure of leather’s primary protein, collagen, while working closely with breweries to offer a “truly scalable material” across industries.
Kintra Fibers
In November, Paradise Textiles, the material science hub of Alpine Group, teamed with Kintra Fibers to produce the first garment using the materials science company’s proprietary bio-synthetic material. The resulting jacket served as a proof-of-concept milestone following a successful pilot project between the two companies last year.
Phase III: Collaborations & Collections
These material innovators made capsule collections or entered strategic partnerships with their material innovations.
Ganni
In February, Ganni gave another one of its signature products an eco-conscious upgrade. Lenzing and Recyc Leather teamed to debut Pélinova, a hybrid alternative combining Tencel lyocell fibers and recycled leather fibers for high-end fashion applications. Starting in early 2024, Ganni was to bring the next-generation material to market as a substitute for genuine leather, showcasing the alternative in the Danish brand’s iconic Slouchy Boots.
Prada
In April, Prada dropped a purse made from recycled ocean plastic. The Re-Edition 1978 joins the Italian luxury house’s army of archival silhouettes rethought in Re-Nylon, the group’s regenerated nylon made from recycled ocean plastic.
Pyratex
In April, Vezavena and Pyratex collaborated to develop knitwear made with blends of seaweed-based fiber, organic cotton and extra fine merino wool for a capsule collection. The companies, both based in Madrid, combined craftsmanship and tradition with natural performance and innovation, managed locally through a certified production chain—making Vezavena the first womenswear brand to bring to market knitwear made with these natural fibers. At the same time, Vezavena launched a new Cut & Sew collection of circular knits using Pyratex jersey fabrics made from seaweed-based and vegetal fibers. This collaboration marked the first development of Pyratex Knitwear Lab, which “offers a comprehensive, 360-degree service” utilizing the material innovator’s expertise in R&D and knitwear, from prototype development to final production.
Von Holzhausen
In July, Von Holzhausen’s Banbū became available on the emblematic Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman by Herman Miller—marking the first time in 68 years that the midcentury modern furniture designer has offered a plant-based upholstery option.
Melina Bucher
In August, German luxury startup Melina Bucher debuted its first completely biobased and plastic-free bag, the Dreamer. To create a “holistically better” product, Melina Bucher spent the last few years doing in-depth research and development, including in EU-funded projects and working together with material innovators worldwide. This included collaborating with Natural Fiber Welding, as Melina Bucher was allegedly the first to use its biobased Mirum material in a handbag in 2022. The result of the past five years of this collaborative work is the Dreamer, which uses BioPuff Original—a next-generation insulation made by Ponda—as filling material. Unlike conventional feather fillers, BioPuff Original is made by extracting fibers from the Typha plant, regenerating wetland ecosystems, sequestering carbon and enhancing biodiversity.
Spiber x Burberry
In October, Burberry dropped a Brewed Protein-based scarf—solidifying itself as the first luxury player to develop new products with Spiber’s next-gen fiber. The British label teamed with the Japanese biomanufacturing startup on the B Shield, a blended scarf woven in Italy. Comprised of 62 percent wool, 30 percent Brewed Protein and 8 percent cashmere, the accessory is inspired by Burberry’s “long-standing” commitment to sustainability.
Beyond Leather Materials x Takt
In October, a strategic partnership was formed by Danish furniture brand Takt and Beyond Leather Materials—the creators of the apple waste-based leather alternative, Leap. The two Scandinavian brands released animal-free upholstery options for eight of Takt’s chair designs, including the best-selling Cross Chair.
Pangaia x NFW
In October, Pangaia debuted the Gaia Bag, a minimal tote made entirely from Mirum, NFW’s biobased, plastic-free, animal-free leather alternative. The launch of the Gaia also introduced Mirum, which was backed by climate-beneficial cotton for the first time.
Modern Meadow x Esbeco
In October, Modern Meadow partnered with leather leader Esbeco, who will be a buyer for the New Jersey-based firm’s Bio-Vera sustainable alternative material. Esbeco will import the next-gen material as a finished product, made to its specifications, before further customizing the material and distributing it to its affiliated companies.
