Could future fashion be grown in a lab?

To eliminate supply chain risks related to human rights, animal welfare, and biodiversity loss, companies around the world have been developing cleaner sources for raw materials.

In recent years, most attempts to make the fashion production process more environmentally friendly have fallen short.

One that hasn’t, however, is the development of lab-grown biomaterials as an alternative to woven textiles, which poses a viable solution to correcting the industry’s shameful track record regarding ethical and ecological responsibility, all while satiating our voracious appetite for new garms.

But what even are biomaterials? And how are they any better than fabrics derived directly from the Earth?

The basic idea is that clothes are chemically engineered, rather than sewn, cultivated in huge vats under precise conditions — think silk spun from sugar, fur made from keratin, and petri-dish leather.

It’s experimental science that’s still being refined, but if it succeeds at scale, it will significantly…