Dress made of wine…no really

We love a science/tech/fashion mash-up…but would you wear a dress made of wine? Granted winey colours are in season every Autumn and it might be handy to have a wine dress that will seamlessly absorb unfortunate spillages of the classy tipple…but would you wear one knowing it has been created from a colony of wine-y bacteria?

Wine dress! (Pic Stylist)

Clever researchers at the University of Western Australia have worked out how to make garments made from wine by tapping into its natural fermentation process, according to Stylist magazine. Apparently they do this by using a colony of ‘Acetobacter’ bacteria (the type that annoyingly turn wine into vinegar) to make ‘micro fibrils of cellulose,’ which closely resemble the fibres in your cotton t-shirts (only ickier).

And good news for beer guzzlers too. The ‘Micro’be’ fabric can now be made from fermented white wine, beer and Guinness. We can’t wait for Mohito miniskirts or tequila trousers 😉

And it appears that this is a bit of a micro (or microbe) trend. Fashion designer Suzanne Lee is also growing her own stylish clothes including a very on-trend bio-bomber!

Bio Bomber! (Pic: BBC)

Susanne told the Beeb that she can grow a material that is like ‘vegetable leather’ from green tea, yeast, sugar and yes, bacteria. Miraculously it only takes a fortnight to grow and can then be moulded into shape. It has extra green credentials too as it is only wearable for 5 years, before going crispy when it can be composted. And as the ‘material’ is cheap to make, it could mean that we will be able to replace items of clothing relatively regularly without the guilt of dumping them in landfill.