elissa brunato makes bio-iridescent sequins from wood as an alternative to plastic

in her material research and design project, bio iridescent sequin, elissa brunato has found a way to create colorful shimmering sequins using wood, which are compostable and made with a waste-free process. part of a wave of innovation that transforms biological elements into sustainable materials (think agricultural waste, mushrooms, or seeds), the london-based designer has developed an alternative to the harmful petroleum-based plastic sequin production, which currently dominates the fashion and textile industries. designboom had the chance to catch up with brunato during design indaba 2020, and discuss the benefits of cellulose as a sustainable alternative, its applications, and future potential. read the full interview below.

all images courtesy of elissa brunato

designboom (DB): can tell us a bit about your background and what you’ve done so far?

elissa brunato (EB): when I graduated from fashion design, I had this very specific idea that I wanted to gain experience within the industry. so I worked for about eight years within fashion, from production, to design development, and then I also specialized in embroidery, and from that I was able to travel to a lot of different factories around the world and see what was happening there. it was that exposure that not only allowed me to understand how beautiful sequins are and how they’re used within the industry, but also the environmental impact of the disjointed system they fit within. and so then I run back to the studios that I was working in at the time, and I just really felt like i couldn’t justify the design choices with these materials, after seeing everything. so I took time out from my career to then look at materials and specifically, the material landscape of the fashion industry and how this could be not only more sustainable, but just to keep that high aesthetic; that for me is the most important thing. I don’t want a sustainably-dyed top if it’s not as brightly colored as this. I really came from that aesthetic point of view.

DB: what is the environmental impact of common sequin production?

EB: there’s a lot of chemicals that create these optical finishes. so we have the material structure of sequins, which is usually PVC or a polyester or PET and they’re all based around petroleum. so there’s the resource that it’s coming from, which is finite or extremely slowly renewing, and it’s being used for such a frivolous material that then in every point is leaking into the environment. and they’re so small, they’re around an average of five millimeters, and also not biodegradable. they’re actually leaking into our environment and waterways, and fish are attracted to small particles, which are in the water, and they eat them and they ends up in our food chain. so considering the microplastic problem, that’s, I guess, the biggest reason why they’re bad for the environment, but it’s also the health of workers because they use PVC. there’s a lot of carcinogenic chemicals in that plastic and with the overexposure to them, they are getting them in their bodies.

DB: how do you go about your process of making something that is more sustainable?

EB: first of all, it was about understanding that production system and understanding where they’re ending up. that will tell you how to redesign a material if you need to. so, sequins can’t be recycled, it’s completely not feasible. so for me, it was about designing it in a way that fits within the biological system. I basically just look to nature, nature has shimmering objects – think of butterfly wings, or beetle wings, or scales – and it was like just saying, why aren’t we doing what nature is doing? so I used cellulose particularly because it is a fast-renewing resource. there’s no point doing it again with something that is like a metal or a mineral, which is precious and also not as fast-renewing. for me it had to be something that we could use in abundance. that’s the main point. that’s why cellulose, I think, is the most important part of the story. creating color through the structure, but using an abundant resource.elissa brunato in her lab

DB: so how do you use cellulose as an alternative? is it in a liquid form?

EB: there’s advantages of being able to have it as a liquid form. and then there’s a process that we put it through, and that allows us to be able to make a sequin through a waste-free process. sequins are usually cut out of large sheets of material, stamp-cut, and you get about 30% material wastage. with the sequins that I’m making, I’m making just the sequins and no material off-cuts. and that’s through a process where I am forming them in molds and the material is structuring in a way that the light refracts and we see this iridescent shimmer.

DB: have you applied them in any clothing or textiles so far?

EB: I wanted to show the project to the world as a sample, because I wanted people to be able to imagine what they could see out of it as a starting point. that would then open the conversation up to the different uses it could have, rather than close it to fashion. and, of course, I’d love to see it now going on a garment, that would be the ideal, but it has to be with someone in the industry that works together to make that happen. I’m not just going to make my own garment and stick them on there. it’s got to be part of a process where the designer of a company or whatever gets to input into why it’s used, how they design with it, and have this conversation with people in the industry about how to use it.

DB: do you think this technique can be applied to different materials, like glitter, which a lot of companies are banning right now because of how harmful it is?

EB: between glitter and a sequin, there is not much difference in science, and they’re not really made in any different way. the only thing is that the sequins have a small hole in the middle that allows you to stitch them, but you can also get spangles, which are the ones that are stuck onto fabric. but what’s happening with glitter is that you can find now biodegradable glitter, but that only replaces the core plastic part with a plant-based. the color is still coming from chemicals and the shimmer is still coming from aluminum, which is a resource that is causing health threats. so for me, it’s about trying to show the industry that there are options. shimmer is one of the hardest things to attain naturally without using a precious metal or a chemical.

DB: what are your plans for the future?

EB: I would love to be able to start engaging and this is the next year’s plan, to look at who I can actually engage within the industry to continue the conversation. I’m holding off just making these pieces myself and I really want to have a meaningful collaboration with a designer, whether it be footwear or interiors or a big fashion designer for a garment, and have them be part of the conversation to create these first magical pieces. you know, shimmering without chemicals. and then also to keep on researching, because I think the structure of color is absolutely fascinating. and I think the way that we dye textiles is really really polluting and the way that we also dye plastics, and our whole color landscape is using so many chemicals. so working with the structure of color really changes the design process and allows you to think about color as a structure of the material from the start, rather than adding it in the end.

DB: do you think that your process could potentially upscale in the future and replace the standard, harmful way of producing sequins?

EB: yes, it’s really new right now, so we’re only doing it at lab scale. it’s something that we would love to upscale but there’s challenges with that, that we have to address, but hopefully yes. the reason why I really went towards cellulose is it’s something that has the potential to upscale. it’s a material that can also come from waste. you can obtain it from your leftover orange skins, or vegetable skins, or denim. so there’s a potential to link it up with the surrounding waste stream to be able to then have a manufacturing system right next to that that works in harmony, and upscale in that way.

project info:

name: bio iridescent sequin

designer: elissa brunato

collaborators: tiffany abitbol (senior researcher, RISE research institutes of sweden) hjalmar granberg (scientific leader within biobased electronics, RISE research institutes of sweden)

mentor: claire bergkamp (worldwide sustainability & innovation director, stella mccartney)

Art, Design, design indaba 2020, Entertainment, Inspiration, interviews

Art, Design, design indaba 2020, Entertainment, Inspiration, interviews

Share this post