Eco Swatch Book
Issue 01. Fall 2022
Scoby Leather
1.Kombucha Clothing
Kombucha Clothing
Kombucha Clothing
Fashion student, Molly Ryan, has always designed with the planet in mind. During the Curtin University runway in Perth, I wasn’t the only person to do a double-take when it was announced that Molly’s entire collection, Fragments, was completely waste-free.

According to Molly, using SCOBY to achieve this waste-free mission was a no brainer. Though fabricating the material wasn’t as simple as using conventional fabrics. It involved a lot of trial and error.
Kombucha Clothing
Kombucha Clothing

Circular Design

Kombucha Clothing
Kombucha Clothing
Kombucha Clothing
“This (the lack of widespread SCOBY leather knowledge) lent itself to difficulties, but also successes,” says Molly. “I felt it was a totally organic learning and design process.” “After becoming inspired by Susan Lee’s (a pioneer in the field of bio cloth for clothing) project, I became fixated on growing the SCOBY ‘into’ fabric, especially damaged fabric, as a means of repair,”

“Which led me to my final concept of Bio Boro; the application of a SCOBY to fabric to mend, build and repair. Drawing inspiration from the traditional Japanese technique, BoroBoro, to be mended or patched together.”