No Ordinary Cloth: Intersection of textiles, emerging technology, craft and sustainability - 🌱 Ep 15. Brewing Beer for Bio-Leather with Brett Cotten (x Fashion District)

🌱 Ep 15. Brewing Beer for Bio-Leather with Brett Cotten (x Fashion District)

09/10/24 • 54 min

No Ordinary Cloth: Intersection of textiles, emerging technology, craft and sustainability

Special episode: No Ordinary Cloth x Fashion District

In this episode of the 'No Ordinary Cloth Podcast', we have Brett Cotten, co-founder of Arda Biomaterials, in discussion about their innovative leather alternative, New Grain made from the spent grain waste from breweries. Brett shares the establishment journey of Arda, from its founding in 2022, its recognition among Forbes 30 Under 30 and H&M's Global Change Award, to entering the competitive market with a sustainable solution.

He elaborates on his motivations for starting Arda, his educational background, and the concept of turning pain points into purposes, as described in his book 'Gene Trepeneur'.

The conversation extends to the complex challenges faced in the traditional leather industry, the innovative process behind New Grain, collaborative efforts with breweries, and insights from various accelerator programs.

Key highlights include:

Turning a pain point into purpose and highlights from his book Gene-trepreneur
The animal and plastic leather industry’s impact on the environment
New grain technology and process to turn spent grain into bio-leather
Challenges of material durability, scaling production of biomaterials, and the promising future of biomaterials in replacing conventional leather and beyond
Investor relations and challenges
Arda’s future material roadmap

Grab a cold beer, or your favourite drink, and get comfortable to learn all about taking waste from the craft beer industry and making it into gorgeous leather.

This is the third in a series of 6 episodes in collaboration with Fashion District, who are creating a hub for fashion innovation in east London. They connect fashion, technology, business and education to provide an ecosystem of support for fashion and textile startups that includes innovation networks, affordable space, business support and investment.

Accelerator resources: Entrepreneur First I Tech Nation I Carbon13 I Creative Destruction Lab

Connect with Arda Biomaterials: Website I Linkedin I Instagram

Book: Gene-treprenuer: Cultivating an Entrepreneurial Mindset in STEM to Impact Sutainaibility

Connect with Fashion District: Website I Instagram

Connect with Mili Tharakan: Website I Linkedin I Instagram I Buy me a coffee

Email: [email protected]

Podcast survey

Cover art: Photo by Siora, Photography on Unsplash

Music: Inspired Ambient, Orchestraman

Special episode: No Ordinary Cloth x Fashion District

He elaborates on his motivations for starting Arda, his educational background, and the concept of turning pain points into purposes, as described in his book 'Gene Trepeneur'.

Key highlights include:

Turning a pain point into purpose and highlights from his book Gene-trepreneur
The animal and plastic leather industry’s impact on the environment
New grain technology and process to turn spent grain into bio-leather
Challenges of material durability, scaling production of biomaterials, and the promising future of biomaterials in replacing conventional leather and beyond
Investor relations and challenges
Arda’s future material roadmap

Grab a cold beer, or your favourite drink, and get comfortable to learn all about taking waste from the craft beer industry and making it into gorgeous leather.

Accelerator resources: Entrepreneur First I Tech Nation I Carbon13 I Creative Destruction Lab

Connect with Arda Biomaterials: Website I Linkedin I Instagram

Book: Gene-treprenuer: Cultivating an Entrepreneurial Mindset in STEM to Impact Sutainaibility

Connect with Fashion District: Website I Instagram

Connect with Mili Tharakan: Website I Linkedin I Instagram I Buy me a coffee

Email: [email protected]

Podcast survey

Cover art: Photo by Siora, Photography on Unsplash

Music: Inspired Ambient, Orchestraman

Previous Episode

🌱 Ep 14. Farm to Fibre: Spinning Yarn from Potatoes (x Fashion District)

Special episode: No Ordinary Cloth x Fashion District

In this episode of the No Ordinary Cloth podcast, we chat with David Prior Hope (CTO) and Idan Gal-Shohet (CEO), founders of Fibe, a pioneering company converting potato harvest waste into sustainable cotton-like textile fibres.

Fibe was born out of a final year Masters project at Imperial College, London, aiming to turn agricultural waste into usable materials. Their innovative approach focuses on creating fibres from potato stems, which mimic cotton's feel and function while being more sustainable and cost-effective.

Here, they share about collaborating with agricultural institutes and industry giants like Grimme and McCain, to build a promising startup in just two years that has secured funding from the likes of Patagonia’s Tin Shed Ventures, emphasising their impactful vision to develop a solution that can truly impact the textile industry. They enthusiastically share about their feedstock agnostic technology and the power of storytelling in building a startup.

It wasn't an easy journey, they reflect on their early days working out of a shipping container and how thrilled they were to get just GBP3000 to get their university project off the ground.

The conversation is inspiring and reflects their ambitions for the company to scale up by 2027, and integrate their fibres into existing textile manufacturing processes seamlessly. David and Idan encourage brands and stakeholders to support early-stage innovations, highlighting the transformative potential of such collaborations.

Listen to them share about how they overcame challenges faced in finding funding to continue their R&D and scale their technology, their partnerships with potato farmers and fashion brands, the secret powers of being a student and how they manage a work-life balance while building an early stage startup.

Fibe is the winner of the Fashion District Manufacturing Futures Award for Innovation in 2024.

Get ready to gain a whole new level of respect for potatoes after this episode!

This is the second in a series of 6 episodes in collaboration with Fashion District, who are creating a hub for fashion innovation in east London. They connect fashion, technology, business and education to provide an ecosystem of support for fashion and textile startups that includes innovation networks, affordable space, business support and investment.

Connect with Fibe: website I Instagram I Linkedin

Connect with Fashion District: website I Instagram

Connect with Mili Tharakan: website I Instagram I Linkedin I Buy me a coffee

[email protected]

Podcast survey link

Cover art: Photo by Siora, Photography on Unsplash

Music: Inspired Ambient, Orchestraman

Next Episode

Ep 16. A Catalyst Shaping the Future of Sustainable and Ethical Fabric with Nina Marenzi and Amanda Johnston

In this episode of No Ordinary Cloth, I sit down with Nina and Amanda, the brilliant minds behind the Future Fabrics Expo, to dive deep into how they’re revolutionising the textile and fashion industries through an expo that drives sustainability and innovation. The Future Fabrics Expo has become a key platform in the industry, showcasing thousands of sustainable materials and driving discussions around environmental responsibility, circularity, and collaboration across disciplines to drive the change we want to see in the Fashion and Textile industry.

We explore the growing need for materials that have a positive impact on both the planet and the people working in the supply chain, and discuss how interdisciplinary collaboration is essential to scaling these innovations. Additionally, we take a hard look at the issue of overproduction and how brands need to rethink their business models to prioritise circularity and reduce waste.

Whether you’re a designer, innovator, or sustainability advocate, this episode is packed with insights about the future of sustainable fabrics and why the Future Fabrics Expo is a must-attend event for anyone in the fashion, textile, home and interiors industry.

Key Takeaways:

The Future Fabrics Expo is not just about showcasing eco-friendly materials—it’s about finding materials that have a net-positive impact on the environment and communities.
Cross-industry collaboration is vital for the future of fashion. Partnerships between designers, scientists, and manufacturers are driving textile innovations forward.
The fashion industry must address overproduction and overconsumption by adopting circular business models and focusing on sustainable growth.

Highlights:

The origins of the Future Fabrics Expo and how it grew into one of the most anticipated events in the sustainable fashion calendar.
Why materials with regenerative qualities are crucial for the future of the textile industry.
The role of collaboration between fashion designers, material scientists, and sustainability experts in creating scalable solutions.
The challenges and opportunities that come with shifting toward more sustainable practices in fashion, including circularity and on-demand manufacturing.
A preview of what to expect at the Future Fabrics Expo in New York, happening on November 19th and 20th, 2024.
Hear from attendees and exhibitors about their experience at the Future Fabrics Expo London 2024

Join me on my journey to craft the future of this podcast. I would love to hear your feedback and ideas for the podcast. Get in touch with me here: Contact me

The Sustainable Angle: Website I Linkedin I Instagram

Future Fabrics Expo NYC Edition, November 19 - 20th, 2024. Register here

Seminar Series 2024: Listen here

No Ordinary Cloth: Website I Linkedin I Instagram I Buy me a coffee

Cover art: Photo by Siora, Photography on Unsplash

Music: Inspired Ambient, Orchestraman