Mercedes-Benz releases the first electric car with vegan interiors that use leather replicas without animal products or fibers. Brought to CES 2026 in Las Vegas, which runs between January 6th and 9th, the car manufacturer’s GLC model is dubbed the first vehicle with vegan fittings in the cabin. At the center of this design is a material called ARTICO, which looks and feels like leather, but it is made without animal products. Mercedes-Benz uses it for seat upholstery, steering wheel covers, and other surfaces people touch often. Alongside this, the company also uses certified vegan textiles and microfiber materials for door trims, pillars, headliners, and carpets.

The textiles used in seats, door trim, pillars, headliners, and other interior areas are fabric materials made without animal fibers, while the microfiber fleece is a synthetic fiber material, which replaces animal-based suede or leather and is used for soft interior surfaces. The textile-based floor and boot carpets are made without wool or other animal-derived fibers and mixed with recycled content. Some interior parts inside the vegan electric car of Mercedes-Benz use synthetic polymers instead of animal-based binders, coatings, or additives, and during production, there are no animal-based glues, dyes, coatings, or processing agents used, says the company.

all images courtesy of Mercedes-Benz

GLC vehicle earns trademark with new biomaterials

For the vegan interiors inside the GLC electric car, Mercedes-Benz worked with The Vegan Society, a globally recognized independent organization. The group tested and audited all the soft-touch materials used in the interiors of the vehicle, including checking the final materials and how they were made. The result is certification under the well-known Vegan Trademark, which is set to appear in the car manufacturer’s vehicle configurator when customers select the Vegan Package for the new GLC. Mercedes-Benz and The Vegan Society reviewed existing interior materials already used in the company’s series of vehicles to see if they contained any animal-based ingredients, even in small amounts like additives, coatings, or processing aids. 

If any material showed signs of animal origin, engineers and suppliers worked together to redesign it. After these changes, The Vegan Society conducted a full independent audit. Around 100 different material components from multiple suppliers were reviewed, and to earn the Vegan Trademark, materials had to meet several conditions. They could and should not contain animal products, by-products, or derivatives, as well as not involve animal testing. And manufacturers had to prevent cross-contamination with animal-derived ingredients as much as practically possible. With the new GLC electric car with EQ Technology, Mercedes-Benz is dubbed the first manufacturer to offer a vehicle interior certified with The Vegan Society’s Vegan Trademark. So far, the current vegan interiors for Mercedes-Benz’s GLC electric car are set to be available to the US clients starting the second half of 2026.

Mercedes-Benz releases the first electric car with vegan interiors that use leather replicas

at the center of this design is a material called ARTICO, which looks and feels like leather

the textiles used in door trim, pillars, and headliners are fabric materials made without animal fibers

GLC is the car model offered with vegan interior options

project info:

model: GLC

car manufacturer: Mercedes-Benz | @mercedesbenz

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Heliograf and Vert Design create Holy Carp!, a plastic-free soy sauce fish dropper that decomposes in weeks instead of years. In normal conditions, it can break down in soil in around four to six weeks, since it is made from bagasse, the fibrous by-product of sugar production, and other plant fibers that readily decompose. The soy sauce fish dropper can hold up the liquid only for up to 48 hours because it is not meant to stay in the environment but to go back to its roots and fertilize plants. The dropper is shaped like a fish to give a familiar feeling for the user, and customers can lightly squeeze the container, preferably in the middle part, to release the soy sauce.

One important difference that the design team wants to highlight is that these new soy sauce fish droppers are not filled in a factory. They are filled with soy inside the restaurant, making the sauce fresh. The restaurant can also choose different sauces, not only soy, and because of the small hole just below the fish’s eye, the customers are able to control the flow of the liquid sauce coming out of the container. The Holy Carp! container is also bigger than the normal plastic one, and this is intentional because customers tend to take more than one plastic fish, even if one is enough. A bigger container, which can hold more liquid, can avoid this behavior, allowing for less waste created.

all images courtesy of Heliograf

Feedback from restaurants shape the design of the container

Studios Heliograf and Vert Design collaborated with sushi restaurants during the design process, which gave feedback on size, storage, filling, sealing, and speed of service for the final look of the soy sauce fish dropper. The production material choice comes from the designers’ earlier experience, where they used bagasse pulp for packaging, so they already understood how to shape and form it. The design team says they ‘looked outside the box’ for years but realized that solving the problem is by looking inside the box. 

Several restaurants have used small plastic fish containers for soy sauce that are used for a few minutes and then thrown away, contributing to the growing plastic waste every year. They stay in the environment for years and can break into microplastics. Marine animals can then eat them, and they can return to us through food. Holy Carp! hopes to replace these with a plastic-free container that works in the same way but without the long-term problem.

the design doubles as a container for other sauces

restaurants can fill the container with fresh soy sauce

the container can hold the liquid for up to 48 hours

restaurants can give out stickers to prevent leakage

customers can control the flow of the sauce coming out of the dropper

view of the plastic-free container

the container is bigger than the usual plastic dropper

the single-use plastic dropper contributes to the growing waste every year

different sizes and designs of plastic droppers

the plastic-free container can decompose in four to six weeks

project info:

name: Holy Carp!

design: Heliograf, Vert Design | @heliograf.design, @vertdesignstudio

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Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science in Japan develop a plant-based plastic that dissolves in water in just a few hours without leaving any residue. The current study builds on the team’s previous research, where they made a recyclable plastic that could melt in the salt water within hours. This time, the new version moves closer to manufacturing. The researchers present the plant-based plastic that dissolves based on cellulose, which is typically found in greenery and is produced in large quantities every year.

For the current model, the team adopts carboxymethyl cellulose, a polymer that comes from wood pulp and is already approved for food and medical use. The challenge is to find a second component that can connect with it in a controlled way, and after testing different options, the researchers use a compound based on guanidinium ions, which carry a positive charge. When the cellulose and guanidinium compound are mixed in water at room temperature, their opposite charges pull them together, and the same connections that hold the material together can also come apart in salt water, allowing the plant-based plastic to dissolve over time when it enters the ocean.

all images courtesy of RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science

Stretchable, biodegradable container melts in water over time

Early samples of the plant-based plastic that can dissolve show an issue. The cellulose that the research team added made the plastic too rigid, so the material behaved more like glass than packaging. To change this, the team looked for a plasticizer, which is a small molecule mixed to adjust movement inside a material. After many tests, they used choline chloride, a compound already approved as a food additive, and by changing its amount, the team was able to control how the plastic behaves. With one ratio, the plastic holds shape. With another, it stretches to more than its original length. The same system can also form a thin film, which means that the plant-based plastic that dissolves can also match different product sizes and needs using the same base recipe.

The researchers are able to keep the material’s transparency, just like the current plastic offered these days, and it can be processed using standard methods and supports recycling, so it can be reused a few more times. Because the ingredients are common and approved, the path to real-world use is shorter than for many experimental plastics. While the earlier work focused on proof of concept, this new stage is about use, showcasing that the cellulose material from plants and wood pulp can help create a modern container that doesn’t leave pollution in the sea. The research doesn’t promise to replace all plastics, but it shows one path forward: that is, by redesigning material structure at the molecular level, it becomes possible to reduce long-term pollution.

the test video shows that the plant-based plastic dissolves in a couple of hours

the container is made of cellulose, which is found in plants

previously, the researchers developed a recyclable plastic that melted in seawater

there’s a process named ‘desalting’ that helps the recyclable plastic melt

project info:

name: Supramolecular Ionic Polymerization: Cellulose-Based Supramolecular Plastics with Broadly Tunable Mechanical Properties

institution: RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS) 

researchers: Zhenghong Chen, Yang Hong, Hiroyuki Inuzuka, Kiichi Mizukami, Takuzo Aida

study: here

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At Design Miami’s 20th edition, Paris-based architects and designers Berenice Curt and Caroline Duncan introduce the first chapter of Scenarii Édition, a new curatorial line extending their ongoing investigations within Berenice Curt Architecture. Presented in collaboration with The Spaceless Gallery, the debut features two pieces, the Tripodal chair and the Torii table. Both works rely on hand-polished stainless-steel frameworks, setting the stage for material experiments ranging from reclaimed wood to mycelium-grown textiles.

Scenarii Édition positions collectible design as a site for rethinking material life cycles. The studio’s method is grounded in the belief that leftover, irregular, or undervalued materials carry narrative weight. Throughout the debut collection, stainless steel becomes a stabilizing armature that welcomes evolving surface treatments, wood, stone, biomaterials, each chosen for its imperfections rather than despite them. This perspective, the designers note, transforms fragments into protagonists, allowing form to emerge through processes of elevation rather than erasure.

Torii table and tripodal arm chair | all images courtesy of Berenice Curt and Caroline Duncan

the tripodal chair: biomaterial meets hand-woven craft

The Tripodal chair, also available as an armchair, anchors its identity in a converging three-leg geometry, a polished stainless-steel structure conceived as a host for multiple future upholsteries and textures. For the special Design Miami edition with The Spaceless Gallery, Curt & Duncan pair the frame with Reishi, a mycelium-grown material developed by MycoWorks. 

This iterative, manual process sets up a dialogue between technological innovation and human gesture. The biomaterial’s softness contrasts with the precision of the steel, while the woven pattern reveals the value embedded in what would typically be discarded. In its Design Miami form, the Tripodal chair becomes an emblem for Scenarii Édition’s ethos. It’s sculptural yet adaptable, engineered yet mutable, and grounded in a belief that responsible fabrication can generate new aesthetic languages.

both works rely on hand polished stainless-steel frameworks

the torii table: reclaimed wood and polished steel

If the chair articulates the line’s material openness, the Torii table establishes its spatial vocabulary. Originally conceived around the reuse of marble fragments, the piece evolves at Design Miami into a composition combining a reflective stainless-steel frame with the warmth of walnut. The tabletop is constructed from reassembled slats cut from collected offcuts, forming a linear grain that reads as both pattern and process, the repetition of remnants producing a new visual continuity.

Cross-shaped legs give the table structural stability and sculptural clarity. Meanwhile, the polished steel captures ambient light, refracting it across the table’s surface and subtly animating its presence in space. Produced in a limited series, each Torii table bears the distinct signatures of its materials, reinforcing the edition’s attention to resource awareness and artisanal precision.

Torii table in ouro negro marble and polished stainless steel

combining a reflective stainless-steel frame with the warmth of walnut

Tripodal armchair in woven reishi mycelium leather

manual process sets up a dialogue between technological innovation and human gesture

Tripodal armchair in light grey suede leather

the Tripodal chair becomes an emblem for Scenarii Édition’s ethos.

sculptural yet adaptable

grounded in a belief that responsible fabrication can generate new aesthetic languages

a host for multiple future upholsteries and textures

project info:

name: Scenarii Edition | @scenarii_edition Tripodal chair and Torii table
designer: Berenice Curt & Caroline Duncan | @berenicecurt_architecte

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: thomai tsimpou | designboom

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No more washing as Peelware introduces its peelable layers of paper plates that break down without additional waste as single-use dishware. The goal of the project is to reduce waste from normal disposable plates and to offer a plate that can be used many times before it is thrown away. The design team created a plate with several thin paper layers that can be peeled one by one, removing the need to wash plates and reducing the number of plates that must be thrown away after meals. Each plate includes 20 layers in total, with the bottom five layers staying together and forming the base of the plate. The top fifteen layers are made to be peeled off, so when a person finishes eating, they pull the surface away and under it reveals another clean layer for them to eat on.

Peelware’s peelable paper plates are made from natural materials, such as wood pulp and sugarcane bagasse. These materials come from plants, and both can break down in the environment. The plates do not use plastic, glue, dyes, coatings, or chemical treatments, and the surface of each plate uses a plant-based waterproof layer so users can put liquid and sauces on it without tearing the disposable dishware apart. This coating is safe for food contact and prevents liquids from soaking into the paper. Because the plates use only plant fibers and a plant-based coating, every layer is biodegradable and compostable, and after use, each peeled layer can go into compost facilities or regular waste, making Peelware’s peelable paper plates easier to recycle than other conventional plates.

all images courtesy of Peelware

Stacks of paper pressed and shaped with heat and pressure

The way Peelware’s peelable paper plates are made is a design highlight. The material is pressed and shaped with heat and pressure instead of glues or other chemical bonds, and the thin paper sheets are stacked, aligned, and compressed to create multiple layers that remain stable during use. It is the fibers in the paper that bind the materials during the compression stage, allowing each plate to separate cleanly when a layer is peeled. The use of natural and plant materials has other benefits in producing Peelware’s peelable paper plates. 

Since the team focuses on repeated use, the five base layers can support meals such as cooked dishes, liquids, and sauces, and the plate can go into the microwave for short heating. One Peel Plate replaces 15 single-use plates, so a person or family needs fewer plates per week or per month. For example, a pack of 10 Peel Plates offers 150 uses, and a yearly supply of plates uses far less material than the same amount of single-use plates. Peelware is expanding the design of its peelable paper plates into other products by developing peelable bowls, cups, and containers. These products use the same idea: multiple layers that can be peeled to give a clean surface. So far, only the peelable paper plates are available, with Peelware expecting the full collection release by 2026.

Peelware introduces its peelable layers of paper plates that break down without additional waste

the goal of the project is to reduce waste from normal disposable plates

each plate includes 20 layers in total, with the bottom five layers forming the base of the plate

a pack of 10 Peel Plates offers 150 uses

Peelware plans to release its full collection by 2026

project info:

name: Peel Plate

brand: Peelware | @peelware

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Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) experiment with using living bacteria that grow, weave, and dye their own fabrics in every color of the rainbow. The team’s idea is to replace chemical-based textile production with a natural process that uses microbes instead of oil, plastic, or artificial dyes. In doing so, they have shown how living bacteria can create bacterial cellulose, a material that can be used as fabric, and how the same bacteria can also color it without the use of synthetic dyes. The base material used in the method then is bacterial cellulose, which is a fibrous network made by bacteria during fermentation.  

It is produced when certain microbes grow in a nutrient-rich liquid and spin out long cellulose fibers. This material can also be harvested, cleaned, and dried to make a flexible sheet that can work like fabric. The researchers use a bacterium called Komagataeibacter xylinus, also known for producing cellulose. To add color, they use another group of bacteria that naturally make pigments that belong to two pigment families: violaceins and carotenoids. The former create colors from green to purple, while the latter create colors from red to yellow.

image courtesy of 祝 鹤槐, via Pexels

Textiles from bacterial cellulose come out in rainbow colors

At the beginning of the study, the researchers at KAIST tried to grow the two types of living bacteria for their fabrics that can grow and dye themselves together in the same container, but the process failed. The color-producing bacteria and the cellulose-producing bacteria interfered with each other’s growth. Sometimes, the cellulose layer did not form properly. Other times, the bacteria made very little color. To solve this, they changed the process into two different systems. For the cool colors such as blue, purple, and green, they used a delayed co-culture method, which means letting the cellulose-producing bacteria grow and form their network. Then, they added the color-producing living bacteria later, after the cellulose had already started forming for the fabrics that can dye themselves. 

This timing allowed both types of bacteria to grow without stopping each other’s activity. For the warm colors such as red, orange, and yellow, they used a sequential culture method. In this case, the cellulose was grown first, removed from the liquid, and cleaned. After that, it was placed into a separate container that held the pigment-producing bacteria (the cellulose absorbed the natural color from these microbes). Using these two methods, the team created fabrics of bacterial cellulose with dyes in purple, navy, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red from the living bacteria. These sheets can be used as a form of fabric. The process allows the rainbow colors to be built into the material itself, without the need for separate dyeing or chemical treatment.

image courtesy of Eva Bronzini, via Pexels

The process can reduce waste and water pollution

After producing the fabrics with dyes from living bacteria, the researchers tested how stable the colors were. They washed, bleached, and heated the materials as well as exposed them to acid and alkaline conditions, and they found out that most of the colors stayed the same after these tests. The fabrics made with violacein pigments were especially durable, even more resistant to washing than some synthetic dyes. Each piece of fabric with dye is created in a lab container, with the living bacteria growing in liquid culture, forming cellulose as they feed on nutrients. 

The cellulose can be harvested in sheets and then air-dried (the entire process uses living organisms instead of industrial machinery or chemical dye baths). The project, then, shows how materials can be produced using biology instead of petrochemicals. The process removes the need for harmful chemicals and can reduce waste and water pollution. However, it is still in the research stage, and the production speed is slower than in normal textile factories, and the cost is higher. The researchers estimate that it will take at least five years before this kind of material can be produced on a large scale, but they are hopeful that the design is a new process that could make textile production safer and less damaging to the environment.

image courtesy of the researchers at KAIST

image courtesy of Bernd Dittrich, via Unsplash

image courtesy of Moonstarious Project, via Unsplash

project info:

name: One-pot production of colored bacterial cellulose

institution: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) | @official_kaist

researchers: Hengrui Zhou, Pingxin Lin, Ki Jun Jeong, Sang Yup Lee

study: here

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Footwear brand Chupps creates a biodegradable billboard shaped like a sandal that is designed to disappear and dissolve in the rain. Made from natural materials, the project was installed at Bandra Bandstand in Mumbai, India, and had long disintegrated when it rained during the monsoon season. Chupp’s sandal-shaped biodegradable billboard came to life by combining mud, hay, bamboo, cow dung, and clay. The mixture was built onto several bamboo frames, which held the display for as long as it could. Over time, it broke down naturally and with the rain.

The main visual element was a large three-dimensional sandal sculpted out of mud and clay. The word CHUPPS was marked across it in white lettering, and this shoe form was integrated directly into the billboard’s flat surface, making it appear as part of the structure. The design mirrored the company’s actual product, which is simple footwear made from eco-friendly materials. Passersby were able to see the billboard disappear in front of their eyes in real time, leaving the two bamboo pillars and lattice structure with the remnants of the biomaterials used to create the stunt.

all images courtesy of Chupps and INTO Creative Agency

Footwear designs naturally break down within 24 months

The goal of Chupps is to show how its footwear designs face their lives. The company produces biodegradable footwear, so its shoes naturally break down within 24 months after being discarded. To reinforce this message, Chupps collaborated with the agency INTO Creative and built the biodegradable billboard shaped like a sandal that shared the same qualities as what they’re offering: materials that disappear over time. Below the display, there was a text written: ‘100% biodegradable. Just like this billboard.’ It was the direct link between the brand’s footwear and what they wanted to convey. The project also focuses on material science and natural processes. 

During the dry months, Chupps’ sandal-shaped biodegradable billboard remained stable, but once the monsoon rains arrived on October 16th, 2025, the mud began to soften and fall away, starting from the edges and top surfaces. Over time, the shape of the sandal and the billboard background slowly disintegrated, completing the intended life cycle. The campaign carried a message about responsible design, that even advertising can be made to fit within natural cycles. Instead of remaining as waste, the billboard returned to the soil, leaving no permanent trace.

the display came to life by combining mud, hay, bamboo, cow dung, and clay

the mixture was built onto several bamboo frames, which held the display for as long as it could

below the display, there was a text written: ‘100% biodegradable. Just like this billboard’

over time, it broke down naturally and with the rain

the project was installed at Bandra Bandstand in Mumbai, India

view of building the display before it disappeared in the rain

project info:

brand: Chupps | @chuppslife

agency: INTO Creative | @into.creative.agency

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Odette Dierkx transforms waste-eating mushrooms that eat plastic into a powdered ingredient to make chocolate protein bars. Named Plastik Protein, the edible waste-eating product starts its process with mycoremediation, a biological method where fungi digest harmful materials and eat plastic waste such as PET bottles, polyurethane foam, and LDPE plastic bags. They then grow by using plastic as their food source, and during this stage, the mycelium breaks the plastic into smaller, harmless organic compounds. 

Once the plastic is fully digested, the clean mycelium remains, which is then collected, dried, and turned into a protein-rich powder. The dried material contains amino acids, fiber, and nutrients that can be used as food ingredients. The protein powder is later formed into the edible chocolate Plastik Protein Bar, made from the mycelium of the mushrooms that once consumed a specific type of plastic. The concept project by Odette Dierkx trails behind the fungi-made prosthetic organ that extracts and breaks down microplastics inside human bodies.

all images courtesy of Odette Dierkx

fungi convert plastic molecules into carbon-based compounds

The concept product and project uses several species of mushrooms, each matched with a type of plastic: the Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) digests PET plastic, often found in bottles and packaging; the Turkey Tail Mushroom (Trametes versicolor) eats LDPE plastic, commonly used in grocery bags; and the Split Gill Mushroom (Schizophyllum commune) dissolves PUR plastic, used in foams and coatings. These fungi convert plastic molecules into simple carbon-based compounds. After decomposition, they leave no toxic waste behind, and the result is clean, organic matter suitable for cultivation and food production. The chocolate Plastik Protein Bar made from plastic-eating mushrooms is designed as a functional food product. 

Each bar is made from processed mycelium powder mixed with natural flavoring, such as cocoa, nuts, or fruit extract, and its texture is dense and protein-rich, designed to provide energy and nutrients. The bar contains no remaining traces of plastic because the fungi completely digest the material before harvest. The designer’s foundation for the project stems from findings of the Yale University students back in 2011. In their study, they documented how they found out that a fungus called Pestalotiopsis microspora, discovered in the Amazon rainforest, could digest polyurethane plastic even without oxygen using the process known as mycoremediation. From here, Odette Dierkx expands the research by turning the biomaterial into a multipurpose and edible project.

this bar has split gill mushroom, which degrade PUR plastic such as synthetic kitchen sponges

this bar contains oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus), which digest PET plastic such as plastic bottles

the edible waste-eating product starts its process with mycoremediation

the pattern on each bar is inspired by the organic lines found on each mushroom

the concept product and project uses several species of mushrooms

each bar is made from processed mycelium powder mixed with natural flavoring

even the wrapper is made of the plastic-eating mushrooms

the bar contains no remaining traces of plastic because the fungi completely digest the material

the fungi convert plastic molecules into simple carbon-based compounds

so far, the project is a conceptual edible product

project info:

name: Plastik Protein

design: Odette Dierkx | @oddddesigns

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: Matthew Burgos | designboom

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Skincare within regenerative clothing defines Coperni’s C+, a series of everyday wear infused with probiotics and prebiotics. Capable of restoring the skin’s microbiome, each garment contains living microorganisms that interact with the skin during wear, support the skin’s natural balance and help it repair itself over time.

The C+ line includes a bodysuit, a top, and leggings, all of which are made using a biobased fabric that holds a special treatment called HeiQ Skin Care. This treatment was developed together with HeiQ, a textile technology company, by adding a mix of probiotics and prebiotics to the material. Probiotics are live microorganisms embedded into the regenerative C+ by Coperni, and prebiotics are nutrients that help those microorganisms grow.

all images courtesy of Coperni

Fabric that ‘releases’ microbiome for skin hydration

Inside each thread of the textile is a bio-based matrix, which acts as a storage layer for the probiotic and prebiotic ingredients. This layer protects the microorganisms until the clothing is worn. When the fabric touches the skin, body heat, friction, and movement start a slow process of release. The microorganisms transfer from the textile surface to the skin’s surface through this contact. This process supports the skin’s microbiome, the layer of natural bacteria that protects the skin from irritation and damage. The clothing also supports the wearer’s hydration and skin protection. When the microbiome is balanced, the skin keeps its natural moisture and stays protected from dryness. 

The contact between the C+ garments and the skin then activates this microbiome care system throughout the wear. The release process is gradual and invisible, and it starts as soon as the fabric touches the body. The brand says that each C+ piece is made from a light biobased textile to fit closely to the skin to make sure the contact is constant. The textile of the regenerative C+ by Coperni is also stretchable to allow for full movement without interrupting the infused probiotics and prebiotics. So far, the active ingredients remain effective for at least 40 washing cycles, and after that, the effect of the microorganisms is less than when the wearer first bought the outfits. 

the C+ line includes a bodysuit, a top, and leggings

probiotics are live microorganisms embedded into the regenerative C+ by Coperni

skincare within regenerative clothing defines Coperni’s C+

inside each thread of the textile is a bio-based matri

when the fabric touches the skin, body heat, friction, and movement start a slow process of release

the active ingredients remain effective for at least 40 washing cycles

project info:

name: C+

brand: Coperni | @coperni

textile: HeiQ | @heiqmaterials

The post coperni releases C+, a series of regenerative clothing infused with probiotics and prebiotics appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Polybion and Mexico-based design studio Natural Urbano have introduced Lapso, a sculptural lamp produced from cultivated bacterial cellulose. The project represents the first interior design application of Celium, Polybion’s premium biofabricated material. Each lamp is hand-crafted from five sheets of cellulose grown through bacterial fermentation. The process results in surfaces with subtle variations in tone, density, and texture, ensuring that no two pieces are identical. The design approach treats these natural differences as defining characteristics, establishing each lamp as a singular object.

The lamp was first presented at The Biofab Fair by Biofabricate during the London Design Festival in September 2025, where it was highlighted as an early example of bacterial cellulose applied in lighting design. Following its debut, Lapso became available to order directly through Natural Urbano, accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.

all images courtesy of Polybion and Natural Urbano

merging biology, design, and art into living light sculptures

The lighting piece is designed to interact with its environment. When illuminated, the translucent material reveals gradients and layered textures, creating variations in depth and opacity. When unlit, the form emphasizes its material qualities, shifting between presence and absence depending on context and time of day. Lapso is produced in two versions: Natural, with a warm hue reflecting the untreated cellulose, and Humo, a darker variant achieved through dyeing. Both editions emphasize the biological origin of the material while expanding its aesthetic range.

Development of the lamp spanned more than a year of collaborative work between biotechnology company Polybion and design studio Natural Urbano. The process included testing of thickness, stitching, edge detailing, and light diffusion. The final configuration incorporates a removable screen that balances translucency with durability, while also allowing for replacement and long-term maintenance. Lapso marks Polybion’s entry into interior design and illustrates the potential of biofabricated materials in contemporary product development. The lamp is made to order, with a lead time of approximately two months, and is available for worldwide shipping.

Lapso – a sculptural lamp made from cultivated bacterial cellulose

a design collaboration between Polybion and Natural Urbano

Lapso series introduces Celium to interior design applications

each lamp is hand-crafted from five cellulose sheets

surfaces show unique textures, tones, and densities

no two Lapso lamps are identical

natural variation is treated as a defining design feature

the project is recognized as an early use of bacterial cellulose in lighting

translucent cellulose reveals gradients when illuminated

material qualities are emphasized when unlit

the lamp shifts with context, distance, and time of day

Lapso introduces biofabricated materials into lighting design

Natural model highlights the warm tone of untreated cellulose

Humo model introduces a darker variation through dyeing

project info:

name: Lapso – Celium
designer: Polybion | @polybion × Natural Urbano | @natural_urbano

design team: Sebastián Beltrán, Lorena Márquez

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom

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