Article

Clothing and Textiles

Research Journal

Development of Tailor-Shaped 2018, Vol. 36(1) 33-44

ª 2017 ITAA
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DOI: 10.1177/0887302X17737177
Cultivation Techniques for journals.sagepub.com/home/ctr

Zero-Waste Design

Chun Kit Chan1, Jooyoung Shin2,

and Shou Xiang Kinor Jiang1

Abstract
Bacterial cellulose is a sustainable biomaterial produced by Acetobacter xylinum, which has a
self-synthesizing property to grow in any shape. The purpose of the study was to diagnose the
current status of bacterial cellulose in textile development and produce innovative cultivation
techniques in order to cater to different usages and forms of bacterial cellulose textiles for a variety
of garment styles. The new tailor-shaped cultivation techniques not only improve the environmental
values of this material but also further promote its production method as a sustainable practice. This
organic material is able to be cultivated in any desirable garment panel shape, with no cutting and less
textile waste. Two different types of tailor-shaped cultivation techniques called contacting surface-
blocking cultivation and panel-shaped cultivation were developed. With the self-synthesizing
property, natural biodegradable bacterial cellulose can shed light on the development of new sus-
tainable textile materials and manufacturing practices in the future.

Keywords
bacterial cellulose textile, tailor-shaped cultivation, panel-shaped cultivation, contact surface-
blocking cultivation

In the 21st century, fashion businesses have adopted the system of fast fashion to stimulate con-
sumers’ shopping desires by pushing out on-trend products as frequently as possible at affordable or
even cheap prices. As a result, overconsumption and waste of clothing have become commonplace
phenomena due to trends changing at a faster pace (Lapolla & Sanders, 2015).

1
Institute of Textiles and Clothing, Faculty of Applied Science and Textiles, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,
Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
2
Fiber Science and Apparel Design, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

Corresponding Author:
Jooyoung Shin, Fiber Science and Apparel Design, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University, 37 Forest Home Drive,
Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Email: js2923@cornell.edu
34 Clothing and Textiles Research Journal 36(1)

The fashion industry has caused many kinds of environmental problems, including large quan-
tities of harmful waste generated at every stage of apparel manufacturing (Gam & Banning, 2011).
Garment waste creates negative environmental and social impacts (e.g., landfill consumption, low-
resource efficiency, and air and soil pollution). To maximize fabric utility and reduce fabric waste,
many manufacturing companies have explored various marker planning and zero-waste manufac-
turing possibilities, such as fully fashioned knitting, whole garment knitting, and zero-waste pattern
design (Hermes, 2014). Despite numerous efforts, most of the garment manufacturing processes still
require cutting and sewing, which result in considerable fabric waste ending up in landfills, squan-
dering energy, time, and resources. Researchers, designers, and manufacturers have invented numer-
ous low- to zero-waste design practices, but most—especially those requiring cutting processes—are
limited to special garment patterns and prove difficult to generalize in conventional daily-wear
manufacturing. Zero-waste patterns require a longer design process and more technical support for
executing the designs due to special pattern allocation. As it is cost-ineffective, time-consuming, and
rarely applicable, zero-waste design has not been widely employed in the fashion industry. In order
to introduce a more practical and feasible zero-waste sustainable design practice, the researchers
focused on the development of design solutions from exploring innovative textile materials.
Textile materials used for production usually determine their own environmental impact (Huang,
Liu, Zhang, & Sutherland, 2009). Approximately 80% of that impact is determined at the design
stage (European Commission, 2011), so making a wise material choice is crucial to sustainability
(Curwen, Park, & Sarkar, 2013). Researchers explored the development of a natural material called
bacterial cellulose, which has the potential to achieve zero-waste sustainability. A number of
research projects have introduced the application of bacterial cellulose as a future green material
and resource. British fashion designer Suzanne Lee pioneered bacterial cellulose usage by devel-
oping a bacterial cellulose research project, called Biocouture, in sustainable fashion (Grushkin,
2015). She cultivated a bacterial cellulose textile directly from a rectangular cultivation container
and created her bacterial cellulose jacket and kimono using conventional garment construction
techniques, like cutting to shape clothing panels and sewing. In Xylinum Stool and Xylinum Cones,
projects by Jannis Hülsen and Stefan Schwabe, a lab-grown mold of bacterial cellulose cones
facilitated a mature three-dimensional bacterial cellulose brewing method (Madlener, 2013). With
the genetically modified Acetobacter xylinum, Hülsen and Schwabe broke the rule that bacterial
cellulose can only be formed on two-dimensional surfaces, proving that the bacteria have the ability
to attach and proliferate on mold surfaces and brew three dimensionally. The Everyday Paper, Paper
Everyday, created by Stefan Schwabe (2012), and the microbial skin grower, crafted by Naja Ryde
Ankarfeldt (2014), demonstrated that continuous bacterial cellulose cultivation has the potential to
produce an unlimited lengthwise bacterial cellulose textile. Together, these researchers explored and
suggested potential uses of bacterial cellulose in different areas.
The bacterial cellulose textile is a nonwoven, firmly structured natural material, the leather-like
appearance of which is produced from a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. In this study, an
innovative production technique of bacterial cellulose textiles named “tailor-shaped cultivation”
was developed by utilizing one of the unique properties of bacterial cellulose: the ability to be
cultivated and grow in any shape. By controlling synthesis methods, bacterial cellulose can be
engineered to have desired properties and physical dimensions for garment production.
The principal objectives set to achieve the aim of this study were first to investigate the current
status of bacterial cellulose in textile development and to identify the limitation of current cultiva-
tion methods; second, to create a series of experimental designs and methods to develop tailor-
shaped bacterial cellulose textiles; third, to demonstrate the feasibility and practicability of the
tailor-shaped cultivation techniques by producing a bacterial cellulose garment from the outcome
of the tailor-shaped cultivation; and finally, to suggest future development and research on bacterial
cellulose textiles. This new cultivation technique eliminates a substantial amount of material waste
Chan et al. 35

during production processes and maximizes the biological efficiency of the whole natural cultivation
process. With this study, we have further introduced the zero-waste cultivation process as a sustain-
able design/manufacturing practice.

Literature Review of Bacterial Cellulose

Cellulose is a major natural textile material in the textile and clothing industry and one of the most
abundant biopolymers on the Earth. It is commonly harvested from plants that are the source of at
least 12 different fibers used in textile applications, resulting in a huge consumption of plant
cellulose and a massive depletion of forest and land resources. Therefore, it is important to find
an alternative material to natural plant cellulose. There are many other organisms such as bacteria,
fungi, and algae that produce natural cellulose.
Bacterial cellulose, also known as microbial cellulose, is an extracellular biomaterial with the
formula, (C6H10O5)n, produced largely by the bacteria A. xylinum (Bielecki, Krystynowicz, &
Turkiewicz, 2002). A. xylinum is a gram-negative aerobic bacterium found naturally in rotten fruits
and vegetables that produce bacterial cellulose by secreting cellulose fibrils as part of its metabolism
under static culture conditions. Cellulose fibrils bring the bacterial cellulose culture to an air–liquid
contacting surface by its buoyancy. Carbon dioxide released during bacterial metabolism is trapped
inside the bacterial cellulose network structure and also under the bacterial cellulose SCOBY; this
trapped carbon dioxide provides the buoyancy to bring the SCOBY toward the water surface.
A. xylinum builds up a floating bacterial cellulose network with caffeine and related xanthine of
substrate infusion, which strengthens the connection between bacteria and fungi (Balentine, 1997).
This floating network brings the bacteria and fungi colony toward the oxygen-rich water surface for
the oxygen uptake needed to carry out metabolism.
Colvin and Leppard (1977) suggested a pathway of bacterial cellulose synthesis from glucose.
Glucose first reacts with a specific enzyme to form an intermediate complex, namely, glucose-6-
phosphate, then glucose-1-phosphate, uridine diphosphoglucose (UDP-glucose), and finally
cellulose. Several important enzymes control the multiregulation biosynthesis in the bacterial
cellulose production. The yeast cells convert sucrose into fructose and glucose by the enzyme
sucrase (Reiss, 1994). Acetic acid bacteria convert glucose into gluconic acid and fructose into
acetic acid, furthering fermentation to produce ethanol. The cellulose microfibrils generated from
the A. xylinum of each synthetic site integrate and form a bundle of cellulose in the growth
medium. These bundles and their companion cells tangle to each other and form a floating pellicle
that allows nonmotile, strictly aerobic bacteria to grow on the air–liquid contacting surface of the
growth medium. The thin, gelatinous, mucosal pellicle formed on the medium surface is pure
bacterial cellulose, which thickens with age after 15–20 days. The thick sheet is more than 90%
water imbibed in cellulose. Once mature and thick enough to be harvested, the fresh bacterial
cellulose is then dried and forms a flexible sheet of dried bacterial cellulose, which looks like
vegetable leather (Dufresne & Farnworth, 1999).
Bacterial cellulose has many unique desirable properties, such as high purity, absence of lignin
and hemicellulose, high crystallinity, high polymerization, good moldability, and good wet tensile
strength (Bielecki et al., 2002). Another characteristic of bacterial cellulose we focus on in this study
is that it is able to grow into any shape. By manipulating the factors in the growth of bacterial
cellulose, a SCOBY can be controlled to proliferate in a designated area and form a specific shape.
One of the conventional methods of bacterial cellulose production is known as static cultivation, a
method of cellulose pellicle production that is relatively simple and widely used compared to other
methods, such as airlift reactors and rotary disc reactors. The bacterial cellulose culture medium is
placed into shallow trays, inoculated, and cultivated statically for 15–20 days until the cellulose
nearly fills the surface of the tray. The thickness of bacterial cellulose formed depends on the length
36 Clothing and Textiles Research Journal 36(1)

Figure 1. Corresponding shape of bacterial cellulose from different shapes of cultivation container.

of cultivation time: The longer the cultivation time, the thicker the bacterial cellulose. Since the
growth occurs on the air–liquid contacting surface, cellulose production in a static culture is propor-
tional to the surface area of the culture with a constant culture volume (Okiyama, Motoki, &
Yamanaka, 1992). After dehydration, the leather-like bacterial cellulose with both dry and wet
tensile strength remains soft for sewing (Grushkin, 2015). However, the long cultivation time makes
the conventional static cultivation cost-inefficient and time-consuming. In addition, a sheet of
bacterial cellulose textile produced from the cultivation container requires further cutting, which
generates waste. Thus, with the invention of tailor-shaped cultivation developed through this study,
we aim to tackle the problem of waste after cultivation, enabling one to skip the cutting process and
reduce the leftover bacterial cellulose to zero, in an attempt to make the production process more
effective and efficient.

Method
Tailor-Shaped Cultivation for Garment and Textile Production Idea Development
of Tailor-Shaped Cultivation
Bacterial cellulose formed from a culture of cells and bacteria can be engineered to have specific
desirable properties and shapes for textile and garment applications (Chawla, 2011). The limiting
factor controlling the growth of bacterial cellulose is the size and shape of the cultivation container
that determines the air–liquid contacting surface area. Bacterial cellulose forms only on the surface,
and its contact surface restricts the shape and size of the bacterial cellulose grown. For example, a
cylindrical container cultivates round-shaped bacterial cellulose, whereas a cubical container culti-
vates square-shaped bacterial cellulose (Figure 1). Given that the contours of the bacterial cellulose
textile can be tailor cultivated with the restraint of the shape of the cultivation container, bacterial
cellulose can be grown into a desirable garment pattern shape that requires no cutting and produces
no waste by inventing a garment panel–shaped container.
In order to develop a tailor-shaped cultivation technique, we explored two factors that determine
the precise shape of bacterial cellulose, for the express purpose of direct cultivation of the final shape
of the garment panel. The first factor is the form and shape of the container. As the new bacterial
cellulose SCOBY forms on the surface of the culture solution, the shape and the plane surface size of
the cultivation container restrict the area and shape of the air–liquid contacting surface, which in the
Chan et al. 37

Figure 2. “Contact surface-blocking cultivation” and “panel-shaped cultivation.”

end determines the final shape of bacterial cellulose. Based on this unique cultivating phenomenon,
growing a bacterial cellulose culture in a specific garment panel–shaped container can produce a
size-specific bacterial cellulose garment panel. This tailor-shaped cultivation technique is suitable to
some basic fashion items such as shirts, T-shirts, and simple pants because these items do not require
complicated shapes and their timeless styles are not trend restricted. This means bacterial cellulose
garment component panels can be continuously produced in different sizes.
Another crucial factor that controls the final shape of bacterial cellulose is the manipulation of the
air–liquid contacting surface by regulating the accessibility of oxygen that is essential in carrying out
bacterial metabolism. Since the colony requires the buoyancy provided by the bacterial cellulose
pellicle to approach the air–liquid contacting surface and uptake oxygen for metabolism, ensuring a
hindrance-free air–liquid contacting surface is crucial for the cultivation of bacterial cellulose. If
there is an insufficient oxygen supply to the SCOBY, bacteria will stop producing bacterial cellu-
lose, hindering the cultivation process. Based on this property closely related to the air–liquid
contacting surface, blocking is a mechanism that can be applied to tailor-shaped cultivation. This
mechanism uses an air-impermeable or semipermeable buoyant block to prevent air exchange in the
corresponding area underneath the blocker. As a result, no bacterial cellulose is formed underneath
the blocked areas. By applying a specially designed blocker to the air–liquid contacting surface, the
oxygen-accessible area is framed to control the bacterial cellulose growth dimension. Based on the
specific properties of bacterial cellulose and these two factors, researchers have developed two
different cultivation techniques, panel-shaped cultivation and contact surface-blocking cultivation
(Figure 2).

Panel-Shaped Cultivation Technique

Traditionally, a single-shaped cultivation container is used to produce single-shaped bacterial cel-
lulose. Once the size and shape of the container are set, it does not allow any other shapes of bacterial
cellulose. This means that, to be able to cultivate the tailor-shaped panel of the bacterial cellulose
textile, a cultivation container with the corresponding garment panel–shaped horizontal plane is
required. The first step to invent the panel-shaped cultivation container is to decide the design style
and garment pattern, so that the custom container shape can be executed by designing the shape of
the horizontal plane.
38 Clothing and Textiles Research Journal 36(1)

Figure 3. Panel-shaped tailored cultivation and production process.

We employed the vacuum molding technique for reproduction of the panel-shaped container
from a solid vacuum mold. It is known to be an economic way because a number of containers can be
continuously reproduced with only one vacuum mold. For this experiment, a suitable vacuum mold
was carefully manufactured from a polystyrene block in a garment panel shape. Several layers of
patching paste were coated on the surface of the solid block mold in order to make the block sturdy
enough to withstand the strong vacuum pressure imposed on the mold. The rough surface of the
dried patching paste on the polystyrene block was made smooth by sandpaper and a brush. It is
essential that the vacuum-molded container have a smooth inner surface to ensure the mold can be
easily shed and to prevent the impurity from embedding on the rough surface. Vaseline was applied
on the surface of the patching paste-coated, panel-shaped solid block to prevent the container’s
molding materials from sticking to the block. The block was then placed into the vacuum former. A
2-mm-thick polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG)-modified thermoplastic sheet was used as the
molding material, placed above the block, and clamped securely to the vacuum former. The electric
heater was turned on to 200 C to heat up the PETG thermoplastic sheet. After the plastic sheet
became soft and flexible, the solid block was moved upward and the clamp laid the soft plastic sheet
onto the surface of the block. The vacuum condition shaped the plastic sheet into the silhouette of the
solid block and made the molded plastic sheet identical to the panel-shaped block (Figure 3).
After a number of experiments were carried out to find the optimum ingredient ration, a 1:7
volume ratio of sucrose to tea ingredient and bacterial cultures were prepared, poured into the panel-
shaped cultivation container, and cultivated for 15–20 days. Fresh garment panel–shaped bacterial
celluloses were cultivated and ready to be dried for use. After the garment panels were dried and
prepared, the conventional garment manufacturing methods could be applied to garment assembly.
By eliminating spreading and cutting processes, this technique produced zero material waste cutting
and shaping ferment panels accordingly.

Contact Surface-Blocking Cultivation Technique

The second technique of tailor-shaped bacterial cellulose cultivation is initiated from the air–liquid
contacting surface. By employing a tailor-shaped blocker on the air–liquid contacting surface, the
air-impermeable blocker will consequently hinder the formation of bacterial cellulose pellicles,
frame the contact area, and control the outline of bacterial cellulose. For example, cultivating a
sleeve panel requires a rectangular blocker with a sleeve pattern cutout. It has been suggested that
placing this sleeve blocker on the contacting surface cultivates a bacterial cellulose sleeve panel
directly from the culture solution. The idea of creating a contacting surface blocker is based on the
Chan et al. 39

abovementioned mechanism for cultivating the specific shape of a bacterial cellulose textile, which
can be considered another method to achieve tailor-shaped cultivation. If a blocking system with a
shape-managed contacting surface is applied to the cultivation setup, and the area in which the
bacterial cellulose growth should happen is well controlled, the biological phenomenon carried out
on the air–liquid contacting surface can perform a contour-shaping function for the tailor-shaped
cultivation of bacterial cellulose.
It came to our attention that it is essential to have an impermeable or semipermeable air blocker
with buoyancy placed on the air–liquid contacting surface. When the blocker is applied, bacteria
colonies underneath the blocker are not able to receive fresh air, as it barricades the gas exchange
between the atmospheric environment and the culture solution, thus restricting bacterial cellulose
formation. On the other hand, oxygen can dissolve into the solution because of the absence of a
blocker. Bacteria near the air–liquid contacting surface of the unblocked hollow part can obtain
oxygen from fresh air for bacterial metabolism and bacterial cellulose pellicle proliferation. If
different blockers with various inner contours are applied, multiple shapes of bacterial cellulose
textiles can be produced from a commonly used rectangular container for bacterial cellulose culti-
vation. For example, a specially designed blocker with a sleeve panel and collar panel–shaped inner
contour can directly cultivate a sleeve and collar panel, respectively, and simultaneously within a
single cultivation container. When designing the blocker, it must be taken into consideration that the
blocker needs to fit the size of the water surface and the cultivation container, as well as the contour
of the garment panel, as it has to be placed on the contacting surface. The inner contour of the cutout
is the garment panel shape that will be brewed in the contacting surface-blocking cultivation.
We tested different kinds of material (e.g., corkboard, baking parchment paper, and plastic film)
for the blocker, as it is essential to create an optimal environment and conditions in the contact
surface-blocking cultivation process. First, three batches of bacterial cellulose culture solution were
prepared prior to the placement of blockers and then the bacterial cellulose cultures were prepared to
cultivate for a week to ensure the formation of a thin layer of bacterial cellulose SCOBY on the air–
liquid contacting surface. This thin layer of bacterial cellulose SCOBY functioned as a platform to
provide a stable support for the three different types of blocker to be settled on the contacting surface
and then the contact surface-blocking cultivation began.
Once the fresh bacterial cellulose was obtained from this method, it was naturally dried and
dyed. In order to achieve an even coat of color over the garment, a two-hydroxyethanoic acid,
alcohol-based leather dye was applied using a hand-dyeing technique to control the dye’s evenness
and intensity. The leather dye was first thinned with an organic solvent and then gently brushed
over the surface of the garment. After the dye had completely dried, the surface of the garment was
buffed with wax or animal oil using a soft and nonabrasive cloth. Each panel was dyed in black by
hand prior to stitching pieces together in order to ensure that the finished garment maintained an
even and strong color.

Results and Discussion

After 20 days of bacterial cellulose cultivation, it was found that different blockers could produce
different experimental results. The corkboard blocker seemed to have produced the most successful
results as it tailor-cultivated a front yoke and collar piece with nice, clear edges and sufficient
thickness of around 10 mm, whereas neither the baking parchment blocker nor the plastic film
blocker cultivated a suitable bacterial cellulose garment panel. It turns out that the baking parchment
blocker absorbed the culture solution during cultivation and thus could not float on the water surface.
Surprisingly, with the plastic film blocker setup, no new bacterial cellulose SCOBY proliferation
happened. This could be attributed to the potential material interferences in the culture stability.
Based on the test results, it can be concluded that the corkboard blocker has positive and promising
40 Clothing and Textiles Research Journal 36(1)

Figure 4. (a) Positive experimental results of corkboard blocker set-up with bacterial cellulose growth. (b)
Blocker fails to remain floating on the surface in baking parchment blocker set-up. (c) No new bacterial cellulose
growth in plastic film blocker set-up.

Figure 5. Short-sleeved shirt with a collar designed by authors.

potential in cultivation; the parchment paper and plastic film are not recommended for blocking
materials (Figure 4). Cork is a natural material that will not release interfering substances to the
culture and the corkboard blocker is comparatively thicker than the other two blockers, thus pro-
viding a very good air-blocking function to the culture solution.
It is imperative to demonstrate the potential application of bacterial cellulose textiles and the tailor-
shaped cultivation techniques in the final stage of this study in order to introduce these new materials
and techniques to the landscape of sustainable fashion. We selected a men’s shirt as a sample item
because it not only comprises the essential garment components, such as a button-placket, collar, collar
stand, cuff, and sleeves, but also requires conventional garment construction techniques such as sewing
of armholes and sleeves, plus application of interlining, pocket attachment, and rolling hem (Figure 5).
Chan et al. 41

Figure 6. Finished bacterial cellulose short-sleeved shirt.

The design of the shirt was carefully thought out with an aim to demonstrate the feasibility of bacterial
cellulose as a textile material.
The shirt components were produced by the tailor-shaped bacterial cellulose cultivation tech-
niques developed through this study. First, front yoke panels and collar pieces were harvested from
the contact surface-blocking technique. Both panel-shaped cultivation and contact surface-blocking
cultivation could develop the front yoke panels and collar pieces, but the latter is preferable and
more economical, as the panels can be easily packed into a single blocker and require less substrate
because of their compatible size and shape. The panel-shaped cultivation technique appeared to be
more appropriate for the body panels because their surface area is large. If contact surface-blocking
cultivation is applied for cultivating the body panels, a much bigger blocker and container will be
required; thus, this technique that requires more space and an unnecessary amount of substrates
serves no sustainable purpose and is a less appropriate choice. In addition, the basic shirt front- and
back-shaped containers can be reused. Thus, the front and back shirt bodices are cultivated from
body panel–shaped cultivation containers.
The shell fabric of the shirt was made of bacterial cellulose and lined with conventional lining
fabric, as bacterial cellulose is too thick and not the paramount choice for lining material. The
finished and dyed bacterial cellulose garment characterized by its gently wrinkled texture bears a
strong resemblance to lightweight sheepskin leather. Applying moist steam during sewing can make
bacterial cellulose soft and easier to handle. Finally, mink oil or wax can be applied to retain the
softness and smooth texture. It is demonstrated that bacterial cellulose textiles can be used in
conventional sewing and hand-stitching techniques. From the nutrient culture solution to a specific
textile panel, and hence the design of the bacterial cellulose garment, the completion of this study
42 Clothing and Textiles Research Journal 36(1)

demonstrates the experimental outcome of the two tailor-shaped cultivation techniques and how
they can be applied to the production of daily wear (Figure 6).
It has been demonstrated in our study that bacterial cellulose is a potentially a sustainable
material. First, it causes no harm to humans and the environment because it is natural and does
not contain any other substances that require intensive processes to be purified and isolated,
such as lignin and hemicellulose. Second, its unique physical characteristics and cultivation
properties have demonstrated a great potential to achieve zero-waste design. With the results
of this study, we hope to remind people that there are other useful substances in nature. Because
of these unique properties, the demand for bacterial cellulose has increased in recent years in
different fields, such as medicine, science, and fashion. Consequently, the design of large-scale
economical bacterial cellulose production has attracted considerable attention (Shoda & Sugano,
2005), and the cultivation processes using stirred-tanks or airlift reactors have been reported as
the most efficient way for large-scale bacterial cellulose cultivation (Tzanov, Francesko, Diaz
Gonzalez, & Lozano, 2010). However, despite these advances, neither cultivation method is
suitable to the fashion and textile industry because the final outcomes of bacterial cellulose are
not grown into a two-dimensional-like fabric. Having realized such needs and potential, we
strived to develop appropriate cultivation methods to increase bacterial cellulose applications in
fashion and textile industries as well as to discover the zero-waste possibility from innovative
textile materials.

Conclusion
Two tailor-shaped cultivation techniques, namely, panel-shaped cultivation and contact surface-
blocking cultivation, have been developed and both achieve textile-shaping functions by restricting
the growth area of bacterial cellulose. They were proposed as an important sustainable design
practice, and based on the findings from this study, a garment panel was produced from a natural
biological environment without causing severely negative environmental impacts; the production
cycle of a bacterial cellulose garment became more direct as the cutting process was no longer
needed in manufacturing, resulting in zero textile material waste; and the corresponding labor,
energy, time, and cost required can be significantly reduced.
New textile materials can expand the scope of fashion creation and textile technology as well
as material dimensions for fashion and manufacturing industries. The tailor-shaped cultivation
technique developed in this study is a simple but fundamental model for further development
and research on the cultivation of bacterial cellulose textiles for garment production. Regardless
of the fact that cultivation is relatively simple, we have demonstrated that this engineered process
can produce desirable bacterial cellulose with high-market value. However, a number of limita-
tions were encountered through this study, including how to mass produce specific cultivation
containers in future bulk production and how to dispose of unused blockers and containers at the
end of their life cycles. Further researchers exploring the tailor-shaped cultivation of bacterial
cellulose textiles need to focus on the engineering of cultivation containers to eliminate the bulk
production of containers during manufacturing. Finally, it would be necessary to pay attention to
the ongoing genetic and biochemical research works focused on bacterial cellulose production at
the molecular/biological level in order to incorporate innovative applications into fashion and
textile industries.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or pub-
lication of this article.
Chan et al. 43

Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or
publication of this article: This work described in this article was fully supported by a grant from the
Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No.
PolyU5473/12 H).

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Author Biographies
Chun Kit Chan earned a BA and MA in fashion design at the Institute of Textiles and Clothing at the Hong
Kong Polytechnic University. He is a designer of his own menswear brand, DEMO.

Jooyoung Shin, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design in the
College of Human Ecology at Cornell University. Dr. Shin has explored diverse areas in the fashion field (e.g.,
the concept of beauty, contemporary fashion phenomena, multicultural perspectives on the physicality and
symbolism of dress) as a designer, fashion historian, researcher, and educator.
Shou Xiang Kinor Jiang, PhD, is an associate professor at the Institute of Textiles and Clothing at the Hong
Kong Polytechnic University. His research deals with innovative textile effects using physical and chemical
treatment technologies. His work is part of the permanent collections at the de Young Museums, China National
Silk Museum, and Victoria and Albert Museum.