Lapso, a lamp grown from bacterial cellulose, and TômTex’s textile at Allina Liu’s NYFW show how biomaterials are shaping new ideas of luxury in design and fashion.
Material innovation is beginning to define the direction of contemporary design. Rather than looking to rare stones or precious metals, studios and material scientists are experimenting with biology as a medium. Two recent debuts — one in Mexico, the other in New York — capture this shift.
Natural Urbano and Polybion introduced Lapso, a lamp grown from bacterial cellulose, while TômTex revealed its latest bio-based textile during New York Fashion Week. Each shows how material choice is expanding the definition of luxury.
Lapso, debuting at the Biofab Fair by Biofabricate during the London Design Festival, is made from five sheets of Celium, Polybion’s cultivated bacterial cellulose. The material grows into formations that are never identical, producing subtle variations in density, texture, and tone. “We set out to create a presence that changes with light and context.
With Celium, we worked with a material that responds to its environment. Lapso holds a pause when off and becomes atmosphere when on — a functional object with sculptural intent,” Lorena Márquez, co-founder and director of Natural Urbano, said in a statement.
Developed over a year of collaboration, the lamp required extensive testing of structure, finishing, and thickness before reaching its final design. It is available in two versions: Natural, with a warm hue, and Humo, a darker edition. Each lamp is shipped with a certificate of authenticity, emphasizing its individuality.
“From the beginning, we wanted it to feel like a living piece. The design grew from what the material allowed and what it is. It evokes a breathing skin, something evolving — a sculptural light that is more than a lamp, inviting you to pause and notice,” says Sebastián Beltrán, founder and director of Natural Urbano.
TômTex’s emphasis is on fashion. At New York Fashion Week earlier this month, the company introduced its most advanced textile to date, a material that is biodegradable, petrochemical-free, and engineered to perform like leather. Unlike many biomaterials still in early stages, this textile is production-ready.
Designers Allina Liu and Gabe Gordon worked with it to produce tailored jackets, skirts, and trousers in Liu’s collection, and trench coats in both midi and cropped lengths in Gordon’s presentation. These garments demonstrated durability and finish while signaling a material with different origins than conventional leather.
Lapso is positioned as a collectible, with production timelines of two months and each lamp reflecting unique growth patterns. TômTex, in contrast, stresses its ability to scale, designed to work with existing manufacturing systems, and is adaptable to different silhouettes.
Polybion’s facility in Mexico produces more than a million square feet of Celium annually, while TômTex highlights compatibility with standard machinery. Both responses reflect broader consumer interest: analysts estimate the vegan leather market will grow to $57 billion by 2028, at nearly 18 percent each year.
The two projects approach luxury from different angles; one through singularity and atmosphere, the other through adaptability and scale. But both show how design is being reshaped by biomaterials. A lamp that changes character with light and a trench coat derived from waste material suggest that the value of an object now also lies in how it is made.
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