News & Blog
Sustainable Innovations – GOLD by WINT Design Lab, Robin Hoske and Felix Rasehorn
If you think that “GOLD” by WINT Design Lab was inspired by the shiny precious metal, you’re wrong – the design research project draws its inspiration from the outer tissue layer of the cow’s intestine. This extremely thin, elastic and tear-resistant membrane, also called gold beater’s skin, was used in the past as a separating layer when beating gold leaf.
Product designers Robin Hoske and Felix Rasehorn, founders of WINT Design Lab, together with Mimotype Technologies, saw the potential in the material to create durable and recyclable high-performance textiles free of plastic.
Animal skins, due to their properties, have been used by humans throughout history to create textiles with water-repellent capabilities. During a one-year research fellowship, WINT therefore investigated the aesthetic and functional design features of the skin of the goldbeater and sequenced the RNA. The goal: to synthetically replicate the material properties, develop a biopolymer and use it to make high- performance textiles. In cooperation with Mimotype
Technologies, a biotech start-up from Berlin, and funded by the BIOTEXFUTURE project of the ITA Institute of Textile Technology, the researchers succeeded in cultivating the unique material in bioreactors. The result is bio-synthetically grown collagen substrate – vegan and biodegradable – from which WINT has reated a running jacket that meets both aesthetic and functional demands.
While the global demand for synthetic textiles continues to rise and their production consumes large amounts of petrochemicals, energy and finite raw materials, a new generation of water-repellent outdoor jackets is thus born.
»As designers we have to shift the reasoning of our practice from convenience to impact.«
Modularity is not a new concept. For decades, it has shaped architecture, furniture and industrial design. Applying it to soft textiles, however, opens up an entirely new discussion.
Creativity and curiosity have always been our driving force. Our work evolves through prototypes—never finished, always raising new questions about materials, processes, and possibilities.
Both the fashion and textile industry often celebrates creativity. Yet many of the industry’s creative decisions are made long before a designer ever begins designing. Colour being one of them. The thing is, by the time a designer selects yarn, someone else has already determined the available colours, sequences and combinations. Choice exists, but only within boundaries.
“Through hands-on experimentation, I explore the potential of new surfaces and alternative forms of leather, aiming to reconnect human life with the natural world as an interconnected fabric.”
