Talent Talks: Charlotte Werth

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. Reason for MA Material Futures graduate Charlotte Werth to co-create with bacteria. The result: a machine that colors scarfs using bacterial dyes.

Charlotte Werth - Moving Pigment - Image by Tom Mannion

Could you please introduce yourself?

My name is Charlotte Werth and I am a material designer and innovator working between textile- and biodesign. I have been researching bacteria dye since 2017. My main focus has become growing pigment-producing bacteria directly on the textile and guiding them to co-create and co-design textile patterns.

Coming from a Multidisciplinary Design background, I am now looks into scaling up my practice by reviewing existing tools to challenge the limitations working in between design and biology.

Having graduated recently, how do you look back on your studies?

My studies gave me the opportunity to work in between biology, art, design and science with lab spaces and lab technicians. I learned more about the science side of my practice and was able to push it into a new and scaled-up direction. This level of experimentation within bio design was extremely helpful and very rare, because access to the facilities are quite limited without being in a higher-education context.

Charlotte Werth - Automating Violacein - Designer in Residence at Maison/0 - Image by Paul Cochrane

Could you please tell us something about your graduation collection/project?

This project aims to scale up and automate the process of co-designing textile patterns with pigment-producing bacteria. It intends to enlarge and make visible a reality that is usually hidden from sight, showing us the incredible beauty of this parallel microscopic world. The high degree of uniformity demanded in the context of mass production and consumer capitalism has led to extensive usage of petrochemical dyes. These often have disastrous impacts on ecosystems through the pollution of watercourses and landscapes. In contrast, bacteria dye has many environmentally friendly advantages, including far lower water usage and no use of harmful chemicals.

Bacteria dyeing is a rather beautiful and unique method of dyeing, creating colour-gradients and lines which cannot be easily imitated. The microbes grow in slightly unexpected ways that informs the design process. Challenging the established separation of human and non-human species can create meaningful innovation. Designing with/for and not against nature necessitates alternative practices and new instruments. The machine developed within this work is designed to experiment with and explore the process of bacteria dyeing through automation. It represents a case study for the prospective large-scale implementation of sustainable co-designing dye practices.

Charlotte Werth - Moving Pigment - Image by Suzie McMurtry

Which materials, techniques, programmes and/or applications are you mostly interested in?

I am mostly interested in bio-based materials and synthetic biology, first of all because I am fascinated by microorganisms and learning about their characteristics. I think it is really exciting to see how people are designing with the different bacteria, algae, mycelium (…) and what new iteration of existing processes it comes with. These materials have a lot of potential to be used not only for the sake of designing an object/garment but to be studied for the impact they have in the environment they are in as well.

The exhibition you are a part of looks into the meaning of regeneration. What does regeneration mean to you and your work?

Regenerative design contains the possibility of using our creativity to find solutions on how to ‚replenish what we have depleted and to give back to nature more than we take.’ (Carole Collet in Rewildering Textiles).

Putting regenerative values at the base of my practice means to design for a more than human world.

While this is of course a highly holistic approach to designing anything, I believe it is in the responsibility of each designer to understand where to begin to introduce regenerative design in ones practice.

How do you perceive the meaning and importance of community within the fashion field?

Community brings strength to work towards change and discuss morals, designs and innovations. It can push research further and can have the potential to overcome hierarchies. I think it’s about likeminded people, learning from each other and positively influencing each other as well as working together and finding solutions. Community values are one of the core pillars for a regenerative design approach, bringing experts from different fields together.

NOoF: How do you view the future of fashion? And your own role therein?

I hope to see more bio design in fashion and the possibility for it to be accessible, not only in a luxury context. I hope more brands investing into research and changing up production processes and understanding that the environment is one of the biggest stakeholder we need to implement in designing for and with, rather than it just being a trend based add-on.

I personally want to challenge designing in different styles with pigment-producing bacteria. It’s easy to think sustainable and regenerative practices have just one style, are less structured and more random and organic but I like to push these boundaries and show that bacteria dyeing can be a method rather than one trend.

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