Design DIALOG - Promising material experiments: in the forefront of alternative materials

Future lies in alternative materials – each year, reducing waste becomes more and more essential and urgent worldwide. Customers are increasingly consciously seeking sustainable and environmentally friendly clothing and home accessories products. Alternative materials, degradable design objects, and the most unusual textures were the centre of this year’s first offline design DIALOG roundtable discussion. You can watch the whole episode on HFDA’s Spotify and Youtube channels.

The HFDA Academy: design DIALOG programme series launched by the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency (HFDA) aims to start a joint dialogue for professionals and those interested in design about the newest trends and developments in the design scene and material innovations.

This year’s first offline design DIALOG started with a 30-minute Pecha Kucha presentation series. It is a modern presentation technique allowing the speaker to talk for only 20 seconds about each slide. After the presentations, an exciting roundtable discussion was held, including renowned experts such as Csenge Győrbíró, textile designer; Katalin Huszár, CMF designer; Alexandra Kis-Baraksó, industrial design engineer; and Zsófia Zala, product designer. They shared their thoughts on the topic with Anita Korn, the moderator. During the discussion, they mentioned, for example, pineapple leather, paper products with a special texture, growable organic materials, and alternative plastics. Furthermore, questions came up about Hungarian initiatives regarding alternative materials and the ones that are the easiest to work with.

The multisensorial fine artworks of Csenge Győrbíró are based on plant experiments. Her first really determining experience was when she created a bag collection of banana fibres. An interesting characteristic of the material is that it is one of the strongest cellulosic fibres, which becomes waterproof when dried. Csenge highlighted that it was much easier to work with natural materials since they are not pre-treated, unlike denim, for instance.

Huszár Katalin, the founder of Studio Atlyn, started experimenting with single-use plastics and straws; then, with a Hungarian company, she developed a material similar to MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) which can be exciting for the furniture industry. The material attracted the attention of the international profession as well. In her newest project, Katalin creates a crystallised jewellery collection from pharmaceutical waste in a collaboration.

Alexandra Kis-Baraksó, the founder of the Manera Studio, created the Szimbio Lab group in 2021 with Dóra Márföldi and Fanni Huszár, which is devoted to the research and education of biodesign, sustainable, ethical, and inclusive design topics. Alexandra’s creations are made of bacterial cellulose that grows on liquid, and after drying, the final product will be a natural material similar to fake leather.

Zsófia Zala, creator of Harm less degradable design objects, experiments with vegetable waste; she has created, among other things, lamps from orange peel, vases from coffee ground, or a stool from pine needles. After shredding, she adds a natural glue called casein to the raw materials and then presses the material that resembles clay which needs two weeks to dry entirely. According to Zsófia, the reception of the unique and special materials is very positive.

The participants believe that sustainability is the base, starting point, and key to textile industry innovation and its future. They all design and develop materials that can collaborate with nature and their environment in harmony.

You can watch the whole discussion on HFDA’s Spotify and Youtube channels.