The custom knitted one-of-a-kind, gold dress is a modern interpretation of the classic shift dress and is made entirely of the company’s signature protein-based yarn inspired by spider silk. The dress will be made using the brilliant golden Bolt yarn.

Sustainable materials

The company became interested in working together with the brand after Stella McCartney discussed the brand’s willingness to pioneer new sustainability techniques in fashion: “We’re excited by risk. We’re excited by thinking outside the box. We think that’s modern. And I think the fashion industry is supposed to be modern, and I find it so extraordinarily old fashioned at times that I can’t really get my head around it. The fact that we’re even having this conversation, it seems medieval to me.”

Until today, commercial silk production has been limited to either silk worms or extremely small scale engineered silk production, where the painstaking efforts taken to amass any amount of silk were far too labour intensive with little pay-off. The company’s goal is to design processes that minimize the environmental footprint while creating a superior product. Bolt Threads is the first company to produce engineered silk fibres made from proteins found in nature with the ability to scale commercially. Additionally, Bolt Threads’ fibres can be programmed to be as soft, durable and malleable as needed.

Ongoing commitment

“We’re honoured that Stella McCartney recognises the potential of Bolt Threads technology,” the company says.

“This is something that I’ve been personally on a journey to find for much of my career and I just feel like there is finally a new opportunity to bring so many industries together and for them to all work as one for a better planet. It is a truly modern and mindful approach to fashion,” said Stella McCartney after visiting the company’s facility and getting hands on with some of the experiments.

“Through our partnership, we’ll be working with our friends at Stella McCartney to pave the way for a future of environmentally friendly luxury fabric innovation. Throughout 2017 and beyond, we’ll continue to announce and reveal new initiatives together,” the company concludes.

www.boltthreads.com

Read our exclusive interview with Jamie Bainbridge, Vice President of Product Development at Bolt Threads