It’s time to talk about materials: From new fibers to digitized production processes, the intersections of innovation, sustainability, and design are evolving at breakneck speed. Current technology and chemistry are opening new doors for how we produce textiles to meet market needs while reducing impact. But where exactly are we on the journey to implementation? The opportunities are astonishingly bright – can they outshine the barriers to scaling transformative materials? This episode, we share two inspiring material initiatives, giving both the supplier and the research perspective. Revisiting the stage of 202030 – The Berlin Fashion Summit Edition #5, we hear from Essi Glomb of The Textile Prototyping Lab (TPL) and Matthias Fuchs of OceanSafe. In Season 1, we heard from OceanSafe at our Edition #4 of the 202030 Summit. Now, Matthias walks us through the material innovators’ exciting latest developments and products, taking a focus on the need for biodegradable polyester. Their research and design of Cradle To Cradle-certified synthetic materials offers a positive alternative to one of the least sustainable materials on the market. And through their model of licensing our their technology to production facilities, OceanSafe had huge potential for scalability. Next, In a live interview, our host Max Gilgenmann meets with the co-founders of the Textile Prototyping Lab, Essi Glomb and Karina Wirth. After hearing Essi’s presentation from the 202030 Summit, we take a deeper dive on the vision and work of TPL. This Berlin-Based materials lab is a unique initiative, whose model holds key lessons for how cutting edge innovation can be brought to life in practical applications. Essi and Karina noted the problem that designers are traditionally siloed from material researchers; but, by bringing design and science into a collaborative setting, new solutions and applications are born. This bridge-building is at the heart of TPL’s work, where the exchange of expertise happens on site with sample production and experimentation facilities. They point to ‘open innovation’ as the boldest – and most impactful – framework for progress. To learn more about OceanSafe, visit: https://www.oceansafe.co/home To lean more about the Textile Prototyping Lab, visit: https://www.textileprototypinglab.com/ In the episode, Max mentions ITMA and Heimtextil. Learn more here: https://itma.com/ https://heimtextil.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en.html For more information about 202030 – The Berlin Fashion Summit, including updates about our next edition, visit https://202030summit.com/, and follow us on social media @202030summit. 202030 – The Berlin Fashion Summit is organized by studio MM04, in cooperation with the Beneficial Design Institute. Edition #5 was a Partner of Berlin Fashion Week, funded by the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises Berlin in cooperation with Fashion Council Germany.