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Fashion From a Petri Dish: The Biotech Solution to Fashion's Environmental Challenges
114 Plays1 year ago
Catherine Roggero-Lovisi, CEO of Modern Meadow, heads a bio-design tech company using nature-inspired proteins to create sustainable materials for various industries. The company focuses on developing Bio-AlloyTM - a proprietary solution combining plant-based proteins and biopolymers - to engineer lightweight, high-performance materials while promoting traceability and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
With a background in leading roles at L’Oréal, Christian Louboutin, and Revlon Inc., Catherine leverages her global consumer goods expertise to drive Modern Meadow’s success. She provides insights into her leadership journey, the company's biofabrication innovations, aligning purpose and profits, and the future of material science. For more, tune in to major podcast platforms!
🕑 KEY MOMENTS
==================
➜ [00:03:39] What Modern Meadow Does
➜ [00:15:15] The challenges in the fashion industry regarding sustainability
➜ [00:17:56] The slow adoption of innovative textiles by big brands
➜ [00:21:07] The challenge of communicating new technologies to consumers and potential collaborators
➜ [00:25:40] The importance of traceability for the fashion industry
➜ [00:26:33] The future of biomaterials and sustainability
📚 RESOURCES & LINKS
========================
- Website: https://www.modernmeadow.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/modern-meadow/
- 👉 Interview with Catherine Roggero-Lovisi: https://www.npws.net/podcast/biotech-fashion-eco-challenges
🌍 SUSTAINABILITY PODCAST CREATED BY NEW PERSPECTIVE
========================
This podcast is proudly sponsored by New Perspective Marketing, a dynamic growth marketing agency in Boston, MA, celebrating 20 years in business. We help sustainably focused B2B organizations grow their brands and scale up revenue. If you or your organization is looking to grow, visit npws.com for more info.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorship
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello and welcome to another episode of The Green New Perspective, hopefully your go-to podcast if you want to learn more about innovations happening within KlinTech, NatureTech, Biotech and AgriTech space. This week's episode is proudly sponsored by New Perspective, a Boston-based marketing agency working with KlinTech clients.
00:00:18
Speaker
So if you want to learn more about our sponsor, please check out the info in the description of this
Guest Introduction: Catherine Rogiero Novissi
00:00:24
Speaker
video. My name is Dunia, I'm your host today, and my guest is with the wonderful Catherine Rogiero Novissi, the CEO of the biotechnology company named Modern
Nature-Inspired Biotech Innovations
00:00:34
Speaker
Metal.
00:00:34
Speaker
They are using nature-inspired proteins to develop sustainable materials and products for fashion, beauty, and other industries like biomaterial alternatives to leather, for example. So with a track record in companies like L'Oreal and Revlon, Cristian Leboutin, Catherine's expertise ensures product traceability and global scalability. So if you want to learn more about how to place your innovative technology on the global market or how to scale your sustainable business, stay tuned and listen to what Catherine has to say.
Career Transition to Biotech
00:01:12
Speaker
Hello, Catherine, and welcome to the Green New Perspective podcast. It's really lovely to have you here. Good morning and thank you. I'm very honored to join you this morning. It's morning at your place. It's 7 p.m. here.
00:01:25
Speaker
So good morning. So let us introduce you a little bit. So you held leading positions at big renowned companies like Revlon, L'Oreal, Christiane Louboutin, and then you became the CEO of Modern Meadow, which is your company, a biotech company. So can you tell us what inspired this through your change?
Focus on EcoDesign at Modern Metal
00:01:51
Speaker
Well, as you mentioned, I spent 20 years in either the beauty of the fashion industry, if you want, and all surrounded by amazing brands, and managing basically those brands everywhere in the world, maybe in North America, in Asia-Pacific, or even globally.
00:02:12
Speaker
Really, the move to go into Monometto, who is, as you say, biotech, biofabrication company, was really associated with the desire to change a bit the world from within. I was at the tail end of innovation, basically receiving innovation and bringing them to market.
00:02:33
Speaker
I felt that as we need to transition from technology that are just amazing in terms of performance, but take a toll on the resources that we are all extracting or consuming as we speak, maybe animal input or petrochemical, I needed to join a company which innovation was to basically what we call now EcoDesign, which is
00:02:59
Speaker
inject those requirements of substituting animal input and virgin petrochemical by other input. And in this case, we use, in the case of monometal, either plant-based protein or polymers that we design or protein we design ourselves and produce via fermentation.
00:03:21
Speaker
So that's really the reason why I kind of went up the supply chain, if you want. I went from brand to innovator to innovator with solid tech that could bring to market product, which are both performance and sustainable.
Sustainable Textiles Development
00:03:38
Speaker
And can you explain to our listeners, what do you actually do at Modern Meadow? But can you explain it in like simple words? Well, of course I like PhD, you know, so that's going to make it easier for everybody. I am very lucky, I'm surrounded by very smart PhDs and engineers, but fundamentally I'm not. So I was brought into Modern Meadow too.
00:04:04
Speaker
to bring those innovations to market and grow them fast internationally. So in a nutshell, what do we do? Monometto is an expert in protein and protein application. So if you take the scientific route, it's biology and material science, but basically what we do is we take protein or we understand protein and we harness their property and we apply them to stuff.
00:04:31
Speaker
If you want. So in the case of, and you mentioned fashion and you mentioned, right, we use plant based protein, we purify them, modify them. Actually, it's a byproduct of an industry. We don't actually compete with food. So we use byproduct of the agro industry.
00:04:51
Speaker
plant left over if you want. We extract and purify the protein out of it. We use this protein and we combine it with other molecules if you want. We create a specific alloy which is a solution
00:05:09
Speaker
which is almost kind of a, I want to simplify it to the end level, which is almost like a Lego system. Depending on how many, the percentage of protein and how much of that solution you apply it and how you apply it, you get different performance. So we've created those building blocks.
00:05:27
Speaker
and we combine them in different ways and that helps us and allow us to to develop textile if you want that looks and feel like leather but without animal input or materials that are breathable and when
00:05:45
Speaker
People are like, what, breathable material? Yeah, it's your jacket. When you go outdoor and you do exercise, it's a material that allows your perspiration and your body heat to come out, but you to be protecting from the outside. So by using protein, we apply this solution to material, and it gives different look and feel and different property. Amazing color, breathability, as I say, can look and feel like leather, et cetera, et cetera.
Environmental Challenges in Fashion
00:06:13
Speaker
And I wanted to, for the people who are not, let's say, who are not informed about the problems with the fashion industry, because that's what we're focusing on here. So why would someone want to replace the current textiles with biomaterials? What's the problem with the textiles that we're using at the moment? And why do we need innovative solutions in this field?
00:06:36
Speaker
So I'm gonna give very large stroke, very big, very vague and stereotypical statement because obviously there is the best and there is the worst in the fashion as there is in many other industry. But fundamentally what happened is that the fashion industry is a very large and it's a growing industry because all of us are very happy buying new garments, new shoes, new bags.
00:07:05
Speaker
And you have more and more of the population that is becoming entering the middle class, which is great. But the more you do that, the more we face challenges, which are basically we need more land to grow more plants. We need more extraction of the petrochemical to provide materials that are what is known to be synthetic because they are very performant material.
00:07:30
Speaker
So fundamentally, at their origin, at the input part, you already have a tool on the environment if you want, because it's either extraction, it's either animal input, or it is petrochemical.
00:07:45
Speaker
The problem is also the process of converting those resources into material that will become eventually textile also engage a lot of energy, a lot of water, generate a lot of waste. And this is where there is a second opportunity to improve if you want the processes of developing material for the fashion industry.
Efficient Processes for Sustainable Materials
00:08:09
Speaker
The third part is that some companies have decided to go into what we call fast fashion, which is more of a disposable fashion.
00:08:25
Speaker
and where durability and quality is not the focus, which one of the most environmentally friendly gestures one could have is to buy something and keep it for many years.
00:08:41
Speaker
So this is where the fashion industry has basically identified opportunity at the input level, at the process level, and at the output level, knowing that a lot of the material that is developed is either burned or landfilled or never used, no matter what. So there is a final opportunity which is associated with waste management.
00:09:05
Speaker
So when we know that, and this is a very complex, very fragmented, very old industry that used so many different inputs, that's why I'm being a little bit generic.
00:09:18
Speaker
What we try to do at Montero is, first of all, to develop material that is as performant. So performant is a big word to say, basically, they're as good as what you have today, if not better. That the colors are as beautiful as the one that I see a beautiful orange jacket on you. The colors are as vibrant and as durable on the material versus on the washer, in the washer.
00:09:43
Speaker
that your material is abrasion-resistant and is durable. As I mentioned, your breathability when you want to do certain activities, protective without falling apart or looking like an armor. Having what we call the draping on hand feel is really the feel of the material itself and be as pleasant and comfortable.
00:10:09
Speaker
So, all these are what we talk, we mention as performance. And these are the non-negotiable, if you want, when one develop a material for a specific application. It could be shoes, it could be jacket, it could be bag, et cetera, et cetera. Now, our objective is, as monometers, obviously not use any animal input, but also reduce to the minimum any type of virgin petrochemical input.
00:10:38
Speaker
We use upcycling and recycling because we believe that part of the solution is not only to increase bio-content, but to use also material that exist and don't have a home once they're used the first time. And this is where upcycling is very important for us. The final element, if you want,
00:11:00
Speaker
is developing material with the same quality of better quality, but with more efficient processes, meaning requiring less input, less water, less energy, so that it's less taxing in general.
00:11:18
Speaker
This is what we do, and we do that thanks to harnessing the properties of protein when we have a specific application in mind.
00:11:31
Speaker
I wanted to ask you, there are already some letters, plant-based letters out there that are starting to become more popular like Pinotex, pineapple leather, cactus leather. They have been advertised as replacements for petrochemical leather or real leather.
00:11:56
Speaker
but then there are problems there. Most of the time, they're coated with synthetic materials that are not 100% plant-based. What's the difference between
Comparison With Plant-Based Leathers
00:12:06
Speaker
the leather that you're making and those plant-based leathers that are out there and already selling? I think that what is interesting is, first of all, it's as you say, the materials out there, including leather, are not 100%
00:12:24
Speaker
bio. And this is where I think people think, oh, leather is animal and therefore is natural or is organic. And I'm saying yes, but not 100%. So what has happened is we as consumers are requiring specific quality from our material
00:12:45
Speaker
that nature cannot provide at its basic stage, including leather. I repeat, it's not only a problem of cactus or pineapple or whatever it is.
00:12:58
Speaker
Most material, including ours, does include some, and in our case, it's biopolymer, but there is trace of petrochemical. This provides the material some specific integrity. In our case,
00:13:19
Speaker
First of all, our plant-based protein is a byproduct of an industry that is the agricultural industry, and that is readily available, that is traceable, that is not NGO, and that is not
00:13:33
Speaker
Basically, if we were not using it, it would be destroyed. This is a number one difference in terms of the input. The second is because protein is such a marvelous molecule, it's not a filler. And most of the quote unquote natural ingredients you have mentioned are fillers, meaning that they are creating weight or they are providing to some extent the body to the material, but they don't have mechanical property.
00:14:00
Speaker
Our blend has mechanical property. That's why we have materials that are extremely durable, if we wanted to, or they have amazing color spectrum. They have, again, breathability. This you cannot achieve them with the other material that you have mentioned.
00:14:20
Speaker
Finally, in our case, we are scaled up. There is no limitation in terms of the amount that we can produce, and the cost is the same as current material, including leather, which is again a difference versus the brands or the companies you have mentioned. I would say they are bio-innovator. I think there is a lot of room in the market for all of us.
00:14:49
Speaker
Everybody needs to be very transparent and clear on what they are providing, both in terms of what the composition of the material is, but also the performance. In our case, we have unparalleled performance.
00:15:03
Speaker
Some of the brands you mentioned, they do not have the durability, they do not have the color spectrum, they do not have the performance that we have, and we are full-blown at scale at competitive pricing.
Adoption Challenges in Fashion
00:15:16
Speaker
You mentioned some of the challenges within the fashion industry regarding sustainability. The fashion industry has made some progress there, but why do you think the progress is still small, considering the innovation
00:15:30
Speaker
So I think there is multiple things. First of all, it's not all the technology that are out there provide the same quality that incumbent material provide. So it is very difficult to have a material that is look and feel like leather. We have one which is called Biovera, but is unique in the market. It's a non-animal derived hide.
00:15:58
Speaker
that really looks like leather or suede, but it's extremely difficult to obtain. The same way the material that is comparable to the competition you mentioned, which is called Biotex, we are in market and we have brands like Sun Rev, Evelyn, but also Tory Burch.
00:16:15
Speaker
And those brands have adopted biotechs, which is a quoted textile that look and feel like leather the way you wanna see it in an accessory. But I think that, and we have to praise those brands and took the quote unquote risk to partner with us, which were, we are startup, we're a small company. And I think that's what is the situation with the fashion industry today is basically multiple. Is the tech viable?
00:16:43
Speaker
Is the price competitive? Are you going to be able to produce in the quantities that are needed? And the final is, can you disclose what you are providing? Not every startup gives an LCA, which is a life cycle analysis, which is really an overview of the impact of the material we're putting in market. And in our case, we have. We are providing hardcore data
00:17:13
Speaker
both in terms of the quality of the material but also on the sustainability profile. So compared to synthetic or compared to leather, the brands that are deciding to basically use our material in their product, they know what they get. They know to the end level what they get. And I think that this level of transparency is also not very common.
00:17:37
Speaker
I wanted to ask you, well, we had some of the guests here who are not particularly in the fashion industry or producing materials for the fashion industry, but we have some who really do that, like lens attack or renew sale. I don't know if you've heard of them. Yes. Yes, of course.
00:17:56
Speaker
Yeah, and while there are challenges there, they're working with big brands collaborating, but my feel is like the big brands are always making small capsule collections with innovative textiles and not, you know, embracing it for larger quantities. Why do you think is that and where do you see
00:18:15
Speaker
Let's say challenges in the future and where do you see opportunities from where we're at at the moment? Will innovative tech brands, will they be able to survive this market or not?
Optimism for Sustainable Fashion
00:18:29
Speaker
Well, I think that I'm going to solve your last question. I think that we will survive. I think some of us are going to face, I mean, there is tailwind and there is headwind. So we need to survive because we need to provide alternatives that are less taxing one way or another.
00:18:50
Speaker
So I think collectively we need to make sure that happens. Now, there are some tailwind, which is, you know, the regulatory environment is pushing everybody in the right direction, making sure that not only we are basically providing transparency and traceability on the material, but also
00:19:08
Speaker
We are communicating in a way that is clear and simple and not misleading to consumer. And finally, again, go back, what is the impact of your material in terms of scope three globally? The brands will have to face that. Some of them already are very clear that they've made pledge. So they have to find a way to basically fulfill their commitment.
00:19:34
Speaker
But I agree with you. It is slow. And they are scared. They're scared or some of them are not incentivized. I mean, some of them don't see the need right away to do this. Some of them are scared because, again, they want to have a material that is as performant and that is at scale. The third, I would say, is just internal processes.
00:19:57
Speaker
We're talking about materials that are very specific and they're very technical. And therefore, when a company like Modern Meadow presents a material like Bio-Tex or Bio-Ver, or Bio-Tex Shield, which is a membrane that we provide that doesn't use PFAS or solvent, but allows material to be breathable, for example, you would think it's a slam dunk, right?
00:20:20
Speaker
But you have to talk to the sustainability department, the innovation department, the purchasing department, the studio that is doing the design. You talk to so many different actors within each company that it takes a long time.
00:20:39
Speaker
to get first what you mentioned as a collection. But in our case, we rarely do collection. We go for usually for the gusto. But it takes a long time within the company to get all the actors aligned, agreed, and to sign at the bottom of the page to switch from material they know is more polluting, but they know the good, the bad, the ugly to something that is new to them.
00:21:10
Speaker
Yeah, well, especially in big companies. But can you tell me, is the challenge maybe the communicating of the new technologies to consumers and then to potential collaborators as in big brands, big companies as well? Because so far when I'm talking to people from the clean tech, biotech, agri-tech, nature tech space here, they do say that the communication is a challenge because people are slow to accept new things.
00:21:36
Speaker
Uh-huh. And how it's difficult. The processes are slow.
00:21:40
Speaker
So how it has been for you? I think companies and consumers are different. We feel different issues. Consumers, I think it's not a question of store, right? If you tell them, okay, this is the same, you get the same thing, but better.
00:21:55
Speaker
and it's less taxing on the environment and it's circular in our case and this and that, they will go for it. I think that the challenge is the misunderstanding of miscommunication. I think that a lot of the brand or even innovators sometimes come out to say that, oh, we are 100% this and we're 0% that and we are
00:22:19
Speaker
And it's not the reality. Again, there are a lot of misconceptions as well. People think that leather is natural. There is nothing natural in anything we use. I don't want to pick on leather. It's the same thing with everything else that is around us. Everything is processed.
00:22:37
Speaker
And I think that people sometimes forget that and they have this high expectation that are sometimes unrealistic based on where the technology is today. That said, it is our duty as innovators to not only continue to constantly go further and push the limit, but also to say what it does and it doesn't. At the end, we are on a journey.
00:22:59
Speaker
And yes, what I keep on saying is in our case, we have material that are bio-replacement. They are as good, but less taxing in terms of sustainability KPIs. And we have solutions that are bio-best because they are unleashing performance that not even the existing material provide. But this is where we need to explain that to consumers. And unfortunately, sometimes they don't have the attention span.
00:23:27
Speaker
to understand what the situation is today and where we're going tomorrow. In terms of the brand, I do believe that their challenge is to simplify this message while being genuine and
00:23:43
Speaker
as transparent as they can. And this is, again, where we work with them to not only provide them innovation that are sound, but also how to simply communicate or communicate it as simple as simply as possible to the end user. You mentioned traceability and transparency several times during this talk. So can you tell me how can fashion industry benefit from having a similar level of transparency and accountability in the supply
Traceability and Transparency in Fashion
00:24:13
Speaker
chain?
00:24:13
Speaker
So I would say first of all, it's not easy because every item that you can, that you sell at the end to a consumer is composed of and touched by hundreds of companies and peoples, right? So it's not an easy task. Is it impossible? No, because there are other industry, example, the beauty industry that has implemented systems that allow this traceability to be
00:24:41
Speaker
to exist. The reason why it's earlier in the beauty hygiene and health industry is because it is touching human health. Therefore, safety being what it is, those systems and processes I've had to put into places 20, 30 years ago.
00:24:58
Speaker
Now, it is new to the fashion industry. A lot of things have to be set up and a lot of things have to be at great cost. And this is where this is an industry that has very low margin and a lot of local players. That's why it's taking a little bit of time.
00:25:14
Speaker
In our case, we are a newer company and we have had that at our core from the get-go. Therefore, all the ingredients that are composing our solutions, we trace them. This is how we do business with our current partners and any future partner.
00:25:37
Speaker
a way we do business. Therefore, when we talk to a brand, they have the ability to really understand all the input and where it is being processed and produced and how. Again, to do an LCA, by the way, this is what you need. No LCA would be possible if we didn't have this information. But this is not an easy task, but it is an important one.
00:26:05
Speaker
And it will allow every actor in the industry to not only understand a little bit better, be a little bit more accountable and responsible for what we do or don't do, and make more intelligent choices in general.
Modern Metal's Vision for Sustainability
00:26:22
Speaker
And how do you see the future of Modern Meadow? Do you see biomaterials changing traditional ones and then making the fashion industry better?
00:26:33
Speaker
Oh, yes, yes, and yes. So I think the future for us is very bright. I think that there is a lot of work to do. There is a lot of opportunities. There is a lot of challenges that we can help solve. We will not and cannot do it alone. That's why we have a tremendous amount of amazing partners that are going to help us. And we are joining to solve because it is
00:26:59
Speaker
for the right reason. It is for the right reason in terms of business. It's the right way to do it in terms of for our teams and our partners and stakeholder. And it is the right thing to do for the consumer. And eventually it will be the right thing to do for the planet. But no, there's a lot of things to do and we look forward to it. And how to make biomaterials and all other more sustainable materials more available for brands and companies.
00:27:29
Speaker
Well, in our case, we are, you know, we had, well, obviously we talked today a lot about fashion, but we are fashion footwear. We are talking to the automotive industry, the upholstery industry. We're talking to many, many industry airline, some companies, all of them are looking for material that are as, as qualitative, but again, more environmentally conscious.
00:27:54
Speaker
So again, we are in many, many industries with different material. As I mentioned, you know, biotechs, biotechs, shield, biovera, all materials that provide those opportunities or those possibilities to those big industries.
00:28:14
Speaker
all of them are wanting to do this and we're going to join and partner with them and you're going to see us or you're going to feel us when you sit down or when you hold a bag or when you wear a pants, you're going to be basically the material is going to be powered by our innovation at Monomato.
00:28:29
Speaker
That's great to hear.
Closing and Call to Action
00:28:32
Speaker
For the end, can you tell us, can you tell me and our listeners, viewers, where they can follow Modern Meadow, where they can get more informed and learn about the other biomaterials that you mentioned that we didn't talk about here?
00:28:48
Speaker
Well, I would say go to our website, and there you will see our partners, both in terms of brands and in terms of business. I mentioned Sanre, Vervellain, Tory Burch, Close, but there is also other partners that we're working with, like the Syntex and the Limanta or the BSF of the world, and these are the companies with which we work very closely to provide better innovation.
00:29:15
Speaker
We're going to mention all your handles in the description of the video audio so everyone who's listening can check out the description and click on the links and find out more about Modern Meadow and Catherine. Thank you once again for being my guest on the Green New Perspective podcast and my last question I have to ask you, how do you see the future of sustainability? Are you optimistic, cautiously optimistic or
00:29:39
Speaker
No, I am optimistic because it is, as I said, it is the right things to do for financially, business-wise and human-wise. And now, is it going to be a smooth ride? It hasn't been, it's not going to be. But it's a good challenge for every one of us to tackle in our own way. Well, thank you. That's a great answer. Thank you once again.
00:30:14
Speaker
Thank you for joining this conversation about the incredible world of biodesign technology with Catherine Rogiero-Ovissi, CEO of Mother Meadow. Her expertise in sustainable materials is shaping the future for fashion for sure and beauty and beyond with nature inspired proteins. So to stay informed and be part of our informed clean tech community, don't forget to subscribe. So together we are building a future where sustainability meets innovation. So once again, thank you for tuning in and hopefully I see you next time.
00:30:44
Speaker
you