The Micro 'be' material at this early stage of development smells like red wine and feels like sludge when wet, but the cotton-like cellulose dress fits snugly as a second skin. It is very delicate, comprising micro-fibrils of cellulose. The unique bacterial fermented dress, made from wine, could mark the start of fabrics fermented by living microbes entering the $330 million per annum Australian textile manufacturing industry. Inspiration for the cellulose garments came when Cass noticed a skin-like layer covering a vat of wine that had been contaminated with bacteria and gone 'off'.

The bacteria that caused the spoilage were a colony of Acetobacter, transforming the wine into vinegar. The by-product of this activity is the formation of cellulose, a slimy, rubbery, soft, skin like substance. This substance termed the 'vinegar mother' originates from the ancient European; a few millenniums ago they believed that it was the skin of mother that 'gives birth' to the vinegar once it was placed in the wine. Non-hazardous and non-pathogenic bacteria, Acetobacter are rod shaped bacteria, 1-4m in size. They are aerobic (requiring oxygen) and can be found to be motile or non-motile.

Acetobacter are distinguished by their ability to convert ethanol (wine) to acetic acid (vinegar). Another feature of Acetobacter is the synthesis of large quantities of micro fibrils of pure cellulose. An explanation for the synthesis of this cellulose is to keep the bacteria close to the surface. Deacon, 1996 terms the material a biofilm; a type of cellulitic raft that floats the bacteria close to the surface of the liquid where the most oxygen is found. From an ecological view point, the Acetobacter has evolved to deal with the high alcohol and acidic environments of decaying plant material left behind by yeasts and other micro flora (VanDemark & Batzing, 1987).

The initial garments fashioned and images of the fabric in the 'Spirit Awassi' collection ran with the narrative of the evolution of a new garment (Fig 3). The garments were given a prehistoric theme to emphasise their organic origin and an appearance representing the fundamental elements of life, earth, fire, water and wind (Fig 4).

The organic Micro 'be' fabric is biodegradable benefiting the textile community and environment by developing new ways to approach textile manufacturing. These organic textiles produce their own colour and structure, providing an eco-friendly "conceptual" alternative to cloth manufacturing - drawing attention to environmental conservation.