The fashion industry is always looking for something new and novel and has to deal with a labour intensive process which has been abused in the past with issues such as child labour. With growing use of synthetic materials and genetically modified products in an increasingly environmentally conscious world, the Micro 'be' project's material is the ultimate in environmentally friendly textiles. As the material produced by the action of a bacterial culture on the alcohol is cellulose, it is naturally degradable in the environment.

The Micro 'be' material has the future potential to compete against other textiles by offering a low production cost material for fashion that is adaptable and has the potential to replace synthetic materials in manufacture. Due to the rising global oil price, the cost of synthetic materials is becoming increasingly expensive. This product will allow for a greater choice of organic/low impact materials for the fashion industry.

As the fabric is naturally grown it minimises the use of machinery it offers a 'green' alternative to traditional carbon producing textiles manufacture. This may appeal to an increasingly 'green' oriented consumer market.

The colouration of the fabric can be varied based on the alcohol used in manufacture. For example, red wine gives red fabric and white wine or beer creates a translucent, see through material (Fig 5).

The most important advantage over conventional textiles that the Micro'be' material has is the potential for manufacturers to save on the high labour costs of patterning, cutting and stitching the final garment. As such, it has the potential to reinvigorate the Australian textile manufacturing industry and effectively compete against low-labour cost countries who currently dominate the global textile industry. This project also develops Australia's reputation for innovation in environmental and bio-degradable technologies.

One major problem with the Micro 'be' fermented fabric is that it lacks flexibility, which in turn reduces wearability. We aim to rectify this issue soon, producing a garment that will be suitable for commercial use. Several chemical trials have achieved some success, giving an optimistic future for solving the flexibility drawback. Also the material has a distinctive smell, smelling like a hangover or a kind of morning-after-the-night-before smell; a kind of stale alcohol aroma. It is strongly believed that this later problem will be resolved with the chemical treatments used to fix the flexibility issue.