Last checked at 29 Feb 2024 07:00
29 February 2024
BSF Enterprise PLC
("BSF" or the "Company")
MoU with Sustainable Fashion Company Amelie Pichard
3DBT and Amelie Pichard to produce World's First Fashion Accessory using Lab-Grown Leather
BSF (LSE: BSFA), (OTCQB: BSFAF), the Main Market listed biotech company and owner of pioneering UK-based tissue engineering company 3D Bio-Tissues (3DBT) and corneal tissue replacement company Kerato, announces that 3DBT has signed an MoU with Maison Amelie Pichard, a fashion company that designs and makes products using environmentally friendly materials.
The collaboration will explore future commercial opportunities, working together to develop, manufacture, and ultimately sell fashion accessories that incorporate lab-grown leather. This is a milestone event, marking the first time real lab-grown leather has been ethically produced for the fashion industry using the same structures as traditional leather, without the need for plant-based scaffolds, making it suitable for traditional craft purposes.
Amelie Pichard's business model is based around sustainability, making batches of bags and shoes on demand only when prior batches have sold out to minimise waste and repairing and reselling products to maximise their lifetime. Using a plethora of materials, such as eel Leather, upcycled denim, natural cork, cactus, pinatex (pineapple leaves), and, with 3DBT, lab-grown leather, the Amelie Pichard seeks to work with the most future-proofed and environmentally friendly options for materials.
The collaboration is seeking to reduce reliance on leather in its products rather than eliminate the use, therefore incorporating elements of lab-grown leather within the production process. BSF will work to develop many different products that can be used both in production and in repair for resale, enabling more rapid improvement in the development process.
As reported in its recent strategic update, BSF expects to establish its lab-grown leather offering as a separate subsidiary company, Lab-Grown Leather Limited, in H2 2024. This will enable the development and sales of its animal skin products to be scaled up to meet the substantial market opportunity. The leather goods market was valued at $253 billion in 2023 and is forecast to grow to $405 billion by 2030.
The Company is also in the process of building a leather tanning capability within its laboratory at Newcastle. A further announcement will be made in due course, providing details on the leather tanning capabilities, alongside an update on other ongoing previously announced partnerships and proposed future commercial opportunities.
Amelie Pichard, Founder and Creative Director of the Company said: "I drew a lot of inspiration from the farming world of yesteryear to give my company a different approach to fashion. A direct sale, a company on a human scale, a de-standardization, a sustainability of craftsmanship, a natural rhythm. For me, using natural, laboratory-grown leather that doesn't harm animals or the planet represents technology at the service of good Innovation. I'm delighted to be able to create a real bridge between innovation and tradition with this first lab-grown-leather goods item."
Che Connon, Managing Director of BSF Enterprise and CEO of 3DBT, commented: "We are delighted to be collaborating with a company that has led the way in environmentally friendly fashion. Utilising lab-grown leather is an inevitable next step for the fashion industry if it is to create a sustainable future and it is extremely exciting to be working toward being the first at doing this. We look forward to providing further updates on the progress of this partnership in due course."
For further enquiries, please visit www.bsfenterprise.com or contact:
BSF Enterprise PLC |
Via SEC Newgate below |
Geoff Baker - Executive Director Che Connon - CEO & Director | |
Shard Capital (Broker) | |
Damon Heath Isabella Pierre | 0207 186 9000 0207 186 9927
|
SEC Newgate (Financial Communications) | |
Bob Huxford Elisabeth Cowell
| 020 3757 6882 BSF@secnewgate.co.uk |
ISIN of the Ordinary Shares is GB00BHNBDQ51
SEDOL Code is BHNBDQ5.
Notes to Editors
BSF Enterprise PLC (BSF) is focused on unlocking the next generation of biotechnological solutions - using cell-based tissue engineering to help generate cultured meat, lab-grown leather, as well as human corneas, collagen growth and skin substitutes, as part of a radical transformation to deliver sustainable solutions across a variety of sectors.
It owns 100% of 3D Bio-Tissues (3DBT), a tissue engineering with patent-protected IP that is already producing human corneas for testing to help restore vision to millions of people. Building on this success, it aims to produce the UK's first high quality lab-grown meat and leather from its laboratory in Newcastle, transforming the meat-production industry and the leather industry towards an ethical and sustainable practice.
BSF aims to deliver growth to shareholders through the continued commercialisation of 3DBT's IP, which has multiple applications, as well as through M&A. It aims to develop a suite of technologies that underpins the development of tissue templating for corneas, meat and leather, and license out the IP to manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors to help manufacture the products at scale.