For the brand Pilsner Urquell, a dress with fabric from Pilsner lager was created by product studio Imminent in collaboration with designer Jakub Polanka and the company Nanollose.
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The innovative material was developed exclusively for this project by the Australian research firm Nanollose. The substance from Pilsner Urquell beer was created using the same fermentation process that Nanollose uses to make sustainable Nullarbor fibers. The process converts agricultural waste and by-products into forest-friendly microbial cellulose, creating an alternative raw material for fiber production. Unlike the Nullarbor, the pilsner material feels like leather to the touch.
"Together with the team of Australian scientists from Nanollose, we developed the material for several months so that it met all our requirements. The journey to the ideal texture, thickness and color of the material was sometimes a challenge, as the fermentation process is time-consuming and often unpredictable," says Veronika Ohrádková, producer of the Imminent studio, adding: "For Nanollos, working with the material was also a challenge, as they had never developed sheets of such a large size and scale before. The successful result of the successful fermentation therefore pleased not only us, but also them."
(Lots happening behind the scenes for the snipers here, or those with little patience, with the NC6 crew meeting each successive challenge.)
The first public project of the Imminent product hub had its premiere at the 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF). The Pilsner Urquell brand initiated the idea and presented a vision in which it and Imminent complemented each other. The studio, in collaboration with designer Jakub Polanka, designed and produced the concept of an evening dress, which includes fabric from Pilsner lager.
"We thought about how to create a revolutionary fashion innovation in the Czech Republic that the whole world could talk about. It was at that moment that we made contact with the Pilsner Urquell marketing team, who impressed us with their courage and the way they think about their brand. The rest is history," says Darko Silajdžić, CEO of Imminent.
For this project, studio Imminent approached one of the most successful Czech fashion designers, Jakub Polanka. He incorporated the experimental material into a dress in the form of beer bubbles, which follow this year's Pilsner Urquell brand campaign "The best bubbles in Vary".
This is not only the first evening dress made of Pilsner Urquell beer, but the first dress made of any beer in the world. Czech actress and writer Aňa Geislerová wore the dress at the opening night of KVIFF. The dress will be on view in the Pilsner Urquell zone in Karlovy Vary for the rest of the festival. After the festival, the dresses will be auctioned for the benefit of the Umbrella Center.
The aim of the project was to highlight the importance of innovative materials that represent the constant pushing of boundaries, technological development and access to sustainable resources – these are the values with which both Imminent and the Asahi group, under which the Pilsner Urquell brand falls, identify.
