Natural Material Studio

Bonnie Hvillum isn’t just rethinking materials – she’s ripping up the rulebook. At Natural Material Studio in Copenhagen, waste isn’t waste. It’s the future. Biopolymers, pine needles, seashells, algae – if nature made it, Hvillum is finding a way to turn it into living, breathing design. Circular, compostable, and tactile, her materials react to their surroundings, shifting and morphing like they’ve got a pulse.

The Lighting Works proves the point. A stretch of biopolymers, natural softeners, and chalk tensioned over oak, glowing under cool-toned LEDs. Heat it up, and it expands. Chill it down, and it contracts. Like all of the Studio’s fabrics, it moves in rhythm with the climate – a material that doesn’t just sit there but responds.

Fashion? She’s in that, too. For Calvin Klein, she created Procel gift pouches – crafted from pigments and raw materials sourced straight from nature. At London Fashion Week, she developed charcoal-infused textiles for Moskal – fabric that doesn’t just look good but actively purifies the air and biodegrades into natural fertiliser when its time is up.

Hvillum’s background in interaction design and circular economies makes one thing clear: she’s not just crafting materials – she’s building a new design language. Luxury doesn’t have to mean excess. It can be compostable, fluid, and radical.

Alongside Rita Trindade of Through Objects, she co-founded The Material Way – an online platform and global network dedicated to rethinking natural materials in design.

If you care about design, sustainability, and the radical future of materials, you’ll want Natural Material Studio firmly on your radar. This is the next frontier – where waste becomes raw luxury.