Bio-fabricated crafted forms
THE SILENT ART OF GROWTH
Rootfull cultivates textile by guiding plant root, as it grows, with templates that are intricately carved from beeswax. The process goes from seed to harvest in just two weeks and uses only organic and locally sourced ingredients; any excess shoot or seed is repurposed as animal fodder, leaving no waste behind. Through contemporary craft, innovation and invention, Rootfull bio-designs memorable artefacts that cultivate material intelligence and regenerative design.
SHOWS & EXHIBITIONS
2025 Future Fabrics Expo 24 & 25th June 2025
2025 First Light Festival Lowestoft Beach - 21 & 22 June
2025 Messums West 24th May - 15th June
2025 Tom Faulkner 19th - 31st May, Belgravia in Bloom, Pimlico, London
2025 Garden Futures: Designing with Nature 17th May 2025 - 25th January 2026, V&A
2025 Shifting Matter 14th-28th May, Roca Tile Studio NYCxDESIGN
2024 Heals, Festival of Light 7th-27th October, Tottenham Ct Rd, London
2024 Material Matters 18th- 21st September, London Design Festival, Oxo Tower
2024 Homo Faber 2024 1st-30th September, Venice, Italy
2024 Forum Arte Braga, 06.07.24 - 15.09.24, Braga, Portugal
2024 Future Fabrics Expo, 25 & 26th June, Magazine, London
2024 Ocean Talks by Boat International 6th June 2024, Serpentine Gallery, London
2024 RHS Chelsea Flower Show 21st - 25th May, London
2024 Surface Design Show 6th-8th February 2024, London Business Design Centre
2023 Mills Fabrica 1st October - 31st March 2024 - Kings Cross, London
2023 Formed X Future Heritage 9th - 13th October 2023, Chelsea, London
2023 RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023 Belgravia, London
2023 de le Cuona for London Craft Week, Belgravia, London
2023 Collect Craft Fair, Somerset House, London
2023 Gallery 57 ‘Earth Materials’, West Sussex, UK
2022 Ground Work Gallery ‘Deepwater’, Norfolk, UK
2022 Material Matters for London Design Festival, Oxo Tower, UK
2022 YKSI Expo & BioArt Laboratories for DDW, Netherlands
2022 Milan Design Week – Root dress, Italy
2022 Raw Assembly – Root dress, Melbourne, Australia
2022 Design Walk (MCBW)– Root dress, Munich, Germany
2022 Culture Sphere Gallery – Root sculpture, Germany
2021 Toast Rewilding Exhibit – Root sculpture, London
“It’s an interplay of craft, design, sustainability, chemistry and horticulture - fusing disciplines that would otherwise remain separated.”
AWARDS
Sculptural Installation at Messums (2025)
Creative Catalyst Programme, UK Innovate (2024)
Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medal (2024)
QEST Scholarship (2024)
Surface Design Show finalist (2024)
Chelsea Flower Show Silver Medal (2023)
Aesthetica Art Prize (2022)
Green Concept Award (2022)
Toast rewilding competition (2021)
supported by
Founded by an underwater photographer
Zena Holloway is a bio-designer, maker and the founder of Rootfull. For over 25 years, she's worked as an underwater photographer and director, featuring in publications including National Geographic, GQ, and The Sunday Times as well as creating global campaigns for clients such as Nike, Pepsi, Speedo, Sony and Greenpeace.
Through her work, she's seen the impact of environmental damage on our oceans firsthand, from coral bleaching to plastic pollution. This sparked a curiosity in material science which led to research in to bio-design. She built a fungarium in her basement to experiment with mycelium and a year later encountered the intricate root system of a willow tree in her local river:
What if we could grow our clothes from seed?
This idea became the foundation for Rootfull. Since 2018, Holloway has been biodesigning grass root materials and leans on her background in underwater photography to create pieces that echo the forms and textures of marine life.
