Thai craft goes bio‑fiber

Thailand will use Milan Design Week 2026 to show a new version of its craft industry: less recycled scrap, more bio-based materials grown from farm waste and fungi. (designboom.com) The exhibition, called “Slow Hand Design 2026,” runs from April 19 to 26 at Superstudio Events in Milan and is organized by Thailand’s Department of International Trade Promotion, part of the Ministry of Commerce. Assistant Professor Eggarat Wongcharit is curating the show under the theme “Heritage Reimagined: The Futuristic Thai Crafts Evolution.” (designboom.com) Thai officials say the show brings together 25 designers and brands. Fuorisalone, the Milan design week platform, lists it at Superstudio Più on Via Tortona 27 as part of the city’s 2026 program. (fuorisalone.it) (creativethailand.net) The material shift is the point of the exhibition. Designboom says the 2026 edition moves Thai craft toward “agricultural-based upcycled materials,” including mycelium surfaces, bio-melanin fiber and tiles made from rice husks and coffee parchment. (designboom.com) Mycelium is the root-like network that lets mushrooms grow, and designers press it with agricultural waste into hard panels and tiles. In Milan, Mush Composites is showing “Mush Art Tiles,” which the exhibition describes as solid surfaces with patterns that cannot be exactly repeated. (designboom.com) (biofuelsdigest.com) Another project comes from INDIN STUDIO, which developed a biobased melanin fiber through a soil-based process. Designboom says the material is grown from acidic sulfate soil through a bio-organic method and presented as a skin-like surface. (designboom.com) (biofuelsdigest.com) WASOO is bringing art tiles made from rice husks and coffee parchment, with pigments derived from organic waste. The exhibition materials say those tiles are fire-retardant and absorb sound, giving farm residue a second use in interiors. (designboom.com) (biofuelsdigest.com) The show also keeps one foot in Thailand’s older craft and manufacturing base. Suchai Craft is recasting Thai aluminum wares into sculptural objects, while Loqa says it uses traditional brick-making knowledge to upcycle 90 percent of architectural waste into two-dimensional and three-dimensional functional pieces. (designboom.com) Thailand has been using Milan as a design export stage for years. A Thai Commerce Ministry event page says the department joined Milan Design Week from 2011 to 2019 and again from 2023 to 2025, for 13 editions under the “Slow Hand Design” name before this year’s return. (event.moc.go.th) That long run helps explain why the 2026 edition is framed as an evolution, not a debut. The closing image is still handmade Thai craft, but the materials now include mushroom roots, crop residue and engineered bio-fibers headed for one of design’s biggest global stages. (designboom.com)