Podcast Summary: Eureka – How Gozen Is Growing a New Material That’s Taking Over the Runways

Podcast: The Entrepreneurs (Monocle)
Host: Tom Edwards
Guest: Ece Gözandı, Co-founder & CEO of Gozen
Episode Air Date: October 10, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode spotlights Ece Gözandı, co-founder and CEO of Gozen, an Istanbul-based biotechnology scale-up revolutionizing the fashion and material industries. Ece shares the company’s journey from inspiration to innovation, focusing on Lunaform—a game-changing, fully bio-based material already featured by iconic brands like Balenciaga. The conversation delves into the intersection of design, biology, and sustainability, showcasing how Gozen is pushing the boundaries of material science for a more responsible and imaginative future.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Ece’s Journey and Transformation (01:25–04:10)

• Design Roots and Shift in Focus:

  • Ece began as a fashion and textile designer, drawing inspiration from nature and technology.
  • A turning point arrived six to seven years ago when she realized that just taking inspiration wasn’t enough:

    “I was also as a designer serving to the industry who also causes to the planet. So I literally stopped everything and started to think…” (01:36)

  • Stepped away from conventional fashion to tackle its root sustainability challenges, transitioning from designer to “bioalchemist,” innovator, CEO, and entrepreneur.

• Holistic Approach:

  • Ece considers herself a shapeshifter in roles:

    “Everyone keeps asking me what the hell I'm doing. And honestly, it's really, really hard to explain. I feel like I'm everything at once... designer, innovator, creative director, CEO.” (02:52)

  • Blends art, science, and business; sees herself fundamentally as a “bioalchemist” using nature’s systems to create tangible solutions.

Introducing Lunaform: The Breakthrough Material (04:11–07:10)

• Material Overview:

  • “Lunaform is Gozen’s breakthrough material innovation.”
  • Grown—not manufactured—via proprietary Biocraft technology. Organic, strong, scalable, and intended for creatives seeking both “beauty and impact.”
  • Produced entirely in seven days using fermentation (likened to yogurt or beer-making processes).

• Creation Process:

  • Fermentation: Microorganisms (“creative bees”) are fed natural agents, transforming fermentation liquid into solid biopolymer sheets (Lunaform).
  • Each sheet is unique—“a living material born from nature” with its own “texture and memory.”

    “You can think about fermentation processes like fermenting your yogurt or fermenting your beer... In seven days that fermentation liquid becomes a solid as a biopolymer.” (05:25) "So Lunaform is our honey... a material grown through collaboration, not extraction." (06:10)

• Environmental and Production Advantages:

  • Skips toxic traditional steps of leather/cotton production.
  • Enables rapid, minimal-input, and cleaner manufacturing.
  • Embodies a shift from extraction to collaboration with nature.

Real-World Impact and Industry Adoption (07:11–08:18)

• Industry Recognition & Partnerships:

  • Balenciaga debuted Lunaform in its Spring/Summer 2024 collection.
  • Gozen operates a facility in Istanbul—the heart of the textile/leather sector—serving multiple brands.
  • The company prioritizes not just B2B sales but also storytelling to reach end consumers.

• Vision for Growth & Collaboration:

  • Stresses the need for wider industry impact through mass production and strategic, visionary partnerships:

    “If you really want to jump a bigger impact… we have to also create mass production and collaborative work for the future and we need a strategic partnership to really achieve that milestones…” (08:04)

  • Focuses on responsible, future-proof collaborations with like-minded visionaries.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Role Evolution:

  “I feel like I'm everything at once because I'm a designer, innovator, creative director and CEO, and it's like I'm constantly shapeshifting. That word defines me.”
  — Ece Gözandı (02:54)

• On Creating Lunaform:

  “Each piece has its own texture and its own memory. It's a living material born from nature.”
  — Ece Gözandı (06:01)

• On the Gozen Philosophy:

  “We are not just scientists, we are not just designers… because we are the bearers of possibility and the drivers of the necessary change.”
  — Ece Gözandı (07:09)

Key Timestamps

• 00:15–01:25: Host introduction, overview of Gozen and Lunaform.
• 01:25–04:10: Ece’s background, perspective shift from designer to bioalchemist.
• 04:11–07:10: Scientific and creative explanation of Lunaform, fermentation analogy, environmental benefits.
• 07:11–08:18: Industry partnerships, facility in Istanbul, communication strategies, vision for scaling up.
• 08:19–08:49: Closing remarks, where to learn more.

Tone and Language

Ece’s narrative is visionary and passionate, blending the rigor of science with creative storytelling. She often uses metaphors (“creative bees,” “honey,” “shapeshifting,” “bearers of possibility”) to bridge technical concepts and human imagination, reinforcing Gozen's mission as both pragmatic and inspirational.