London-based creative studio Blond has designed a baby bottle with a fully silicone interior that it claims makes it one of the most hygienic bottles on the market.
Made from three components – a plastic lid, an ultra-wide silicone teat and a silicone bottle – the Borrn baby bottle's defining feature is its sandwich structure which means that the contents of the bottle never come into contact with plastic, only BPA-free medical-grade silicone.
The structure is achieved using twin-shot moulding technology – an advanced moulding process which encapsulates the bottle's plastic structure inside the silicone.
As a result the walls of the bottle are thicker than is standard, making it more durable. The silicone can also withstand extreme temperatures allowing it to be sterilised repeatedly with little or no wear.
"At Blond, we aim for a reduction in plastic waste wherever possible, as part of every project," Blond director James Melia told Dezeen. "However, due to the nature and make-up of certain products, such as baby bottles; plastic and plastic-based materials will often still provide advantages over other alternatives."
"In these instances, we believe it is important to design for longevity. As Dieter Rams would say: 'Less but Better'. These bottles have been designed with this thought process in-mind."
As well as thicker walls and a greater tolerance of high temperatures, the bottles come with different silicone lids that eventually replace the teat and covering lid. These lids can be attached to change the functionality for different stages of childhood.
"Essentially, the product can grow with the child and even be passed down to future children," said Melia. "When the time does come to dispose of the product, Borrn will be offering a returns service. They will dismantle and recycle each component."
Blond wanted the design of the bottle to eschew the typical child-like aesthetic associated with baby products and instead took cues from homeware and furniture design so that the design would appeal to parents.
"So many baby products are designed with a bubbly and child-like outlook. In reality, it is not the child who will be appreciating (or living with) the aesthetic, it is the parent," said Melia.
"During the research stages of the project we were shocked to discover how many baby brands still opt for pink for girls and blue for boys. This is something we wanted to break-away from. So, we carefully selected more neutral colours to challenge these dated stereotypes."
The more sophisticated gender-neutral design has a tapered shape that starts as an oval at the base and gently blends into a circle where it meets the lid.
"The bottle has been designed like this; to allow the parent to easily grip the bottle, to help mix formula, if used, and to prevent the bottle from rolling away," explained Melia.
Other recently launched designs for new parents and babies include a cordless breast pump designed to be worn inconspicuously in any nursing bra and a breastfeeding bench for use in public spaces, to offer comfort and privacy to mothers when tending to their babies.