Fungi can inform thinking about fashion on lots of levels. “We have been trained as consumers to think in terms of a straight line whereby we buy something, use it and throw it away. “If fungi didn’t do what they do, our planet would be piled metres high in the bodies of animals and plants,” he told The Guardian. Sheldrake, however, thought the use of mushroom materials themselves could teach designers and consumers a new relationship with waste.
She said the most sustainable leather option was to buy real leather second hand.
“But with a recycled label, consumers may think they don’t have to keep it for long, thinking the product will have a low impact once put in a landfill.” “If consumers spend $4,000 on a Gucci bag, they’ll keep it around,” she told Input. While plant-or-fungi-based materials are preferable to animal or plastic-based leather options, they still encourage the production and consumption of a steady supply of new goods, Leeds pointed out. If that happens, though, there is a risk the sustainability factor could decrease. However, he said partnerships with more affordable brands are “on the radar.” “These are brands which are in a position to think big and to think long term.” “We are working with luxury fashion first because they are ahead of the curve when it comes to sustainability,” MycoWorks CEO Dr. This movement towards mushroom-based leather is so far starting with high fashion. “If its supply chain had been operating fine with real leather, the only reason it would change its leather is because consumers were demanding sustainable alternatives.” “It’s a company and it exists for profit,” she told Input of Hermès’s foray into vegan leathers. The rise of alternative materials reflects a real desire from consumers to buy more sustainable and ethical products, sustainability blogger Sara Anne Leeds told Input. The livestock sector is responsible for 14.5 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, and a recent report found that major fashion brands including Coach, Prada and Adidas are sourcing their leather from tanneries and manufacturers linked to Amazon deforestation. The rise of the new material comes as there is growing awareness of the environmental harms caused by animal agriculture.
MycoWorks: The Making of Reishi™️ Fine Mycelium™️ Another company called Bolt Threads is also using mushroom-based leather to work with Stella McCartney and with Adidas on a handbag, according to The Guardian. “A strong fascination with natural raw material and its transformation, a quest for excellence, with the aim of ensuring that objects are put to their best use and that their longevity is maximized.” “MycoWorks’ vision and values echo those of Hermès,” Hermès artistic director Pierre-alexis dumas told designboom at the time. In March, the material entered the high fashion world for the first time as a Hermès Victoria bag. “Fine Mycelium is a patented process to grow materials with superior strength, durability and performance.” “Fine Mycelium engineers mycelium cells as they grow to create three dimensional structures that are densely entwined and inherently strong,” the company website explains. However, biomaterials company MycoWorks has developed and patented a material called fine mycelium. Mycelium is another word for the threads that make up the vegetable part of mushroom-producing organisms, according to designboom. “There is so much potential in fungi to overcome some of the problems we face.” “I am excited to support the fashion world in its efforts to become more sustainable,” biologist Merlin Sheldrake, who wrote Entangled Lives: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures, told The Guardian ahead of the Business of Fashion Voices conference Thursday.