For centuries, the versatility, durability, and aesthetics of leather have won the hearts of the fashion industry, which now thrives on leather goods. However, it’s ironic how much its production costs the environment, not to mention how cruel it can be to animals. Isn’t it time for us to evolve?
Fortunately, a shift in consumers’ tastes towards products that live up to higher environmental and ethical standards is driving this long-awaited evolution. After years of experimentation and development, leather created from the roots of mushrooms, also known as “mycelium leather,” is hitting the market for the first time. Non-plastic, non-animal-based, and less energy-intensive… No wonders why it is causing a sensation!
Mycelium Leather, Mushroom Leather, Which Is It?
Mycelium or mushroom leather is a fabric made from mycelium, the web structure that forms the roots of mushrooms underground.[1] Mushrooms are actually the fruit of mycelium so, technically, “mushroom leather” is a misnomer.
Mycelium leather appears and feels like traditional leather while outperforming it in strength and durability. It’s also plastic free and not animal-based, fitting right in with consumers’ more conscious demands. “The process begins with mycelium cells grown on beds of sawdust and other organic material. Billions of cells grow to form an interconnected 3D network which is processed, tanned, and dyed.”[2]
This type of leather is made mainly by start-ups Bolt Threads and MycoWorks which are gaining support from big fashion brands such as Stella McCartney and Hermès.
How sustainable is Mycelium Leather?
Studies have shown that bovine leather produces more environmental damage than any other fabrics (including its plastic-based counterpart), due to the deforestation and gas emissions associated with animal rearing. Unlike it, mycelium leather was designed to be much kinder to the environment and those who live in it. This innovative material consumes significantly less land and emits fewer greenhouse gases than raising livestock. It’s also bio-based (made predominantly from renewable ingredients found in nature) and vegan.[3]
The material needs little time to be created using mainly mulch, air, and water. According to Bolt Threads, which produces Mylo, this process is done in a vertical agriculture facility that is 100% powered by renewable energy. It is then harvested and processed into material form using Green Chemistry principles [you can learn more about this process here]. Likewise, waste is reduced since mycelium leather can be grown in pieces to the specific shape and size required by a designer.
Can Mycelium Leather Compete With Traditional Leather?
Consumer demand for vegan and less environmentally damaging products is growing so companies and startups focused on next-generation materials are preparing themselves for wider commercialization. However, it’s too early to say if this material can compete with traditional leather. To make a real comparison it needs to go mainstream, this is, volumes need to scale up and prices brought down.
Also, to even compete with traditional leather, mycelium leather products need to be as good as leather, so that people don’t see it as a compromise. As Stella McCartney said, “everyone’s trying to make this work. Everybody wants to make it work. But until it works, they’re not going to take a leap of faith. Because they’ve got something that currently works very well for them.”[4]
The leap from labs to store shelves needs more testing and, hence, time. But how much longer will we have to wait? Stella McCartney’s newest bag (the Frayme Mylo™️ Shoulder Bag) took 5 years to make it to the market! Do we have that much time? Does the World have that time?
I know, it’s not about speed, it’s about getting to the right product with the best possible scalable quality. Yet, we’re talking about an industry that raises trillions and trillions of dollars, how come we are only doing this now? At least, efforts to resolve this are already underway. MycoWorks is working to open a new facility that can produce millions of square feet of its engineered mycelium each year. Bolt Threads is expanding a one-million-square-meter plant in the Netherlands, with plans to expand by two million square meters over the next three years.[5]
The Leather Revolution
Traditional leather’s incredibly high impact on the environment is attracting more and more scrutiny at the same time that its plastic cheap and poor-quality alternatives are losing followers: Welcome to the leather revolution!
This revolution goes beyond the love for the environment, it’s a business (not just a ‘green’) revolution. Let’s talk numbers: by 2026, the market for innovative alternatives to animal skins is expected to be worth $2.2 billion![6] Oh, did you think that Gucci, Balenciaga, Prada, and Hermès (among others) were investing in alternative materials just for the love of the environment?
In particular, mycelium leather is gaining momentum because consumers want high-quality, natural materials and fibers that are aligned with their values, and this material is here to serve. “Compared to other next-generation alternatives, the process to grow sheets of interlacing mushroom roots is relatively mature, requires little energy or land and has a manufacturing process that is relatively easy to scale.”[7] That’s prompted a nearly unprecedented collaboration between brands, material science startups, and manufacturers to get the technology to market.
The most iconic example is Stella McCartney, who redefined luxury by avoiding animal leather, feathers, or fur in her collections. It doesn’t come as a surprise then that she was one of the first major designers to bet on mycelium leather, giving birth to the first product ever created with Mylo: a prototype of Stella’s Falabella bag. In fact, this was such a milestone that the bag debuted as part of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Fashioned from Nature exhibition in 2018.[8]
Other brands that jumped on the mushroom bandwagon include athletic apparel brand, lululemon, who revealed the world’s first Mylo yoga accessories (some of the capsule products include the Meditation and Yoga Mat Bag and Barrel Duffel Bag), and Adidas, who debuted the first-ever shoe made from mycelium, the Stan Smith Mylo. The Kering group (parent of brands like Gucci and Bottega Veneta), Reformation, Hermés, and Balenciaga are some others.
Final Thoughts: Are Consumers Ready To Make The Switch?
The question of whether consumers are ready to embrace mycelium leather or not might be a bit surprising. So far I have said that consumers are the ones asking for more environmentally friendly products with less environmental impact. Why wouldn’t they be ready to make the switch?
The issue is complex. Prada, for instance, believes “the consumer is not ready,” so it’s holding off on scaling up its experiments with leather alternatives. The crux of the matter is whether this new material can be as ‘loyal’ as traditional leather. Will consumers notice the difference between one and the other? Because the moment they do, the switch is lost. Consumers don’t want to give up good quality, even if what they buy has a major negative impact on the environment.
So here’s the thing: “if the product has quality, style and is not more expensive than leather, then it’s a game-changer.” [9] Other once highly valued fabrics like fur and exotic skins have already fallen among some of luxury’s biggest players, why couldn’t leather?
What do you think about mycelium/mushroom leather? Have you ever bought any product made from it? If so, how was it? Let us know in the comments below!
