Plant-based leathers have the potential to transform the fashion business. Now, MycoWorks, a California-based biotech company, has created a new eco-friendly, vegan leather derived from fungi. The leather turns mycelium—threads from the root structure of mushrooms—into a material that imitates the look and feel of animal-based leather, reports Jess Cartner-Morley for the Guardian.
“It’s the first time that a company is able to produce a vegetal product which is matching or even exceeding the quality and durability and aesthetics of a natural one. It’s a super achievement,” Patrick Thomas, former Hermés CEO and a MycoWorks board of directors member.
While the material is mushroom-based, MycoWorks creates its rigid, patented material utilizing masterminded mycelium cells. As the cells grow into 3-D structures, they become densely tangled, eventually forming a tough material, dubbed Fine Mycelium, which has the strength, durability, and performance of traditional leather. Most mushroom leather is made from a compressed solid foam that mycelium forms naturally, but without engineering, it lacks the same look and feel as other animal and synthetic leathers.
