When it Comes to the Future of Luxury Design, Mushrooms are Spawning a Revolution

Other designers and luxury fashion brands are embracing mycelium, too: In 2022, Balenciaga introduced a floor-length hooded wrap coat made from the material, while Chloe debuted a range of products fabricated from Mylo, another mycelium-based alternative to traditional leather. And fans of Stella McCartney, widely-known for her staunch commitment to sustainability, will delight in her Frayme shoulder bag, also featuring Mylo. 

It’s a fantastical time for mushrooms, indeed, especially the overlap of innovation with sustainability and luxury. MycoWorks, which was founded in 2013 and counts Natalie Portman and John Legend as investors, opened its first full-fledged production facility in South Carolina last year, where sheets of its patented Fine Mycelium material are harvested and produced at an accelerating rate that, Wang says can reach upwards of “millions of square feet of material per year.” Along with Hermès, other clients include Cadillac, the high-end furniture brand Ligne Roset, and Populus, the United States’ first carbon-positive hotel, in Denver. 

And mycelium’s innovations in the textile space couldn’t have come at a more urgent moment, given the unignorable environmental impact posed by the leather and cattle industry: deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, and biodiversity loss, for example. But also, the inclusion of mycelium-based materials reflects a broader trend within the fashion industry that includes commitments and guidelines with ambitious yearly targets. The global luxury group Kering, which includes brands like Gucci, Saint Laurent, and Bottega in its portfolio, has committed to shrinking its overall environmental impact by 50% by 2025. LVMH (​​Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) has made similar pledges, while Copenhagen Fashion Week made waves several seasons back for introducing mandatory long-term sustainability standards required of all participating brands.

Other viable leather alternatives are cropping up from the plant kingdom, too: cactus, pineapple, seaweed, for example, all of which are more sustainable solutions to one of the more problematic alterna-leathers: PVC (aka polyvinyl chloride), which contains plastic. Mushrooms, however, have a significant lead over the competition, most especially for mycelium’s adaptability and potential for customization. 

Aside from its rapid rate of production, MycoWorks can grow their Fine Mycelium to a specific thickness, or weight, or size, Wang explained. “And then once we harvest the sheet, there’s a lot of customizations we can do that are more familiar in the world of leather finishing in terms of pattern and embossing, grain, and finish.” Especially in the fashion and design industries, where “one of a kind,” “limited-edition,” and singularity are prized descriptors, bespoke production has become one of the greatest currencies of luxury.  

From meat alternatives, to wellness ingredients lauded for their adaptogenic properties—and even aesthetic design inspirations looked to for their soothing earth-toned hues and otherworldly shapes—mushrooms are clearly having a moment across an array of applications. But unlike other buzzy fads that tend to flicker and fade in a flash, the mushroom economy hasn’t even hit its peak. According to a recent report by Grand View Research, the global mushroom market size was valued at $50.3 billion dollars in 2021, and is expected to expand at an annual growth rate of 9.7% from 2022 to 2030. The future is fungi.