The Amazing World of Fungi

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Aside from being miniature pharmaceutical factories, mushrooms are being noticed for their ability to transform into surprising functional materials.

NOMADESSENCE

THE AMAZING WORLD OF FUNGI

THE AMAZING WORLD OF FUNGI

THE AMAZING WORLD OF FUNGI

“These rare pieces embody our shared commitment to innovate a kinder fashion industry - one that sees the birth of beautiful, luxurious materials as opposed to the deaths of our fellow creatures and planet” - Stella McCartney

The world of Sustainable Luxury is mushrooming... literally... The amazing properties of our planet’s fungi are being put to use in textiles, packaging and furniture with stunning results.

Luxury brand par excellence, Hermes, has unveiled this month its classic Victoria travel bag touting a vegan alternative to leather – Sylvania. A brainchild of California-based MycoWorks, this hightech textile with leather-like attributes is patented as Fine Mycelium technology. This futuristic textile is grown from mycelium, the root network of mushrooms, that creates a structure with the same strength, texture and behaviour as traditional animal leathers. Fabricated in the laboratories of MycoWorks in San Francisco and tanned and crafted by Hermes master craftsmen, Sylvania is another inspiring example of the extraordinary creativity brought on by the union of Sustainability with Luxury.

Sustainable innovation in the experimentation with mycelium is particularly impressive in packaging and is being applied to luxury packaging such as that of precious wines and fine cosmetics. Renowned brands Origins and Hudson Hemp’s Treaty ship their youth elixirs in this biodegradable, waterresistant and protective organic packaging.

Espousing the shape of the object it shelters, mycelium packaging is produced by filling molds with recycled agriculture byproducts like corn, hemp, wood or bamboo, then injecting spores into the remaining cavities.

The filaments of the fungus grow at an exponential pace and fill the void, becoming the binding agent to transform the composition into a durable, flame-resistant solid material, 100% compostable.

One of our favorite sustainable luxury heroines, Stella McCartney, partnered with Bolt Threads to show us that fungi can be sexy too. Her two-piece bustier and trousers made from recycle scuba nylon and mycelium leather panels entices the most stylish woman to don eco-warrior armour.

Mycelium magic doesn’t stop here. Creatives like UK-based design studios Sebastian Cox and Nir Meiri, are turning this fabulous fungus into ephemeral furniture and elegant lighting. Nir Meiri’s Mycelium Lights bring a glow to sustainability with their organic lampshade lit up from below.

Combined with 3d printing technology, these crafted pieces are only the beginning of a promising adventure in biodegradable, environmentally positive industrial design.

Words: NOMADESSENCE Photo 1: Damir Overović Photo 2: Stella McCartney & Bolt Threads Photo 3: abettersource.org Photo 4: Coppi Barbieri Photo 5: Andrew Nunes

These fine tendrils are branching out into another industry – architecture and building construction.

Hard as it may seem to picture entire fungi towns, industry giants such as Arup are experimenting with mycelium bricks whose structural integrity is no magic mushroom joke. The largest living organism in the world is, in fact, a 970-hectare mycelium network spread beneath Malheur National Forest in the western USA. In fact, even NASA has been looking at mycelium-based construction on Mars as it is light-weight, non-toxic, grows rapidly even under extreme conditions and has exceptional insulating qualities.

THE AMAZING WORLD OF FUNGI

“Mycelium… collectively have the long-term health of the host environment in mind.”

- Paul Stamets, famed mycologist.

No need to consume mushrooms to enjoy visions of their extraordinary future for sustainable leathers, objects and the packaging they come in. We look forward to the unfurling of this ancestral underground life form in our world of luxury design.