Magic mushrooms – exploring the huge potential of mycelium biofabrication for design and architecture, and the companies behind the development.

There has been a lot of hype, because it is not often a material comes along that has the potential to revolutionise an industry. The biofabrication of fungus, in particular its tangled root like mycelium, has huge potential. Competition is fierce and there is a great deal of investment going into these new materials. Mushroom leather, for example, offers hope of a truly sustainable alternative to animals skins. Mycelium composites hold potential for so many applications, from replacing plastic packaging to sustainable building materials. Like so many emerging material categories that are inspired by natural processes — starch, cellulose, protein — it is still niche, relatively expensive and lacking data. However, that is rapidly changing.
MycoWorks was founded by San Francisco artist Philip Ross, along with his long-time artistic collaborator Sophia Wang, in 2013. Philip had been cultivating mycelium as a material for art and design since the 1990s. The MycoWorks team developed a process for growing uniform sheets of interwoven mycelium customised for thickness, surface features and dimension. In close dialogue with fashion and footwear brands seeking to improve their supply chains with sustainable materials, they began experimenting with vegetable tanning and finishing techniques adapted from the leather industry and customised for mycelium. This would become the foundation of their proprietary process, Fine Mycelium, which engineers mycelium as it grows to create proprietary cellular structures that are densely intertwined and strong. MycoWorks launched Reishi Fine Mycelium at New York Fashion Week in February 2020. They published their first peer-reviewed life cycle assessment (LCA) in 2022, which suggests a carbon footprint of 2.76-5.80 kg CO2/m2 for Reishi. This is equivalent to just 8% of the carbon footprint of the cow leather they used as a benchmark.
Ecovative was founded in 2007 by Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre. They have since gone on to develop a range of products that harness mycelium in different ways. By selecting the right strain and creating the right conditions, they have created a process that encourages mycelium to weave itself to precise requirements. AirMycelium is produced as large format sheets, 4 m wide and 60 m long, in vertical farms layered in tall racks. After a few days the mycelium is separated from its feedstock and cut into sheets ready to be transformed in products including food, leather-like hides and elastomeric foams. No toxic chemicals, plastic or other waste are involved. All byproducts of production are biodegradable as compost. As a leading mycelium technology company, Ecovative also provide bags of fully colonised substrate blend, called MycoComposite, to allow individuals and organisation to grow their own mycelium forms.
Mogu, originally established as Mycoplast, 2015, produce mycelium composite material for interior spaces. Through collaboration with academic institutions it took 5 years of development, 150 species of fungus were screened and 40 substrates tested to get to their current recipe. The Mogu modular acoustic panels were launched 2019 and the Mogu bio-based floor became available in 202o. The flooring is based on a substrate of mycelium composite with a bio-based polyurethane resin (bio-PUR) top coat for durability and colour. The unique bio-PUR contains 90% renewable ingredients with low-value biomass in place of traditional industrial pigments. Sqim was established as a collaboration between Mogu and Ephea. Together, they have created a flexible mycelium leather-like material suitable for both fashion and interior applications. It was launched at Paris Fashion Week 2022, as part of Balenciaga’s Winter 2022 runway show.
Bolt Threads are a material science company, founded in 2009, who first developed MicroSilk. This protein-based fibre, launched 2017, was inspired by spider’s silk. It is made through a process of fermenting water, yeast and sugar with spider DNA. The liquid protein is passed through spinnerets and spun into fibres the same way as acrylic and rayon are made. Mylo mushroom leather was launched in 2018. It is produced with 100% renewable energy in a vertical farming setup. The mycelium is grown on a bed of renewable, organic substrate. The hyphae create a dense foam-like interconnected network, which can be harvested and processed into sheets. Surface texture and finish are applied using leather tanning practices, to give an unmistakable likeness to bovine leather.
Mycotech Lab started in 2016 with a collaboration between co-founder Adi Reza Nugroho and ETH Zurich and Karlsruhe Institute. Together they developed a mycelium composite material, called Mycl, to be used in architectural application in place of steel and wood. After some experimentation they also created a thinner, paper-like textile that can be used as a leather alternative in fashion and footwear, Mylea. According to Mycotech Lab it has 70% less water consumption, 68% fewer CO2 emissions and 17% lower energy use compared to bovine leather. The material was launched during Paris Fashion Week 2021 with LVMH as part of their fall/winter 2022/23 collection.
There are lots of other smaller manufacturers, design studios and architects using mycelium in their projects. Its hard to ignore the explosion in alternative leather materials made from mycelium, apple, grape and other bio-based materials. For a discussion on this check out Vegan leather — plant or plastic?. And for a broader exploration of bio-based material developments, check out Bio-based material developments — so good you could eat them (almost).