Growing mushroom roots to make an innovative, more eco-responsible material, as an alternative to animal leather, this is the mission of the American biofabrication start-up MycoWorks, thanks to its patented technology, Fine Mycelium. Frederick Martel, Senior Vice President Sales & Business Development at MycoWorks tells more to Le Boudoir Numérique about its biofabrication process, its vegan and cruelty free material Reishi and the material Sylvania developed with the French house Hermès.

By Ludmilla Intravaia

Le Boudoir Numérique: MycoWorks has developed its proprietary technology, Fine Mycelium. What is it?

Frederick Martel, Senior Vice President Sales & Business Development of MycoWorks: We use the mycelium, the filaments that grow underground, the roots of fungi. Our trade secret is, so to speak, to say to the mycelium: grows like that, in such and such ways, in thin layers. Which means that we control the growth of the mycelium so that its filaments grow while intertwining with each other, to form a material that is not mushroom leather.

What is the difference between your innovative material Reishi, made from your technology Fine Mycelium and mushroom leather?

Reishi comes from the Japanese name for an Asian mushroom from which we derive our mycelium. Mushroom leather also uses mycelium but the latter grows in the form of mushrooms, then cut into slices which will be compressed, then put on a support to make them resistant because the material is, in fact, quite spongy. Our technology does not require compression or sizing because the mycelium fibers that are woven together are naturally resistant in a product whose performance compares with animal leather.

Is Reishi made in laboratory?

It is rather made in an agricultural farm, where the mycelium is harvested. The mycelium grows in trays of six square feet standardized size, which in the leather industry corresponds to a half hide. In these trays, we deposit the substrate in which is inoculated the fungus that will grow there. At the beginning, we let it grow. Then, we add a composite, like natural cotton, in which the mycelium will continue to grow, generating a single product with technical characteristics of increased stretch, resistance, flexibility and elasticity. The mycelium fibers grow between those of the cotton, with which they join to create a regular film which is harvested, removed from the substrate backing, before being sent to our partner tannery for finishing. There, the Reishi can, for example, be dyed or be embossed to obtain a grain similar to that of animal leather. Everything that is made in a tannery with animal leather can be done with our material, except that it is less polluting.

What do you mean by that?

The animal leather tannery industry uses chromium to fix collagen in the skin, in order to make it rot-proof. We do not use this polluting tanning agent, because mycelium is vegetal. In addition, the mycelium absorbs carbon dioxide in the air to grow, while drawing the food and water it needs from the substrate composed of wood chips, recycled residues from the wood industry. Thus, our process requires little energy and water, it has a minimal carbon impact, in short, it is eco-responsible.

On some vegan leathers, one add a layer of plastic to make them stronger. Is this the case with your material?

No. Our idea is to provide the most sustainable solution possible. We mainly work with natural components for pigments, oils that will give our product the finish specifically desired by each customer, while refining its technical characteristics in terms of resistance, colors, etc. Whether a partner brand is looking for a harder material, or a more flexible one, etc., we customize our product according to its wishes and we can reproduce it endlessly with the same qualities. It's almost haute couture for materials.

Besides being eco-responsible, your mycelium-based product is also vegan and cruelty free...

Absolutely. Because we are 100% vegetal. We are an alternative to animal leather with the same skills and similarities. Raising an animal for its skin takes at least two years with colossal carbon impact and water consumption, not to mention the problems of traceability on the origin of the animals and the manner they were treated in breeding farms. In comparison, our mycelium takes just under six weeks to grow, without having to exploit an animal. In addition, the skins are never the same. An animal can have marks on its skin, which will cause losses in the cutting of parts. Our mycelium panels are regular, which considerably limits material scraps and non-reusable waste.

On March 11, the French house Hermès unveiled a Victoria bag made, in part, with a new vegan material, developed using your Fine Mycelium technology (more info here). Is this material different from Reishi?

Yes, this material that we have developed for more than four years with Hermès is called Sylvania. We grow the mycelium but, unlike Reishi, we do not tan it ourselves. Hermès does it in its high-end tanneries. The Reishi and Sylvania materials therefore benefit from the same Fine Mycelium technology. Both are mycelium but the finish is different: made in Hermès workshops for Sylvania, delivered and usable as is for Reishi.

Does your technology relate to biofabrication (more info here), manufacturing from living things?

Yes, we are using the living, the mycelium whose incredible properties our co-founder (San Francisco-based artist Philip Ross, AN) understood almost thirty years ago. When he exhibited his mycelium sculptures around the world, companies often asked him if there were applications for their industry. This is how the start-up MycoWorks was born, more than seven years ago, to further research and find new solutions like Reishi. We are witnessing a radical shift in thinking today. End customers ask brands for products that are more respectful of the environment and of sentient beings. Brands can no longer hide and must find solutions. We are here to offer them a real alternative, responsible and efficient.

* Le Boudoir Numérique met Frederick Martel on June 16, 2021, during the start-up and tech event Viva Technology, in Paris. MycoWorks was one of the 28 start-ups finalists for the LVMH prize dedicated to innovation, awarded by the French luxury group at VivaTech trade fair. This fifth edition of VivaTech took place from June 16 to 19, 2021, at Expo Porte de Versailles and online. The recap of Le Boudoir Numérique visit at Vivatech can be read here. More info on VivaTech on its website here.

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