The French house Hermès uses the innovative Sylvania material, developed thanks to the biofabrication technology Fine Mycelium of the American startup MycoWorks, in a revisited version of its travel bag Victoria unveiled yesterday.

By Ludmilla Intravaia

The startup MycoWorks made it its mission to find sustainable alternative materials to make things. Starting with leather of animal origin, which generates suffering for sentient beings, humans and animals, on the planet, as well as harmful pollution to the environment. His solution: the mushroom. More precisely, the mycelium, the roots of fungus, cultivated by biofabrication, from residues of agricultural production, by this American company, co-founded in 2013 by Phil Ross and Sophia Wang. Biodegradable, resistant and breathable like animal skin, the sheets of this material can be dyed, cut and sewn, while being cultivated, in a few weeks, to obtain numerous textures, thicknesses and patterns. The fruit of MycoWorks patented technology, Fine Mycelium, is Reishi Fine Mycelium presented last February at New York Fashion Week.

The French luxury brand Hermès has just unveiled, on March 11, a Victoria model bag, in canvas, calfskin and Sylvania, a mycelium alter-leather, developed using Fine Mycelium technology, since 2017. “Fine Mycelium, the genesis of Sylvania, is produced in the MycoWorks facility", explains the press release of the American startup which adds: “It is then tanned and finished in France by the Hermès tanners to further refine its strength and durability, and shaped in the workshops by the Hermès craftspeople.” The bag will be available at the end of the year.

Victoria Hermès bag, in canvas, calfskin and Sylvania alter-leather made with Fine Mycelium technology by MycoWorks, unveiled on March 11, 2021 (© Coppi Barbieri for MycoWorks)

No doubt that innovative materials are a new way of reaching a clientele increasingly concerned with animal welfare and respect for the environment for luxury brands, many of which still exploit animals for their skin and fur, in leather goods for example. Note, moreover, that Peta Asia has just made public, a few days ago, an investigation into the breeding conditions of snakes and crocodiles, used for their skins by a luxury group like LVMH. The association for the defense of animal rights also denounced the cruelty and health risks of fur farms, during a symbolic demonstration in front of the Eiffel Tower, on March 1, the opening date of Paris Fashion Week (more info soon in the Boudoir Numérique interview of Anissa Putois, communications officer of PETA France).