Cruelty-free fabrics taking hold in luxury brands

Vegan and cruelty-free alternatives to animal skins and fibres are only getting more popular at the high end, with luxury brand Hermès having just partnered with California-based start-up MycoWorks to develop a sustainable textile made from mushrooms.

The fungi-derived fabric, known as Sylvania, is billed as “the exemplar of a new generation of biotech materials” and will first appear on an eco-friendly version of the Maison’s classic Victoria travel bag, alongside elements of canvas and calfskin.

Three years in the making, Sylvania is based on MycoWorks’ patented Fine Mycelium technology, which, as detailed in this video, entails growing mycelium – the network of filaments in fungus – to generate material endowed with animal leather’s durability and strength.

View the original video here.

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