<
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/14/business/leather-fake-mycelium-mushrooms-fashion.html>
"In 2007, Philip Ross, an artist based in the Bay Area, was preparing for an
exhibit. It demonstrated his work with “mycotecture,” the creation of materials
from the manipulation of mycelium, which is the substance comprising the root
structure of mushrooms. Mr. Ross bought mushroom spores from local farmers and
coaxed them to grow into a substance he describes as akin to medium-density
fiberboard. Preparing for the exhibit, he met Sophia Wang, then a Ph.D. student
at the University of California, Berkeley, who helped him produce the show.
Mr. Ross continued to experiment with mycelium, and by 2012, after receiving
requests from multiple companies interested in the technology, Mr. Ross asked
Ms. Wang to join him in starting MycoWorks to commercialize his mycotecture
technique. They co-founded the company the following year, while Ms. Wang was
finishing her dissertation.
At the outset “there were three of us in a basement with plywood and plastic
sheeting,” said Ms. Wang, who is now the company’s chief of culture. “We were a
start-up biotech company, but we were created by artists.”
MycoWorks eventually focused on creating a material that had the look and feel
of leather but was free of animal parts. Called Reishi, after the Japanese name
for the genus of mushrooms Mr. Ross first used, it can currently be produced in
sheets of six square feet. (MycoWorks declined to disclose pricing except to
say that it is currently comparable with exotic hides. As the company continues
to grow, they added, MycoWorks will be able to offer some at lower prices.)
The company, whose headquarters are in Emeryville, Calif., has obtained more
than 75 patents and now has over 160 employees in the United States, France and
Spain. It has also secured collaborations with high-end companies like Hermès
and, most recently, the furniture maker Ligne Roset and GM Ventures, the
investment arm of General Motors."
Via
The Fixer December 21, 2022:
<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/fashion-goes-plastic-free-with-a-new-leather-substitute/>
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
