[Science News] - A mushroom leather jacket? It's possible to make sustainable fashion grow!
In search of new materials that allow for greater sustainability and novel textures, researchers at the microbiology department of VUB have been exploring mycelium - the underground network of fungal filaments - as an alternative to traditional leather and its synthetic counterparts. ‘Fungal Skin: Macro’ is a jacket made from a mycelium material grown in the lab. The jacket, grown and made by PhD researcher Annah-Ololade Sangosanya, was exhibited at the Milan Design Week 2025. This living textile offers an ecologically and aesthetically unique alternative to synthetic leather, as it is 100% biobased and biodegradable. The color gradient was obtained without the use of dye, showing the material’s additional commitment to sustainability.
‘Fungal Skin: Macro’ is one of the rare sizable pieces made from large mycelium sheets, marking a crucial step towards upscaling this new technology. Though this first prototype is promising for the future of the material, further knowledge and research is needed to enhance and perfect it.
Mario Amalfi, a mycologist specialising in polypores at Meise Botanic Garden, has been collaborating on this project since January 2025 to further understand links between taxonomy, phylogeny, microscopical characteristics and mycelium skins properties. This collaboration is key in allowing to link “classic” mycology knowledge to potential material properties but also identifying new potential strains for material applications and expand the field of possible applications of fungal materials.
“The field of mycelium materials is already very interdisciplinary, merging biotechnology, material science and design. But the link we were really missing, and perhaps the most important one, was the understanding of the organism itself and of fungal diversity. Partnering with Meise Botanic Garden is really allowing us to push the limits of mycelium materials further, identifying new functionalities we didn’t know could be achievable and finding new possibilities in the extensive knowledge Mario has on fungal biodiversity.”, says Annah-Ololade.
Beyond the garment itself, this jacket tells a story, a journey from petri dish to wearable piece. Accompanying the jacket is a “making-of” video that captures the entire process, from growing the material in the lab to the final construction, offering a glimpse into the fusion of microbiology and design.