Mushroom Leather Start-up Partners with Adidas, Stella McCartney and Lululemon

Some of the most well-known names in fashion including Adidas, Stella McCartney, Lululemon and luxury fashion group Kering, which manages the development of Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen, are partnering with mushroom leather biotechnology startup Bolt Threads to offer new vegan leather products coming next year.

Bolt Threads’ Mylo is a material made from fast-growing mycelium which is a mushroom root system that Bolt Threads crafts into vegan leather. “We are thrilled to be working with partners who recognize that we are in a race to develop sustainable solutions to conventional technologies,” said Dan Widmaier, CEO of Bolt Threads.

“They are joining forces and investing in a solution that can scale: Mylo. The consortium unites four iconic and forward-thinking companies-- Adidas, Kering, Lululemon, and Stella McCartney-- who collectively represent hundreds of millions of square feet of potential demand for Mylo, Widmaier added, "Most importantly, this is an ongoing commitment to developing materials and products for a more sustainable future.”

The Mylo vegan leather is environmentally superior to animal leathers in a number of ways including reduced greenhouse gas emissions, lowered water and land use, and, of course, is cruelty-free.

“For too long the industry standard has categorized materials as either natural or highly functional- but not both. The way to remedy this is to innovate responsibly with solutions that challenge the status quo, and products that use the best of what nature has spent millions of years perfecting- like Mylo- are critical to that,” said James Carnes, Vice President of Global Brand Strategy at Adidas. “We hope this inspires others to join forces, as a more sustainable future is something that no brand can create alone.”

These partnerships will result in new mushroom leather-based products launching next year in 2021. Mylo leather will allow more people to indulge in high-quality, name-brand pieces that are more environmentally friendly than animal-based counterparts. Adidas, Lululemon, Stella McCartney and Kering brands are proving that being compassionate and sustainable is in fashion, and are helping to further encourage plant-based and non-plant-based customers alike to chose vegan leathers over animal leathers.