Design, fashion and art are, by definition, creative endeavors. Spaces that thrive on innovation and boundless imagination; spaces where limitations inspire creative breakthroughs. Until now, designers and creators have had to work within the limits of existing materials: designing with what’s available from farms, mills and producers. What if you could craft and co-design the perfect material for your new collection? What would you create if you could curate and determine the precise material specifications you need to break new, creative ground? 

Today, the limits of leather are clear. With a lengthy time to market and unscalable supply chains, the leather industry cannot serve a vision of endless design possibilities and full creative control.

Synthetic leathers present the problems associated with plastic, and “vegan” and eco-alternatives, including “mushroom leather,” often fall short on quality and performance. 

We are proud to introduce Fine Mycelium™, MycoWorks’ patented technology to grow the highest performing mycelium in the world.

Inspired by these limits, we are proud to introduce Fine Mycelium, MycoWorks’ patented technology to grow the highest performing mycelium in the world. The first made-to-order natural material, Fine Mycelium is a revolutionary new category of material that offers the quality and performance of the finest animal leathers, with lower environmental impact and an unprecedented freedom to customize. 

Fine Mycelium is not mushroom leather.

Fine Mycelium is a materials science and biotechnology breakthrough that is controllable, engineerable, and durable, with a living quality matched only by traditional leather. It is the technology behind Reishi™ and the next evolution in biomaterials made with mycelium, a powerful aspect of nature that connects organic life on earth with extravagant tapestries of microscopic threads. Fine Mycelium is not mushroom leather, which is made by compressing mycelium’s natural layers of foam into a mat that does not offer the performance and strength of animal or synthetic leathers. Instead, the Fine Mycelium process directs and engineers mycelium cells as they grow to create proprietary cellular structures that are densely entwined and inherently strong, comparable to the tight, triple helix of collagen. 

Grown in our proprietary trays, each Fine Mycelium sheet is closely monitored throughout the growth process, allowing full control and actionable traceability from inoculation to harvest: the fullest transparency of process.

Tracking each sheet allows our team of Fine Mycelium experts to pinpoint defining moments in the growth process, applying data to further refine specifications and fine-tune to desired outcomes. Softness, drape, thickness, shape, texture, flexibility, strength and density are just some of the specifications designers can unlock with the Fine Mycelium platform. Delivering uncompromising quality and aesthetic expression, Fine Mycelium can be fully optimized from initial growth to the final stage of harvest;

A revolutionary advantage that gives designers full creative control, minimizes waste and offers the industry the first made-to-order, high performance, sustainable option for leather. 

MycoWorks’ breakthrough Fine Mycelium platform is the result of more than two decades of research and development by our founding team. An achievement of many innovations, Fine Mycelium™ is just the beginning of this new era of materials. Providing limitless possibilities for designers and creators and partnering with leading brands and master leather artisans that equally value quality and craftsmanship, MycoWorks is bringing this cutting-edge innovation to the world.

A pioneering journey, a biotechnology breakthrough and a new horizon for materials science, design and biotechnology.