Reishi

MycoWorks brooch by Mary Elizabeth Yarbrough in Reishi Black / Source: MycoWorks

Abrasion-ResistantFlexibleMyceliumNorth AmericaReishiStrongTextiles

WHAT WE SAY:

Vegan leathers are an exciting and powerful trend, however most of them are not only plastic, but also painfully inferior in terms of quality, so they are not a serious option for luxury brands.

Reishi is one of the few striving to be better. We love its artisan-focused founding story as much as its credible proprietary technology, which combine to produce a luxurious, mycelium-based material that has the same quality, durability and feel of 'real' animal leather - just with none of the ethical or environmental concerns.

Reishi

WHAT IS REISHI?

Reishi is MycoWorks’ first product, a next-generation Mycelium leather aimed at the luxury sector.
The material is produced with the company’s Fine Mycelium process, a patented engineering process, which is applied to mycelium during its growth phase, in order to enhance the material’s strength and durability.
Reishi has been independently tested by speciality textile and materials lab Vartest and has been found to match the strength, durability and colour-fastness of real Leather.
Reishi is currently only available to MycoWorks’ current brand partners. The company is working to expand its production volumes to increase availability to other brands and creators.
In July 2023, MycoWorks marked its 10-year anniversary with the launch of three new Reishi products: Reishi Doux, Reishi Natural, and Reishi Pebble. The range incorporates new breakthroughs in the mycelium fermentation and tanning processes, offering a choice of finishes for its flagship product.

KEY PROPERTIES:

Abrasion-Resistant
Flexible
Strong

INDUSTRY:

Textiles

AVAILABILITY:

Commercially Available

DIVE DEEPER:

For ethical and environmental reasons, leather will always be a problematic material, but many alt-leathers (including plant-based ones, such as Pinatex) often use plastic or petrochemical-based additives to coat or bind the finished materials.
Mycoworks compares Reishi, which is created using its Fine Mycelium technology, to alternative mushroom leathers, which are typically compressed mycelium. This mean they struggle to match the strength, durability and flexibility of animal leather, and often need plastic to achieve those qualities.
To produce Reishi, waste biomass (like sawdust) is seeded with a strain of mycelium, which is then engineered to grow in a dense, strong layer. Sheets are harvested at their peak, before they are finished by 130-year-old Spanish tannery Curtidos Badia, using less water than traditional leather tanning and without using chrome or other metals.
The growth of mycelium is effectively carbon neutral, according to a study in Nature Sustainability, as it facilitates the capture and storage of carbon that would otherwise be emitted to or remain in the atmosphere.
Reishi can be custom-grown in a specific three-dimensional form to save on labour and supplies. It can be split to as thin as 0.2 millimetres, compared to 0.4 millimetres for leather and can also be adhered to itself using electromagnetic waves.
Reishi is available in three different finishes: Natural, the original Fine Mycelium in a warm, gold colour with natural grain; Black, a Fine Mycelium with a pebble grain and luxurious sheen; and Core, the high-performance Fine Mycelium in a warm, gold colour with natural grain.
Due to its lack of synthetic additives, Mycoworks states that the material will biodegrade benignly and due to its organic formulation is naturally circular at its end-of-life.
Reishi is targeted at the luxury fashion sector and launched at New York Fashion Week (NYFW) in February 2020. In June 2022, Mycoworks created an installation entitled ‘Freedom of Creation,’ to showcase the material’s properties.

Reishi Boletus: a 100% Made with Reishi bucket hat by Nick Fouquet / Source: Mycoworks

Custom brooches in Reishi Black and Natural / Source: Mycoworks

KEY FACTS:

0.2mm

Reishi can be split to as thin as 0.2 millimetres, compared to 0.4 millimetres for leather.

10 MPa

Reishi's tensile strength is 10 megapascals, compared to cowhide's 8 megapascals.

Key Questions to Ask:

When will Reishi be readily available at scale?

Mycoworks has claimed that its proprietary growing trays can be “infinitely scaled.” Even prior to the construction of its South Carolina facility, it said it was “assessing global opportunities” for facilities with lower overheads. At present though, Reishi leather is not widely commercially available and until capacity ramps up, it will continue to cost more than animal leather.

What will Reishi cost?

Mycoworks is targeting the upper end of the market, as shown by its collaboration with Hermès. While luxury fashion houses embracing mycelium-based alt-leathers is a powerful signal, given how plastic-dependent most of cheaper alt-leathers are, it risks pushing lower end brands away from leather and towards synthetics.

What other design changes will the pursuit of end-to-end circularity demand?

While mycelium-derived leather will decompose in the natural environment within months, the use of non-biodegradable materials in the trims, adhesives or fastenings of finished products could compromise the sustainability of a whole piece. Working with Mycoworks directly on “custom growing” three-dimensional material and using the mycelium’s potential for self-adhesion can circumvent this potential issue, as can using non-metallic, biodegradable fastenings.

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Reishi

WHAT WE SAY:

Vegan leathers are an exciting and powerful trend, however most of them are not only plastic, but also painfully inferior in terms of quality, so they are not a serious option for luxury brands.

WHAT IS REISHI?

KEY PROPERTIES:

INDUSTRY:

AVAILABILITY:

Commercially Available

DIVE DEEPER:

For ethical and environmental reasons, leather will always be a problematic material, but many alt-leathers (including plant-based ones, such as Pinatex) often use plastic or petrochemical-based additives to coat or bind the finished materials.

Mycoworks compares Reishi, which is created using its Fine Mycelium technology, to alternative mushroom leathers, which are typically compressed mycelium. This mean they struggle to match the strength, durability and flexibility of animal leather, and often need plastic to achieve those qualities.

The growth of mycelium is effectively carbon neutral, according to a study in Nature Sustainability, as it facilitates the capture and storage of carbon that would otherwise be emitted to or remain in the atmosphere.

Reishi can be custom-grown in a specific three-dimensional form to save on labour and supplies. It can be split to as thin as 0.2 millimetres, compared to 0.4 millimetres for leather and can also be adhered to itself using electromagnetic waves.

Reishi is available in three different finishes: Natural, the original Fine Mycelium in a warm, gold colour with natural grain; Black, a Fine Mycelium with a pebble grain and luxurious sheen; and Core, the high-performance Fine Mycelium in a warm, gold colour with natural grain.

Due to its lack of synthetic additives, Mycoworks states that the material will biodegrade benignly and due to its organic formulation is naturally circular at its end-of-life.

Reishi is targeted at the luxury fashion sector and launched at New York Fashion Week (NYFW) in February 2020. In June 2022, Mycoworks created an installation entitled ‘Freedom of Creation,’ to showcase the material’s properties.

KEY FACTS:

0.2mm

10 MPa

Key Questions to Ask:

When will Reishi be readily available at scale?

What will Reishi cost?

What other design changes will the pursuit of end-to-end circularity demand?

MEET THE MAKERS:

MycoWorks

KEY PRODUCTS

LOCATION
North America

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

Reishi

WHAT WE SAY:

Vegan leathers are an exciting and powerful trend, however most of them are not only plastic, but also painfully inferior in terms of quality, so they are not a serious option for luxury brands.

WHAT IS REISHI?

KEY PROPERTIES:

INDUSTRY:

AVAILABILITY:

Commercially Available

DIVE DEEPER:

For ethical and environmental reasons, leather will always be a problematic material, but many alt-leathers (including plant-based ones, such as Pinatex) often use plastic or petrochemical-based additives to coat or bind the finished materials.

Mycoworks compares Reishi, which is created using its Fine Mycelium technology, to alternative mushroom leathers, which are typically compressed mycelium. This mean they struggle to match the strength, durability and flexibility of animal leather, and often need plastic to achieve those qualities.

The growth of mycelium is effectively carbon neutral, according to a study in Nature Sustainability, as it facilitates the capture and storage of carbon that would otherwise be emitted to or remain in the atmosphere.

Reishi can be custom-grown in a specific three-dimensional form to save on labour and supplies. It can be split to as thin as 0.2 millimetres, compared to 0.4 millimetres for leather and can also be adhered to itself using electromagnetic waves.

Reishi is available in three different finishes: Natural, the original Fine Mycelium in a warm, gold colour with natural grain; Black, a Fine Mycelium with a pebble grain and luxurious sheen; and Core, the high-performance Fine Mycelium in a warm, gold colour with natural grain.

Due to its lack of synthetic additives, Mycoworks states that the material will biodegrade benignly and due to its organic formulation is naturally circular at its end-of-life.

Reishi is targeted at the luxury fashion sector and launched at New York Fashion Week (NYFW) in February 2020. In June 2022, Mycoworks created an installation entitled ‘Freedom of Creation,’ to showcase the material’s properties.

KEY FACTS:

0.2mm

10 MPa

Key Questions to Ask:

When will Reishi be readily available at scale?

What will Reishi cost?

What other design changes will the pursuit of end-to-end circularity demand?

MEET THE MAKERS:

MycoWorks

KEY PRODUCTS

LOCATION North America

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LOCATION
North America