The future of fashion — made from mushrooms | Dan Widmaier
May 1, 2024
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Biomaterials investigator Dan Widmaier discusses sustainable replacements for traditional fashion materials, introducing a leather alternative made from mushrooms. The podcast explores the fusion of fashion, sustainability, and scientific innovation, highlighting the journey of creating mylo, a sustainable alternative to leather. Major brands like Lulu Lemon, Adidas, and Stella McCartney are endorsing mylo, signaling a pivotal moment in the adoption of sustainable materials in the fashion industry.
Nature-inspired materials like mylo can replace traditional fabrics for a more sustainable fashion industry.
Consumers can drive sustainability by choosing eco-friendly clothing and reducing fast fashion purchases.
Deep dives
The Sustainability Challenge in Fashion
Fashion brands are slowly addressing their carbon footprint by considering more sustainable practices like using eco-friendly fabrics, switching to green energy in factories, and recycling old fabrics. While progress is gradual, some companies falsely market themselves as sustainable. Consumers play a role too by opting for sustainable clothing, thrifting, or minimizing purchases to combat the fashion industry's environmental impact.
Innovations in Sustainable Fashion Materials
Bioengineer Dan Widmeyer advocates for transforming fashion sustainability through science by replacing traditional materials like leather with bioengineered alternatives. He introduces mylo, a material grown from mushroom mycelium, as an eco-friendly substitute for leather. By combining nature-inspired materials with innovative design, fashion can pave the way for a more sustainable future.
The Transition to Sustainable Fashion
Widmeyer collaborates with prominent fashion brands like Lulu Lemon, Adidas, and Stella McCartney through the mylo consortium to integrate mylo into their product lines. This collaboration marks a shift towards sustainable fashion solutions that are commercially viable and comparable in price to conventional materials. The success of mylo sets a precedent for the industry to adopt environmentally friendly practices and accelerate the transition to sustainable fashion.
Your closet is likely full of all kinds of materials — leather, cotton, nylon and polyester, to name a few — that contribute to fashion's sustainability crisis. Biomaterials investigator Dan Widmaier explains how we could look to nature for sustainable replacements for these much-used materials and introduces a leather alternative made from mushrooms that looks great and doesn't harm the environment. "We can make fashion sustainable, and we're going to do it with science," Widmaier says.