Hermes Birkin Bags May Now Be Made From Mushrooms

Hermes’s Birkin Bags, which sell for $200,000 each at auctions, have a possibility of getting devalued. Material science company MycoWorks has revealed that it spent three years collaborating with Hermes to create Sylvania, a sustainable material that looks and feels like leather. Sylvania, made from mushrooms, is the company’s attempt at swapping traditional leather with eco-friendly alternatives: 

For thousands of years, people have used leather to create everyday objects like footwear and bags, prizing the material for its durability and beauty. But over the past century, the fashion industry has mass-produced leather to churn out billions of shoes, purses, and accessories, with the global market for leather goods valued at more than $400 billion. This has come at a terrible cost to the planet.

Cows generate methane, a greenhouse gas significantly more potent than carbon dioxide, thereby accelerating climate change. Tanning and dying leather requires chemicals that go on to pollute waterways. Then there’s the animal rights component: Last November, Hermès came under fire from animal rights activists for its plans to build one of the biggest crocodile farms in Australia to produce exotic leathers for its bags.

Scientists and fashion companies have spent decades developing sustainable and humane alternatives to leather. Some brands have created “vegan leather” from plastic, but this is also problematic since the material does not biodegrade and sheds microplastics that end up in our food chain.

Image via Fast Company