Miu Miu’s micro-mini isn’t the only icon of the Y2K revival. Along with the return of flip phones, zip-tops and inch-thick lip gloss, another ubiquitous symbol of the Noughties has reared its charming red and white head.
In the past couple of years, we’ve seen mushrooms popping up everywhere, from Rodarte dresses, Bella Hadid’s Frasier Sterling Magic Mushroom earrings, and Saweetie and Jhené Aiko’s Back to the Streets wonderland video to looks theirs in the mushroom-focused neon knitwear of Sarah Burton’s AW22 collection for Alexander McQueen. The obsession is real.
More than just a motif though, in 2022 mushroom culture has evolved into something much bigger, with mushrooms now pushing their little gilled tentacles across popular culture. Ravers are ditching the amphetamines and heading back to the mushies for a night full of hallucinations. We microdose before meetings and hand out little liberty cap bottles as party favors.
They’ve also attracted a legion of art-world enthusiasts, with photographer Phyllis Ma kicking it off. Mushrooms & Friends zine Meanwhile, Giancarlo Mattioli’s original stick-shaped ‘Nesso’ lamps are suddenly fetching thousands of pounds on eBay. Harry Styles even dedicated an entire collection to them in his Pleasing cosmetics line.
So what has mushroom change brought about? Research on their positive effect on brain health, and books such as Merlin Sheldrake’s Life is messed up, which makes complex science easily digestible, have introduced us to their many superpowers. And this, combined with widespread well-being and sustainability, has led to their cultural deification. Beyond the seductive psychedelia of it all, we’re beginning to realize that mushrooms—and the underground mycelium network of which mushrooms are the above-ground fruits—may actually hold the keys to our future.
In addition to drinking adaptogen tea and swapping shrimp boards for light bulbs, in the world of fashion, we’re looking to cultivate technology to change the industry’s relationship with the planet. As Stella McCartney says, mushroom fabrics, “have the potential to eventually replace traditional leather… and offer hope for the future of our planet.”
McCartney, who has been investing in micelles since 2016, launched her first bag made from mushrooms this June, with Hermès hot on her heels. And although Sarah Burton has yet to swap cowhide for this earthy alternative, she has declared her intention to do so. As mushrooms enter our lives, helping us party like it’s 1969, brightening our interiors and repairing our mental health, their infiltration of the once impenetrable luxury market feels like fate.
Buy the trendy mushroom obsession
