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Surprise, surprise – the mushroom moment and the conversation continues at Stella McCartney.
The designer, though not in attendance, gathered a group of mushroom innovators alongside biotech firm Bolt Threads at her SoHo store this week to discuss the cheeky fun of mushrooms.
The in-store event held on Tuesday celebrated the commercial launch of the Frayme Mylo collection — featuring bright mushroom decor and prototypes on display like the Falabella bag, the Frayme Mylo torso and pants and bag (retailing for $3,500 and available online after the June drop ). The collection uses Bolt Threads’ Mylo material made from the mycelium, or mushroom root-like system, as a bio-based alternative to leather.
McCartney has had a partnership with Bolt Threads since 2017 and has produced 100 commercial bags in the Mylo material to date, not including the garments that debuted last year.
A panel discussion on mushroom innovation moderated by Julia Gall featured experts from all disciplines, including Bolt Threads VP of Product Development Jamie Bainbridge, Smallhold’s Mushroom Farm Co-Founder Andrew Carter, Rainbow’s Medicinal Mushroom Founder Tonya Papanikolov and Thomasra plant based.
“We don’t know how to grow most of the fungi that are out there…It feels like the next frontier of discovery is not just food, but materials,” Carter said. “It feels like it can fit into any industry that’s out there. The other thing I’m always excited about is how excited people are about it [that] people wear mushroom tops and go to mushroom fashion events like this.”
Indeed, a fashionable crowd gathered to learn more about the innovators behind the first luxury micelle bag to hit the market.
“In food, what I find is the most interesting part is that you can make it savory, sweet, you can change the textures. Especially with plant-based cuisine, [mushroom is] kind of the star of the show because there’s a body to it,” Thomas said.
Manipulators of fashionable mushrooms, along with McCartney, include Adidas, Lululemon and Kering. Together, the groups formed the Mylo open source consortium, founded in 2020. As for how fashion designers are taking it, Bolt Threads shared how influencers Griffin Maxwell Brooks, Maria Alia Al-sadek and Kailee McKenzie looked wearing the Frayme Mylo Bag on the street during New York Fashion Week.
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