The vegan Frayme Mylo bag by Stella McCartney is made from infinitely renewable mushroom leather and is a big step forward for sustainable design.
Stella McCartney has launched its new sustainable mushroom leather bag, which is the first of its kind to be publicly available.
The Frayme Mylo bag is made of Mylo vegan leather and comes with an oversized recyclable aluminum chain strap with a trademark zamac medallion. Bolt Threads’ material solutions company Mylo has created a next-generation animal-free leather made from mycelium.
Stella McCartney first collaborated with Bolt Threads on vegan Microsilk in 2017 and has been a part of the Mylo story from the start.
Mylo initially appeared in the V&A’s Fashioned from Nature exhibition in 2018, as a prototype of the fashion house’s renowned Falabella purse. This year’s Paris fashion Week saw the introduction of the Frayme Mylo bag, which will be part of Stella McCartney’s Summer 2022 collection.
“For my Summer 2022 collection, I was so inspired by fungi and their incredible potential for saving our planet – and the Frayme Mylo embodies that hope for the future,” fashion designer Stella McCartney said in a statement.
“Our long-time partners at Bolt Threads and I have a shared passion for material innovation and launching a luxury handbag made from Mylo mycelium leather is a landmark moment not only for us, but the world.
What you see on the runway today is the conscious fashion industry of tomorrow,”
The Frayme Mylo bag, being the first commercially available product manufactured using Mylo material, is a big step forward for sustainable fashion, making smart, sustainable products more accessible to customers.
What exactly is Mylo?
Mylo is bio-based, which means it’s made largely of natural, renewable materials. Mycelium, a network of fungal threads that is considered crucial to the ecology, is its main component. It’s also renewable indefinitely.
Mylo was created in a lab by recreating mycelium with mulch, water, air, and 100 percent sustainable electricity. In comparison to the years it takes to make animal leather, the procedure takes only a few days.
This conserves water and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, by removing cattle rearing from the equation, no animals are injured, and key ecosystems such as the Amazon are protected from deforestation.
The finished product is soft, pliable, and resembles animal-derived leather in appearance. In response to the increased need for environmentally friendly materials, Mylo was created. Bolt Threads’ Founder and CEO, Dan Widmaier, said:
“With good reason, consumers are demanding sustainable material alternatives that also look and feel great.
“Working closely with Stella and her team of innovative designers has enabled us to make Mylo a no-compromise, animal-free alternative to leather.”
Fashion that is environmentally friendly
Stella McCartney was the first luxury brand to never use leather, feathers, fur, or skins when it first opened its doors 20 years ago, bringing a conscience to the fashion business.
Such fashion sustainability can have a far-reaching impact. In 2009, Stella McCartney introduced the Falabella tote, the brand’s first vegan luxury bag. Since then, the company has sold over 1 million totes, sparing the deaths of about 400,000 cows.
