Mylea™
id card
Mycelium fed with agroforestry residue
composition
Chitin
building blocks
Organic
material origin
Sheet
shape
8 – system complete and qualified
TRL
Mylea™ is just one of those unapologetically sustainable materials that stand in the way of existing plastic-based synthetic leathers and carbon-intensive real leathers made from hide, fighting the post-production waste and pollution rate these products are known to emit.
Its biofabricated nature stubbornly fits the eco-friendly lifestyle - just hear their slogan: "Genuinely sustainable for your essentials".
Properties
The material is waterproof, durable, and comes brown-ish in colour - though if wished, it can be darkened with natural dyes.
Its mycelium-based structure makes it more tear-proof, with tensile strength of 1 - 11 MPa. Weight is at 400 g/m².
Thickness can range anywhere between 0,3 mm and 0,9 mm - and the texture surface is customisable - you can pick leather grain for instance, or any other custom one for that matter.
Cyclability
51,9% biodegradability rate in just under 45 days!
APPLICATIONS
Fashion, fashion and more fashion! Wrist watches, bags, coats, clothing details... you name it! Check out Doublet's SS 22 Fashion Show to see one great example of a bomb creative collaboration. We can't forget Fungiture - fungi plus furniture - and other housing projects from brands such as Osaka Living & Design with some of their lamp armature concepts.
FOOTWEAR APPLICATIONS
Upper
Production process
The sawdust from agroforestry residue is first thoroughly cleaned with steam, after which it immediately gets mixed up with mushroom spores. The spores then consume all the sawdust, producing mycelium - which is then left for plus-minus five days to rest. The fungus then has to get scraped off, dried and cut into different sizes.
To create different colors Mycotech uses natural dyes extracted from roots, leaves and food waste to colour their leather alternative. This process is far less polluting than traditional tanning processes used for real cowhide that leaves behind solid and liquid waste full of chromium and other hazardous compounds.
Manufacturing facts
It takes as long as mycelium needs it to take - having the technology inspired by Tempeh's structure - the mycelia has to conjoin all of the sawdust first in order to create a ready, solid texture. When the official information behind the production time gets leaked, we'll let you know!
production time
The Mycotech Eco-Factory is located in West Java.
the factory
Behind the screen
Mylea,
Mycellium bricks