Forager™ hides are supplied to fashion brands and tannery partners to tan into leather using green chemistry techniques – Credit: Ecovative

15 December 2021

GREEN ISLAND, NY — Ecovative, the mycelium technology company, today announced the launch of an international sustainable fashion cooperative, with global brands BESTSELLER and PVH Corp. [NYSE: PVH] as founding members. Through the cooperative, these brands will have priority access to Ecovative’s mycelium innovations through its Forager™ Hides platform and will work directly with the Ecovative team to co-develop custom mycelium materials for a range of end products and consumer applications. The global innovation platform Fashion for Good was integral in bringing these parties together to advance a petroleum-free vegan leather.

Bringing Next Generation Mycelium Materials to Market

BESTSELLER and PVH Corp. share Ecovative’s commitment to sustainable fashion. Their designers will work in tandem with Ecovative’s team of engineers and mycologists to create mycelium solutions for their products. Members in the Fashion for Good Cooperative will bring their fashion industry expertise to work with Ecovative in a design, build and test research and development strategy. Together, the cooperative will develop mycelium materials for the consumer market.

“At PVH we are excited to explore innovations that reduce the environmental impact of our products. Mycelium provides us with an opportunity to respond to growing consumer interest in lower impact products while supporting quality and design that meet the needs and expectations of our consumers – in this case, made with 100% bio-based resources. We look forward to testing and learning alongside our partners to create scalable, sustainable solutions.” — Rebecca England, VP Innovation of PVH Europe.

“Mycelium shows great potential in the fashion innovation sphere – it even extends far beyond our own industry. We are keen on diving into the product development phase and really understanding the aesthetics and actual performance of Ecovative’s innovative materials in the lab. This pilot enables us to gain more insight into mycelium as a leather alternative, which ultimately is both biodegradable and fully bio-based.” — Anders Schorling Overgård, Sustainable Materials Engineer of BESTSELLER

Ecovative has more than a decade of experience producing mycelium materials for partners throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. The company launched Forager™ Hides, its alternative leather material, in March 2021. Forager™ Hides are based on Ecovative’s second-generation mycelium material, building on more than five years of research and development in Ecovative’s Mycelium Foundry. The 100 percent bio-based mycelium material is grown in sheets up to 24 meters in length and 1.8 meters wide, and can be grown to partners’ specific needs in terms of tensile strength, density, and fiber orientation. The entire growth process takes only 9 days and yields a ready-to-finish material free of plastic scrims and petroleum based coatings.

“By marrying innovation with legacy, we can focus on what we do better than anyone else in the world — growing the best mycelium at commercial scale. Working directly with fashion brands and tanneries, we make beautiful, high-performing and sustainable materials without harming animals or the planet.” — Gavin McIntyre, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of Ecovative

From soft and supple leather accessories and garments to durable and thick belts and shoes, Ecovative scientists are able to fine-tune their product to meet a wide array of end product needs.

“Biomaterials have been in development for years, but they have yet to reach even a small portion of customers. Ecovative has been focused on scaling its technologies to deliver mycelium at the scale necessary for industry leaders like BESTSELLER and PVH Corp. This is an exciting development in the drive to scale up these solutions and increase accessibility.” — Katrin Ley, Managing Director of Fashion for Good