Fungi, fashion, and the sustainable future of textiles

By Mark Ramsdale, Head of Training at the MRC-Centre for Medical Mycology, University of Exeter, and Chair of the BMS Fungal Education and Outreach Committee

Each autumn, UK Fungus Day celebrates the remarkable ways fungi shape our lives. Beyond key roles as decomposers in woodlands and compost heaps, or as agents of human and plant disease, fungi are now making their mark on an unlikely stage: the fashion industry. With the global textile sector under pressure to reduce its heavy environmental footprint, and a drive to replace animal products with more ethical and sustainable alternatives, fungi offer inspiration for new materials, colours, and sustainable fabric opportunities that could transform what we wear.

From simple threads to complex composite materials

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When grown in the laboratory, mycelium can mimic leather, suede, or foams. Companies such as Bolt Threads (Mylo™) and MycoWorks have produced shoes, handbags, and upholstery materials.  Ecovative has developed a mycelium-based packaging product, by letting the fungi grow around clean agricultural waste, such as corn stalks or husks - an idea that is being actively explored by IKEA. The idea of making fabrics from fungi is not new: for over 5,000 years Romanian artisans have been soaking, beating, and felting the spongy material from the Hoof Fungus, Fomes fomentarius, to create durable garments. The material is called amadou – see the image of a traditional hat that is kept in the Fungarium at Kew Gardens.

Multicellularity in fungi is associated with the production of structures that explore the environment, resist harsh conditions, or aid reproduction.  The visible fruitbodies of fungi – mushrooms, brackets, puffballs – are remarkable feats of biological architectural engineering. Understanding the development of fungal fruitbodies might open the door to even more innovative fabric designs and materials.

The star of fungal fashion is the mycelium - a branching, interconnected network of fungal threads, or hyphae, that can be grown into sheets or blocks. Most multicellular fungi are built almost entirely of these fine threads, which interweave and specialise into different tissue types. The strength, flexibility, water-repellency and durability of a fruitbody depends on the kind of hyphae it contains and the way they are organised.

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Fungal fruitbodies demonstrate how different hyphal thread combinations, referred to as monomitic, dimitic, and trimitic systems, are able to produce structures that show a spectrum of properties from soft and ephemeral, to hard and perennial. This natural myco-architecture provides powerful inspiration for materials science and textile design, showing how subtle changes in filament composition and arrangement can dramatically alter the performance of a structure. 

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Monomitic fungal tissues contain only a single type of hyphae: generative hyphae. These are thin-walled, often richly branched filaments that retain the ability to grow, divide, and form spores. Most common gilled mushrooms (Agaricus, Coprinus, Lentinus) are monomitic. Their soft, fleshy texture reflects the flexibility of the generative hyphae. The fungal fruitbodies produced are generally short-lived: they often grow rapidly, disperse spores, and decay within days. From a materials perspective, they demonstrate how a single thread type can create structures that are light, delicate, and highly biodegradable.

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Tissues of dimitic fungi may combine generative hyphae with a second hyphal type: either skeletal hyphae or binding hyphae. Skeletal hyphae are long, thick-walled, unbranched filaments that add rigidity. Binding hyphae are highly branched, tough filaments that act like a biological glue. Many “woody” polypores such as Trametes or Fomes often have dimitic tissues. Their fruitbodies are much more robust than typical mushrooms, sometimes lasting for months. This combination illustrates how reinforcing threads can be added to a softer network to create longer-lasting structures, not unlike fibres woven into a composite fabric.

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Finally, there are trimitic fungi that produce tissues that contain all three hyphal types: generative, skeletal, and binding hyphae. This arrangement produces exceptionally hard, fruitbodies such as those of Ganoderma (e.g. the Artist’s Bracket) or Fomitopsis (e.g. the Birch Polypore). In these brackets, generative hyphae support growth and reproduction, while skeletal and binding hyphae lock the structure into a dense, tear-resistant form. Some trimitic fruitbodies can persist for decades. In some ways they represent the fungal equivalent of reinforced concrete – flexible filaments combined with rigid and cross-linked elements.

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There are other adaptations of fungal fruitbodies that may benefit those seeking to produce novel materials.  During development, fruitbody hyphae do not simply grow in random directions. 
- At the outer surface, hyphae may align into protective skin layers such as the pileipellis of mushroom caps or the crust of brackets.
- Internally, hyphae may weave into parallel bundles, interwoven mats, or radial medulla, depending on the structural demands.
- Some hyphae may become melanised, or produce cell walls that are rich in hydrophobins, that can later the wettability of the material.
- Some fungal tissues are bound together with polysaccharide (sugary) extra cellular matrix material – that acts as a glue, binding the fibres together.

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The result is a living fabric that is simultaneously functional (sourcing nutrients or reproducing) and resilient (withstanding rain, heat and insect/microbial attack). Learning how to manipulate the growth of fungi in culture to replicate these tissues may diversify the range of practical uses that the fungal fabrics can be used for.