Mycelium can biodegrade cellulose and some plastic molecules, offering an opportunity to rethink the linearity of the textile industry. It can also be used to produce leather-like materials, adoptable in the fashion industry. Oyster mushroom mycelium growth was tested on combinations of food waste (vegetable peels and coffee grounds) with textile waste (synthetic textile and denim textile). Results showed it could grow on all these combinations and even grows on denim textile waste only. However, it did not entirely biodegrade the textile, leading to a composite made of the mycelium and remainder of its substrate. Provided the soft nature of the substrate, the composite is also malleable and thus interesting for further textile applications. Post-processing process of the flexible composite material using low energy and natural components (heat, water, glycerol, and beeswax) was created, leading to composite leather-like fungal material, enabling a circular way of treating textiles.

About the designer

With a biological engineering background (M.eng in biology), Annah-Ololade continued her studies with the Fabricademy postgraduate in digital fabrication, textile innovation and biology to reseach ways of producing more sustainable textiles. Focusing on ways to make more sustainable products for the textile and fashion industry using biotechnologies, she is currently working on mycelium bioremediation of textile waste and revalorization as a composite biomaterial for the textile industry.