Natalie Portman and John Legend invest in vegan mushroom leather

Vegan leather made from mushrooms? That’s right, MycoWorks has created a material that ‘performs like cowhide’ entirely from mushrooms.

The company have just finished their latest financing round where it raised $45 million, including investments from celebrities Natalie Portman and John Legend.

‘Scale-up and meet demand’

They intend to use the money to ‘scale-up and meet demand’ as the brand says that despite Covid-19, they have seen ‘accelerating demand’ for their product throughout the year.

MycoWorks says this showcases how it ‘brings technological innovation’ that is essential for ‘luxury fashion brands’.

• Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger ban exotic animal leathers ‘to drive fashion forward for good’
• Valentino becomes the first luxury fashion brand to ban alpaca wool
• Falling out of fashion: Are exotic skins the new fur?

‘Potential to transform industries’

CEO of MycoWorks Matt Sculliin said: “We’ve created a biotech platform for the fashion and luxury industries. We deliver the highest quality, most versatile natural materials on Earth.

“Our vision is to grow the future of materials. These investors see the long-term potential for MycoWorks to transform many industries with our patented Fine Mycelium technology.”

Scullin said he was ‘delighted’ by Portman and Legend investing in the company, and added that the star’s ‘support for sustainable options in the fashion industry will only further its traction’.

Natalie Portman and veganism

Actress Natalie Portman is vegan herself and regularly uses her huge platform to promote a plant-based diet and kindness to animals.

Throughout quarantine this year, Portman has been sharing vegan cooking videos on social media. Speaking to Jimmy Fallon about her videos she explained: “I like showing that there are really delicious, varied, easy things that you can do at home that your kids will eat that are plant-based.”

MycoWorks will announce partnerships with leading global luxury fashion and footwear brands in the upcoming months.

Vogue has declared that ‘Fashion finally needs to disown fur’.
Do you think it’s time the UK government banned the import of fur?