Forager™ Hides
id card
100% pure mushroom mycelium
composition
Chitin
building blocks
Organic
material origin
Sheets
shape
8 – system complete and qualified
TRL
By carefully guiding the rapid geometrical growth of mycelial fibres Ecovative is creating organic shapes through the utilization of their sustainable, stackable vertical gardens. This sophisticated matter is, after harvest, transformed into one of its two possible forms - Forager™ Hides, or Forager™ Foam - owing to the company's renowned AirMycelium™ technology that's making it ready to serve markets as diverse as fashion, food packaging and furniture.
"Forager™ Hides provide an infinite variety of densities, textures, and finishes. Meeting the highest standards of the fashion and apparel industries, each piece is tuned for its final application, produced at scale, and completely biodegradable after its use is through. The in-hand feel offers a luxurious alternative to animal or plastic-based materials, without the negative environmental impact."
Properties
Further compressed and stressed Forager™ Foam!
Forager™ Hides are compatible with a variety of traditional and modern dyeing techniques.
Key advantages & properties of Ecovative's Forager™:
Extensive production volumes. High melting temperature and low conductivity - making it perfectly suitable for a number of footwear applications.
Hydrophobic.
Naturally high tensile strength.
Tear resistance & durability that is equal to animal leathers. The hides can be grown up to 60 meters in length and 4 meters in width.
Grainy texture.
Cyclability
100% biobased, biodegradable raw material.
Fully compostable.
Reduced resource needs. No environmental tradeoff.
APPLICATIONS
Fashion, furniture, automotive - but really, Ecovative is open to any industry if you look into it enough, even navigating an entire, legitimate mycelium bacon food line in their spare time!
"Sustainable alternatives to leather, plastic, and other products of fossil fuels and factory farming."
FOOTWEAR APPLICATIONS
Lining
Upper
Production process
AirMycelium™ technology unleashes the amazing properties and behaviors of fungal fibers.
Ecovative’s proprietary AirMycelium™ vertical farms grow pure mycelium materials at industrial scale using byproducts from agriculture and forestry, such as hemp hurds - and feedstock too.
Forager™ Hides grow over 60 meters long by 4 meters wide in just 6-9 days from seed to harvest. All thanks to climate controlled incubators! - also allowing the foam to be modulated into its own targeted purpose.
At last, Forager™ Hides are supplied to fashion brands, and further, to tannery partners to tan it into leather using green chemistry techniques.
Manufacturing facts
3 million sqf/y on 1 acre of land in 9 days
production time
Ecovative built it's own library, the Mycelium Foundry, a comprehensive fungal strain library for mycological material technology.
Drawing from their AirMycelium™ process, Ecovative truly meets all of the various clients' specific needs.
Some material strains are picked and chosen because they have to hold their form over time, even after sustained pressure or bending. Others need to hold color, or exhibit a specific texture. With millions of different species of fungi, come millions of possible materials with countless potential qualities. By selecting strains based on the specific funghi's properties, the researchers at Ecovative learn through trial and error in which conditions they grow best and if they are apt for commercial-scale.
Most of the mycelium composites and mycelium materials you read about are actually made under license from Ecovative (they have over 40 patents in 31 countries on the fundamental art of mycelium materials).
the factory
Behind the screen
Gavin McIntyre & Eben Bayer
founders
2007
Green Island, NY, USA
time & place
Bolt Threads, PVH, Pangaia, The Reformation, Vivobarefoot, Bestseller, Magical Mushroom, Grow.bio
partnerships
CERTIFICATIONS
ASTM D6866 - 99% +/- 2% Biobased content
ISO 16929 - Compostable
USP / EU Pharmacopia List of Pesticides: Not Detected