From Fungi to Vegan Leather : A case study made to highlight the potentials of mycelium-based leatherin the textile industry and the unique features of its value chain

Sammanfattning: Fungi has existed for millions of years, but it's only recently that it has been incorporated into the multibillion-dollar textile and fashion industry. Companies have been forced to rethink their value chains, thus the consumers demand for environmental change has arised the past decade. The textile production stands for 10% of humanity's carbon emissions, this dries up water sources and pollutes rivers and streams around the world specifically in developing countries where most production is based. Besides being a heavily polluted industry nearly 85% of all textiles end up in landfills as textile waste. The leather industry and the use of leather dates back to 400,000 years ago on that account finding a solution that doesn’t harm animal welfare and environmental issues regarding this industry is highly critical. This thesis is a written case study which has been based on the innovative company Bolt Threads and henceforth will be named as the “case company”. The purpose of this study is to create an understanding for future researchers and stakeholders of a sustainable alternative to leather with mycelium-based material by highlighting the unique properties of a fictitious value chain created for this study. This is based on 'The general model of fashion supply business' by Jonas Larsson at The Swedish School of Textiles. Mycelium is the root system of fungi and has been used by the case company to produce the vegan leather material Mylo™. The material is grown on sawdust which has proven to be a highly economical solution for the tree industry, thus indicating that the vegan leather option could be a highly effective substitute for when it comes to animal and synthetic leather production. Mylo™ will henceforth be named “case material”, “the mycelium-based material” or similar, in this study. The method for this study has consisted of interviews with researchers within the specific field of fungi and recycling of materials. Interviewing the case company which has developed the case material has gained a deeper knowledge when it comes to the insight of a newly innovative material on an existing competitive market. The theory of the study is the textile value chain which explains the added value of a product through the rest of the supply chain. This is a model used to investigate what parts of the value chain actually converts value. A fictitious value chain has been created to look at what stages the investors and the chosen company integrate or influence the processes. Our research question for this study is “What could a fictitious value chain for a newly developed mycelium-based leather look like?” In the discussion and conclusion of the study we found that the unique feature of the material’s value chain is where it connects and integrates with the case company of the material and the investing companies.