One of the major trends over recent decades has been the decline in cattle hide prices as the demand for leather has lost significant market share to polyester and rubber alternatives.

The majority of footwear sold today uses little or no leather, while car manufacturers and other sectors that were once big users of leather have also switched to cheaper synthetic alternatives.

The decline in demand for leather mirrors a similar trend in the global demand for wool as a raw material needed by the textile industry.

Yet leather may be on the verge of a comeback but not as you might imagine. MycoWorks, a California-based start-up company, has developed a plant-based alternative to leather that is made using mushrooms. Yes, mushrooms.

Technology

Mushroom leather is still a new technology and the market for this product is only getting started compared to the €60bn per annum market for cheap oil-based synthetics.

Yet investors see major potential for mushroom leather to not only displace traditional leather entirely but also to become a major challenger to cheap synthetic clothing and fashion products.

In the last year, MycoWorks has raised over €50m in series A and B funding from investors, including ag-tech investor funds who see major potential in the bio-economy.

This week, MycoWorks announced it had secured an exclusive deal with French fashion giant Hermès to supply its mushroom leather as the raw material for one of the company’s most popular travel bags.

Mushroom leather is still an infant technology but there’s clearly potential for this market to grow. Given that Ireland has a relatively large scale mushroom industry, could there be an opportunity for Irish growers to produce the raw materials for this budding sector? Time will tell.